We love a good retro shooter here at Fusion and developer Matt Glanville’s latest offering, GunSuit Guardians, is blasting its way to onto Steam soon. We checkout the early access release of this pixel twin stick gun-a-thon to see how it’s shaping up.
Gunsuit Guardians mixes elements from rogue-lites, twin-stick shooters and survival games as you make your way through 20 waves of enemies. No two runs are the same due to the random upgrades that increase your firepower, weapon loadout and buffs to your suit. You also collect coins that can be used after each run to make permanent improvements to your suit that will make the next run that little bit easier.
Each run starts with a few enemies flying around the procedurally generated landscape that seems to go on forever but it soon gets frantic as the swarm grows. You can’t clear any waves as enemies constantly respawn as the timer for the next wave decreases. Each wave has its own new enemy type to destroy with a giant boss appearing every five waves.
You can manually shoot your cannons but be careful as they do require a cooldown every few seconds. Gunsuit Guardians is easier if you leave the auto shoot setting on as your character will aim and shoot on his own leaving you the task of avoiding the swarm by jetting about and boosting into clear spaces.
Along the way, there are power-ups and bonuses to find that not only increase your power and speed but supply you with vital coins needed for permanent upgrades. You also have special moves and new suits to unlock with each having different benefits. The overall gameplay is solid and the balance between shooting, moving and collecting means this is a real challenge at times and will require you to think about your approach to each wave.
You have a level-up system that enables you to choose one new upgrade each time and your choices are usually determined by what aspect of your loadout is currently weakest. The graphics and sounds are decent, especially the bold pixel art that is clear on screen. There is a great use of colour to distinguish the different enemies and shot types so you always know where you are and what you need to do to survive.
For the price, Gunsuit Guardians is a real bargain. You may start to finish the 20 waves after a few goes but to get the high score on the online leaderboard will take practice and you will certainly have to unlock all the suits, weapons and buffs to be the champion.
This may not be the deepest or most challenging of shooters but Gunsuit Guardians is very fun and the perfect title for those looking for a quick blast without breaking the bank. Those looking for an in-depth shooter may find this one lacking a little but arcade fans will enjoy the frantic nature of this game that gets better the more you improve.
