Game:

Gunpoint (2013)

Category:

Review

Duration: 15:25

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Gunpoint: Indie Spotlight (Includes Review & Gameplay)

First Impressions Reviews is a series that looks at new games and games that appear on a steam sale. We provide a forecast of what we expect from the game, experience the game play, and then give a final verdict. We're reviewing them for you before you buy them for yourselves.

Gunpoint is a stealth puzzle game that lets you rewire its levels to trick people. In Gunpoint, you play a freelance spy who takes jobs from his clients to break into high security buildings and steal sensitive data. To get past security, you'll need to make creative use of your main gadget: the Crosslink.

Gunpoint is divided into a number of missions, between which the player, as Richard Conway, interacts with others through a PDA to accept missions, shop for new gear, and allocate resource points among various abilities Conway possesses. Each mission typically involves entering a building and hack into a computer, and then making way for the exit point of the level. Initially missions are provided in a linear order but the game provides optional missions later.

Gunpoint is normally shown to the player as in the bottom left of the above screenshot, showing a cross-section of the building. When in Crosslink mode, shown on the upper right, much of the building is shown in silhouette to highlight circuits and how devices are connected to those circuits (red lines). The player can manipulate these to sneak around the building to complete missions.

The building is presented in a two-dimensional cross-section on screen, showing the locations of guards, doors, switch panels, lights, security cameras, and other features, including the target objectives. The player, as Conway, can run and climb on walls, use stairwells and elevators, and using the abilities of Conway's "Bullfrog" hypertrousers, can launch the character great heights or distances, potentially tackling guards or breaking through glass walls. Conway can survive long falls, but can be killed by a single gunshot, thus requiring the player to stay out of the guards' line of sight.

Within a few missions, the player gains access to the Crosslink device. This allows the player to change the view to show all the security features of the building and their current connectivity, such as the light controlled by a given light switch. From here, the player can rewire these controls, within the current limits of the Crosslink, such as by making a light switch control a secured door, or by completely disabling a security feature. The availability of which controls can be affected is initially limited at the start of the game, but as the player earns in-game money, they can buy improved features, such as being able to control encrypted controls or even affect weapons carried by guards. With the Crosslink, the player can then create situations that would allow them to sneak through without being detected by guards, lure the guards into areas where they can be neutralized, or simply to gain access to secured areas of the facility. Other tools to help navigate the building and avoid guards become available to purchase later. The player is ranked at the end of each mission based on time taken, number of guards knocked out/killed, number of times they were spotted, and how much noise or distraction they created.

The game includes a level editor to allow players to create their own challenges.

Gunpoint Website: http://www.gunpointgame.com/
Gunpoint Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/206190
Gunpoint Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpoint_(video_game)
Tom Francis: http://www.pentadact.com/tag/gunpoint/

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