Even if you never play Gunstringer, its ingenious live-action intro is a must-see. A roving camera enters a theater, passes the audience, then swoops behind the curtain, following harried stagehands through last-minute prep for a puppet show. Once the show starts, you realize it’s the very thing you’re about to play.
Feeling outgunned? Another player can join anytime, although they won’t have their own Gunstringer — just their own (purple) gunsight.
This theater aesthetic isn’t just a fancy framing device, either: it shapes the entire game in some pretty cool ways. As the Gunstringer — a resurrected outlaw seeking payback on the gang that betrayed him — you’re the protagonist in four multi-act plays, each culminating in a boss fight with one of your former comrades. These revenge vignettes involve tons of run-and-gun, of course, and at times the camera will cut away to show the “live” audience’s reactions. All the while, a colorful spaghetti-western narrator sets the scene with amusing dialogue, even dynamically commenting on your actions (à la Bastion) throughout.
Controls are everything in a Kinect game, though, and happily, Gunstringer’s core mechanics are loads of fun. Because the game is a rail shooter, you don’t move forward or backward: you simply raise your left hand to jump and move it side to side to steer around objects or peek out from behind cover during shootouts. Meanwhile, you sweep your right hand across the screen to select targets, then swing it upward to fire, as if recoiling from shooting a gun. It takes a while to master using both hands simultaneously, and slightly herky-jerky running makes certain parts (like sprinting across narrow bridges without falling off) tricky, but the controls are refreshingly comfortable overall.
Over time you can unlock commentaries, music, and game-twisting mutators such as Meatstringer (where you look human).
All of which helps you lose yourself in the game’s rapid-fire pace and awesome variety. The Gunstringer’s quest takes him from New Orleans to the Great Wall of China to a hypnotically bizarro underworld, each packed with ninjas, big-oil workers, crazed lumberjacks, and other oddball enemies. 2D segments and ever-shifting camera perspectives keep the action fresh and well-paced, as do new weapons (fists, flamethrower, shotgun, sword) and riding various vehicles (rocket, stagecoach).
As funny and goofy as it all is, our favorite moments overflow with Twisted Pixel’s trademark looniness. To finish off bosses, you gavel-smack your right hand, making a stagehand’s giant fist slam down from the sky. When you first meet the Gatorjack, a flashback shows the twisted alligator-lumberjack union (complete with Barry White–style music) that spawned this tragic foe. And though we dare not spoil it, the game’s ending is hysterically over-the-top. At four hours, Gunstringer’s a short ride, but it’s a thrilling one you shouldn’t miss.
+ Fantastic hero, setting, art direction, and enemies.
+ Core gameplay is really fun and well-paced; tons of unlockable content; $40 package includes Fruit Ninja and short Gunstringer DLC.
– Controls can be a bit herky-jerky; The Gunstringer is fairly short.
? Which came first: the game concept or its clever name?
