Review: Guns, Gore And Canolli

Title: Guns, Gore And Canolli
Platform: Mac, PC, PS4 and Xbox One (reviewed)
Developer: Crazy Monkey Studios
Publisher: Crazy Monkey Studios
Release date: April 2015 (PC/Mac) / Xbox One (September 25th, 2015) / PS4 (TBD)
Family Focus: Click here for more information.

Guns, Gore And Canolli takes place in the 1920s during the prohibition era. It stars Vinnie Cannoli who is hired by the Bellucio Family in order to track down a mysterious mobster by the name of Frankie. In order to track this fella down, Cannoli needs to travel to Thugtown; a city that went straight to hell shortly after St-Patrick’s Day and Frankie’s passage through the town. Although our protagonist doesn’t really care about anything else besides catching Frankie, he’s going to unravel a mystery.

The best way to describe Guns, Gore And Canolli? Imagine if Metal Slug featured Marlon Brando as the Godfather for a main character and instead of waking nobodies, you’re blowing up zombies and other mob members. It is a 2D shooter where you must make your way, or survive should I say, until the end of the level where you’ll face a standard boss. As Cannoli, you’re given a nice array of weapons allowing you to take on waves of the undead; along with a few human enemies trying to make things even more harder. Enemies do require quite a few bullets before going down; obviously scoring a headshot will save time and ammo. Luckily, with so many weapons to choose from, you’ll never be completely out of bullets. Once a gun is empty, you’ll automatically equip the next weapon and you just keep on shooting. Certain enemies drop ammo, otherwise you’ll find plenty across the destroyed city. At times you’ll often be surrounded by a large amount of enemies, you can kick to push them back in order to give you some breathing space.

Enemy design is easily one of the game’s strong points. The city is crawling with the undead in many shapes and forms providing a fun variety of enemies to blow up. Some bigger enemies however will blow up when you shoot them, so be careful to not be in close vicinity to avoid damage. Once you get closer to the city, you’ll come across an army of soldiers hellbent to keep you out; they provide an additional challenge as they are tougher than zombie enemies. They have massive firepower and they come in large numbers. You think only humans were affected by the disaster? Think again. Once you venture down the sewers, you’ll come across giant rats which are quite aggressive and can also spit acid. Finally, mobsters from a rival gang will also do their darndest to stop you but after surviving the army, these guys are chump change.

As stated above, Canolli gets a nice set of weapons to survive this apocalypse. As you progress through the game, you’ll quickly find yourself armed to the teeth. Starting off with an unlimited pistol is fine, but to survive the onslaught, Canolli will find shotguns, a tommy gun, rocket launcher and flamethrower just to name a few and because I don’t to spoil anything. One of the final guns you’ll find is….electrifying. What would a mobster be without throwing weapons? Canolli will have grenades and molotovs as his disposal. There are a few platforming sections amidst the carnage. A quick press on the jump button will have our player do a short jump, while holding it down will make Canolli reach higher heights. Unfortunately, you can’t shoot up or down, so you’ll have to jump up and down taking enemies on a different level.

Luckily, once you’re done with the campaign, there are additional challenges to take on. You can either replay the game on higher difficulty settings, play cooperatively with up to 4 friends or even play against other human players.

The game features beautiful hand drawn 2D graphics full of very bright colors making the decrepit city of Thugtown come to life…sort of. Although sometimes, you’ll lose sight of Canolli through the shiny waves of enemies or when you walk through a building; which is sort of annoying as it results in death or jumping around constantly in order to keep track of the character. Audio wise, the game does have a fairly entertaining score which represents well the 1920s/Mafia era. Nothing that really stands out, but matches the game setting perfectly. Our protagonist also shouts out hilarious little one liners after most kills, bringing a bit of humor to this apocalyptic 1920s.

Guns, Gore And Canolli is a must play for gamers craving classic 2D shooters such as Contra and Metal Slug. Albeit a bit on the short side, the game provides a fun challenge and thanks to the wide array of enemies and weapons, it brings a layer of variety. There a few annoyances such as getting lost in the background or large group of enemies, but won’t hinder the experience at all. And although it’s another game that features zombies (haven’t we had enough yet?), the fact that it’s presented in 2D instead of the traditional 3D is a must play for gamers craving something that both feels new and old again.