Developer: Necrosoft Games
Publisher: Other Ocean Interactive
Platform: PS Vita, iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch
Tested on: Nintendo Switch
Gunhouse – Review
Gunhouse is a combination of two fun genres: tower defense and puzzle. It has been out some time but has now been released for The Nintendo Switch. The game has a unique art style that really appeals to the eyes. The game was developed by Necrosoft Games and published by Other Ocean Interactive and we were lucky enough to give this game a go. Grab your trusty Joy-Con controllers and prepare yourself to use your big guns to defend the pitiful orphans.
Story
There isn’t an extensive story present in Gunhouse. You try to protect an orphanage and the cute little orphans inside of it. There is an arsenal of weapons that you use to defeat the baddies that try to abduct the orphans. To use these weapons, you have to load them with ammo obviously. The ammo for the weapons are blocks, of one type, that are at least 4×4 or bigger. Ammo can be used for guns or for specials that cover big areas. So you have to start puzzling to defend those adorable little orphans.
Graphics
The art style of Gunhouse is amazing, it looks sort of neon/pastel old cartoonish and every enemy is well animated. Backgrounds in Gunhouse are in the same style as the rest of the game and look quite good as well. Every day (in the game) you get a different background, some looking cooler than others. Every day has three different levels: noon, dusk and night. The background for that day becomes darker to account for the time change. So you do get a somewhat different color scheme every level.
The blocks that are used for the puzzle part of the game are the only thing that stands out to the rest of the games art style as they are a bit simpler. This isn’t a bad thing since you have to focus on the blocks the most during the puzzle part. The gun designs are pretty amazing as each type of block has a different gun linked to it. There is even a vegetable gun and a heartbeat gun. Because each gun is so different it makes the design fun to look at and easier to choose your favorite.
Sound
The music is very upbeat with a hint of tension creating tones. It fits in perfectly with the style of the game. The composer for Gunhouse is Disasterpeace, who also created the soundtrack for Fez, his style of music was a great choice for this game.
sound effects that are used in Gunhouse are mostly normal gun and projectile sounds. Often the sound effects get a bit much as you can be firing three guns at the same time with also the option to fire up to three specials. So it’s lucky that only the gun sounds really stand out.
Gameplay
Gunhouse is a puzzle and tower defense game where you defend an orphanage by using big guns. These big guns, of course, need ammo. This ammo you get by combining little blocks in big blocks of at least 4×4. The biggest block that you can create is 3×6 but this is the hardest to do, obviously, since you need to fill the entire raster with blocks. Each type of block has a different kind of gun linked to it. You start out with 3 types but once you collect some money by killing baddies you can purchase others in the store. Three slots are only available though, but you can switch those slots with the different types.
Each type of block has, besides the different type of gun, also a special. These specials cover a bigger area and do a bit more damage. You load guns by putting/swiping the blocks to the left and you load specials by putting/swiping them to the right. Swiping little blocks to the right or left doesn’t do anything but it does get rid of them. There is a strategy to combining blocks; the game does explain it a bit in the “tips” section but the best way to learn is by playing a lot. This way you can learn your own strategy or just learn how to use the strategy given by the developers.
There are three other things that you can buy in the store, besides different types of blocks and their upgrades, these are healing, extra hearts, and armor. You can only buy armor after you buy all the extra hearts available. Healing is quite handy to have since you get hearts back after killing enemies. This means that healing can save you last minute. The different types of blocks that you can buy, all have a different way to attack. Trying them all is the best strategy as only then you can find the three types that suit you the most. There are guns that only shoot in a straight line or guns that shoot some kind of “bombs” so that it takes a while to explode. So besides making big blocks, you also have to think about where you’re going to put them. This can be quite hard at times since you only have a limited time to combine blocks, to be more precise: about 17 seconds. Luckily you return to the puzzle part once your ammo runs out or the enemy had a chance to at least attack you.
Enemies come in all different shape and sizes. Bigger enemies are a lot harder to defeat and their attacks do a lot more damage, luckily they mostly attack a lot slower as well. The little baddies are faster and are the ones that often try to kidnap your orphans. As long as they haven’t gone off the screen, you can still defeat them and rescue the orphan. The littlest ones are often harder to hit since they’re so fast. Some specials only hit from above so they can’t get to the smaller ones when bigger enemies are above them.
Besides the regular baddies, there is also a big boss. The boss appears on the third level (night) each day. These bosses are quite hard because they can take so much damage. Each boss has a different design and does different kinds of attacks but they always try to take your orphans. With the bosses, you mostly don’t have to think about where you’re going to place your guns since you can always hit them. You just have to fire every gun and special you make.
On the Nintendo Switch, you get the option to either play on the television, handheld or in table mode. Since the Nintendo Switch also has a touch screen you get the option to play Gunhouse by using your fingers. This is actually a lot easier than using the Joy-Cons since the controls can be a bit wonky if you try to be a little too fast. Every time you move one or more blocks, you have to press the A button to confirm but this sometimes doesn’t react fast enough. Since you can swipe the blocks on the touch screen, you are as fast as your finger is.
Conclusion
Gunhouse is a really fun game. By combining the tower defense and puzzle genre, you get a really different kind of game. This game keeps you on the edge by only giving you a limited time to combine blocks. The art style is amazing and really adds to the feel of this game. So if you enjoy puzzle games or tower defense games then maybe give Gunhouse a try. Even if you are just looking for a game to enjoy yourself with, Gunhouse is a game perfect for that and can be enjoyed by all ages.
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