Platform: PC

Developer: Suspicious Developments

Publisher: Suspicious Developments

Release Date: June 3rd, 2013

Genre: Stealth, Puzzle

Nerd Rating: 7.5 out of 10!

Gunpoint is a stealth-puzzle game that has been on my radar since I first saw Youtuber OfficialNerdCubed play it on the day of release. I finally picked up the title during the recent Steam winter sale, and I am really happy that I did so.

Now, before I begin the review, I wanted to draw attention to an important aspect to remember about Gunpoint; the game is excruciatingly short. I finished Gunpoint in two hours, and that is because I went back to certain levels in hopes of achieving a better score. I assume that Gunpoint would take the average player an hour to an hour and a half to complete. The developers knew that the game was short, and to make up for it, they included a level editor and Steam workshop support.

Even though Gunpoint is extremely short, the story is humorous and engaging while it lasts. The story is told through cell phone calls (that look like texts to the player, as there is no voice acting) and the player has options on how to respond. The responses available to the player include serious replies as well as sarcastic and snarky remarks, all of which tend to be really funny.

Gunpoint has an interesting art style, and it definitely adds a little charm to the game. I feel like the game’s purposely-inferior graphics were the best option, as any higher graphics could potentially downgrade the charm of the game. The sound effects and soundtrack of Gunpoint are also pretty decent, and help to add to the game’s said charm.

Normal view / Crosslink view. Crosslink allows you to recircuit a building’s electricity.

Now let’s talk about the actual gameplay of Gunpoint. In Gunpoint, you take the role of Richard Conway, a freelance spy armed with multiple tools that allow him to jump extremely high, fall from long-distances without taking damage, and rewire the electric circuits of buildings. As with many stealth games, Gunpoint leaves it up to you whether or not you go in with guns a blazing, use tactics to silently disable guards, or aim to be a pacifist and not be discovered at all.

The puzzle aspect of Gunpoint comes in with the aforementioned tool that allows you to rewire electrical circuits. With this tool, you are able to rewire security cameras, switches, trap doors, guns, and all sort of other electrical appliances to make your job easier as well as potentially ambushing guards. One of my favorite uses of this tool is to trap guards into small unimportant rooms where they will be safely out of my way.

The level editor, arguably one of the biggest draws to Gunpoint, is extremely in-depth and easy to understand. There are so many different options to make your levels as simple, or difficult, as you could possibly want it to be. The process of uploading to Steam workshop is also relatively easy.

Overall, even though the Gunpoint campaign is short and sweet, the 2,000+ workshop levels will keep you busy for hours and hours. I really enjoyed the game, and short as it may be, I feel like I got my money’s worth and I highly recommend this title regardless of whether it is on sale or not.