Some video games are just prime Devolver Digital material at first blush. Such is the case with the publisher’s newest outing Gunbrella, courtesy of studio Doinksoft, best known for their earlier Devolver titles Gato Roboto and the physical-cartridge-only Nintendo Switch game, Demon Throttle. It’s a curious studio whose previous work evinces its love for retro-themed action, and Gunbrella is looking like the most altogether cohesive release yet to manifest from this partnership.
Screen Rant had the opportunity to test-run the first few hours of Gunbrella’s campaign, and we left feeling quite confident about the finished game to come. This looks to be a tightly responsive platformer with some light RPG and adventure elements, all wrapped up in a sneakily dark post-apocalyptic revenge-themed western.
A Punchy, Funny Game World
The game’s titular Gunbrella is a special combination of an umbrella and multipurpose firearm, a crucial tool which allows the player to block or deflect projectiles, float in the air with a dash jump and, of course, rain double-chambered hell on any enemies before them. As the central anchoring mechanic of the experience, it’s entirely and immediately successful, adding instant momentum to movement and turning what could have been a more basic action platformer into a dynamic, agile game which usually offers multiple routes with this tool.
The introduction tempers any apparent levity, though, with a murdered family and clear path of revenge for the main character. It’s a moment which s several other somber and even morbidly weird story beats, moments which seem a little at odds with Gunbrella’s snappy platformer DNA and otherwise quirky humor. Rather than feel like a surprise tonal shift, the game means to square these contrasting narrative textures, and whether it’s successful in that regard will probably vary with the player.
The first few hours reveal some eldritch underpinnings to that narrative which add an engaging unpredictability to where else the twists of the story will ultimately travel. Regardless, the writing is punchy, usually funny, and succeeds at Gunbrella’s attempts to build its world out, with numerous odd details to discern among its available areas, all of which are connected by a troublesome train.
Fun Run n' Gun
Gunbrella’s unnamed hero will use that to jump between these rundown locales, pursuing the villain who stole everything they loved. This usually means busting through gang hideouts and (literally) painting the floor with whoever might be inside, though there are some light puzzles and side quests to break up the otherwise straightforward run’n’gun action.
Gunplay feels responsive, though our preview portion never presented too much of a challenge. A variety of health consumables helps prevent untimely deaths, and some limited alternate ammo turns the base and infinitely replenishing shotgun version of the Gunbrella into a long-distance machine gun, though this was rarely required successfully rinse any area of its baddies.
A Visual Revolution
Adding to the aforementioned tonal shifts, Gunbrella’s soundtrack is one of its standout assets. It offers a trundling mix of ambient tracks which seems largely influenced by the future garage, 2-step house machinations of UK electronic artists like Burial and Zomby, and the surrounding sound effects and audio mix further add to the overall eeriness the game is trying to sell.
Visually, Gunbrella looks to be an evolution of Doinksoft’s previous work, with finely detailed pixel art couched in a grungy and gritty style throughout. Backgrounds and surfaces are all cast in various lighting effects that further set the mood, and many of the NPCs we encountered feature characterful close-up portraits and unique animations. For pixel art lovers, the game presents a uniquely dirty and messy aesthetic, and most dispatched foes leave behind chunks of flesh and viscera that scatter wildly when dashing through them with the open umbrella equipped.
Many of the environments we explored in the Gunbrella preview revealed fascinating little surprises, including the sloppy hideout for a junkyard gang, a cult compound with imprisoned human sacrifices, and a snowy mountain mine with tricky platforming sections right out of Celeste's later levels. It’s a game which doles out its mysteries at a fast clip, and there’s even a sizable one to solve about where the Gunbrella weapon itself originated. Furthermore, there's more than a few forked paths to mull over, so multiple playthroughs might also be in order.
By the end of the Gunbrella preview, a few of those mysteries might be cashed in, but vengeance still appears quite distant. There’s a strong push to see Doinksoft’s bizarre tale through, and it’s kept alive by how much fun the Gunbrella is to use, both in and out of combat. Although some visible stats in the start menu imply that unlockable upgrades are limited, blasting enemies to literal bits and meeting the game’s roster of weird NPCs has been great fun so far. With Gunbrella, Doinksoft’s biggest game to date might also end up being its best.
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Gunbrella releases later this year on PC and Nintendo Switch.
