Playing A Game Gunpoint PC

In Gunpoint's opening moments, the game shows off its true intents as plainly as possible: a fall through a plate glass ceiling, an irreverent phone conversation, and cold-blooded murder, capped off by another slapstick fall. There are mature concepts in here, from political intrigue and corporate scandals to absolutely merciless violence. But it would be a mistake to take Gunpoint seriously -- not because you can't, but because it's so, so much more fun when you don't.

The game's story is divided up into sequential missions (although you do occasionally have a choice of missions, you'll have to do them all eventually). Each mission gives you an upgrade point - useful for improving your electric pants, which allow you to vault over and into highrises, and to pounce on unsuspecting foes - and some cash, to spend on new special abilities. Early missions hold your hand through the game's processes, showing you how to infiltrate secure areas, how to dispatch guards, and how to manipulate a building's electrical wiring. This last part is where the game really shines: multiple isolated circuits, elevator call-buttons, motion and sound sensors, trap doors, and a multitude of other components, make for an incredible variety of ways you can hack your way through a building. Later missions will really test your mastery of this ability, and how well you can plot a step-by-step route through multiple floors of armed guards.

On the flip side, though you can get in-game accolades for doing everything "right," there's nothing stopping you from playing however you want. You can try to rush through a level as quickly as possible, evading guards rather than disabling them; or you can systematically hunt down and kill the guards, just because. Almost every level's design is completely open to experimentation, and there are a ton of tools to use however you wish. Protip: link a light switch to an open door, wait for a guard to walk through the doorway, then flip the switch to close it and knock the guard out cold. Gunpoint is chock-full of fun little activities like this.

As for complaints: the story gets hard to follow in its second act, and the ending is a bit anti-climactic (though it could be argued that this just fits the game's noir stylings). The character upgrades never quite feel right, with half of them being forced upon you, and the other half barely useful at all. And visually, Gunpoint only really meets the bare minimum of functionally displaying its mechanics. But its flashes of amateurism can't hide what is, underneath, a brilliantly clever and excessively fun game. It takes the things we love as gamers - side-scrolling exploration, convoluted puzzle-solving, and bare-knuckle action - and puts them all together in a pleasantly unique package.

Better than: Stealth Bastard Deluxe (granted, I haven't finished that game just yet)
Not as good as: Mark of the Ninja
This could totally be franchised: with some high-fidelity graphics and more judicious story editing.

Progress: Finished two playthroughs, 100%

Rating: Awesome