I love reading about games. Some are impressive because of what they did; others are impressive of how they came to be. Gunpoint holds my attention because it fits the latter.

Gunpoint was made by Tom Francis. He started work on it while he was working at PC gamer, he had no coding skill but he did have a love of games. After a month of starting work he put an early version of the game on his blog for feedback. From his blog he gained artists and musicians. This spiralled into what is now Gunpoint

Gunpoint made a point, to make a game you do not need a million dollars, you need an idea and a love of video games and that is how Gunpoint will go down in history:

Story:

You are a PI who is hired by a VIP at a weapons company. As you go to meet your client she gets shot so her boss calls you and asks you to find her real killer. On the way you find people either related or curious about the murders, you can choose to help them out or avoid them and get on with it.

The story is delivered via chat messages which is a nice way to get the story across without having to pay for voice actors and voice recording while at the same time getting the job done.

Sound:

The background score is a throwback to the detective movies of the past. It’s really nice.

I really like the little clicks elements in the world make like the light switches. The sound is not really the strong suit here since it is quite basic.

Graphics:

The graphics are nothing to write home about, they are pixel art.

The characters are 2 or 3 colors which makes it hard to identify the type of guards now and then. Thankfully main characters have unique color combos so you can tell them apart.

The world is quite zoomed out so identifying things soon as you enter the level is a pain but thankfully it gets well colored later so that you can tell things apart. Things that you can swap the connections on are well colored so they are easier to notice and tell apart.

Gameplay:

From a gameplay point of view Gunpoint is more puzzle than anything with stealth thrown in and I do like it.

The game starts off giving you only the ability to jump really high/far. If you hit a wall while jumping you can grab onto it, the same applies to ceilings. If you hit a guard you hold them to the floor and punch them unconscious or to death. This helps you get around quicker than standard walking but causes noise. You can also upgrade the ability with upgrade points to either increase the range or reduce the charge time.

There are purchasable upgrades as well, such as the ability to not make any noise when jumping, or to increase the chance of incoming bullets missing you and so on. The only mandatory one that you have to buy is the wirejack which lets you rewire connections on the same circuit. When you hit the button to enter wirejack you notice that all the things that are on the same circuit are a particular color along with the connections between them, some levels have multiple circuits so you need to find boxes which give you access to those circuits.

There are other upgrades you can get like the ability to make traps out of wall sockets but these cost energies which you can upgrade with skill points.

This leads to some really cool puzzle solutions like rewiring it so that a button you press turns off the lights but when a guard presses a button that he thinks is wired to the light instead opens a door which hits his friend in the face.

The levels themselves are just building which you see from a few miles away. You have to guide our friendly neighborhood PI through the level to his objectives while using wirejack to make the electrical things work in your favor and your jumping abilities to break glass and pacify guards.

Conclusion:

Gunpoint is fun and cheap but not for those who don’t enjoy puzzles but definitely worth adding to your Steam Library if you have friends that do.

Final Score: 7/10