It’s been a long time coming, but now it’s finally happening: Gunpoint will be released in exactly one week! This stealthy/hacking/mess-with-security-guards platformer has gathered quite a following over the years, and with good reason too as it’s a ton of fun! But wait, how could I possibly know that, since it isn’t out yet? One word: demo! Now fans can get a taste of what’s to come, on June 3.
“Gunpoint is a stealth puzzle game that lets you rewire its levels to trick people.” is how the creator, Tom Francis, describes the game. Not quite how I see it. While playing the demo, I felt like I was a spy currently undercover as an electrician/hacker, equipped with enough gadgets to put Batman’s utility belt to shame. That’s just me being silly though, and Tom Francis’ description is certainly closer to the truth. Sure was fun to trap several guards in the same room, simply by turning out the lights (wait, what?!).
I’m not crazy! That did actually happen. Or at least, something along those lines did. See, in Gunpoint you’re able to mess around with the wiring in an entire building from just about anywhere – if you can see it, you can rewire it and this is where the fun begins (hence my electrician/hacker theory). Since the security guards don’t mess around and will in fact shoot on sight, you have to go about your business stealthily or risk having your lights turned off for good. Sneaking around is not your only option though, as pouncing on an unsuspecting guard will knock him out! Since this seems to be a permanent solution, it’s quite a viable alternative; just remember, these guys shoot first and never ask questions.
While the demo is fairly limited in scope, it does give a nice introduction to the mechanics and allows you to try out a handful of the utilities at your disposal, taking players from a simple ‘rewire the light switch so it opens the door instead’ puzzle, to ‘get past several armed guards, hack a couple of terminals and escape’. How each puzzle/mission is dealt with, is in no small way up to the player as there are often several ways to get inside, complete your objective(s) and exit… by jumping out a window on the third floor (hell yeah!).
I’ve made sure the base game is the same for everyone – no exclusive missions or bullshit bonus items.
On the topic of availability and pricing, it’ll be on both Steam and the Humble Store for $10, come June 3. Willing to pay a bit more for Gunpoint? Say hello to the fancy editions then. These include cool extras like the soundtrack, developer commentary and such; all versions come with an optional Steam key. Oh, and there’s a level editor, which is great as this kind of game badly needs one. Time to get creative, people!
