There’s definitely something to be said about Daedalic Entertainment’s newest title and while it is a valid argument, no it’s not about the odd choice for a video game title. Wildcat Gun Machine’s main talking point is that nothing has already been said and done… like literally nothing. You load in with no such thing as an explanation, a backstory or even an introduction to what you’re getting into. Heck, I don’t even know if our main protagonist is called Wildcat or she might just not have a name at all. But for the sake of argument, we’ll just call her Lisa and yes I am dead serious about it.
Having zero explanations on a video game is a bit of a refreshing scent, to say the least. There are times you really just want to shoot some guys and I’m not saying they’re the bad ones but who the frick cares, am I right? The idea with Wildcat Gun Machine’s main driving force is that our theoretical “Lisa” is in a maze of corridors and interconnected rooms of which some are locked and needs a supposed key that is conveniently placed in rooms that aren’t supposed to be locked. However each new room she gets into might also be where the theoretical bad guys hang out and thus the bullet-hell twin-stick shooter that is Wildcat Gun Machine is made.
Think of it as old-school DOOM. A classic that’s been reinvented in an isometric fashion with things such as a multitude of weapons to play around with and gruesome monsters to blast their innards for the sake of the gore and action that comes along with it. But what makes Wildcat Gun Machine different or in some ways fun, is that our theoretical Lisa can unlock certain upgrades to her kit like ghost cats for extra lives, don’t know why that’s a thing but it is here, along with purchasable handguns with different effects like piercing bullets or just the straightforward huge balls of bullets?! However, there’s also stuff you’d unlock as you progress like carefully placed primary weapons in specific rooms throughout the levels such as assault rifles or the fun little lasers that eat the shit out of your ammo and even an unlimited grenade that’s on a cooldown.
On paper, the idea is great but execution-wise, it just doesn’t feel quite right. Maybe it’s the lack of a driving force to keep me from pushing forward due to its lack of a story to keep me invested with Lisa or it could also just be the fact that the early game feels a tad too simple and doesn’t really go to the crazy extremes I expected from such a video game title. You don’t exactly go into a state of going “wildcat” when all you’re really doing is changing from one weapon to the other instead of most bullet-hells I’m used to where it goes into the extremes of filling entire rooms as you spray bullets all over. So what I’m saying is that unlike most games I’m used to, Wildcat Gun Machine’s progression doesn’t particularly feel all that impactful when most of the resources you get from killing enemies don’t translate to an obvious upgrade to your current weapon and more on a new feel that may or may not be all that better to what you already got a few purchases ago. Honestly, there’s nothing wrong with this idea but it also just doesn’t give you that much to look forward to.
When it comes to encounters in each room though, there is at least some sort of variable and ever-improving types of enemies that you’ll be facing aside from the traps and environmental hazards that could very well be the thing that could stop you in your tracks. It provides just the right amount of challenge and thrill to keep the game from being stale when the game is as straightforward as moving from one room to the next and fighting typical bosses with extremely large health bars. It’s a murder festival, to say the least, as you try to lure waves of floating flaming skull enemies near barrels of explosives or just straight up melt them down with some good ol’ lasers and grenades. Meanwhile, boss encounters are tough and really test your mettle and patience as you dodge and dance around waves of bullets in what I would consider an extremely long fight due to their large health bars.
Visually, Wildcat Gun Machine despite being filled with just corridors and interconnected rooms still provide some great art style with its straight-from-hell-like enemies and bosses along with a cool AF protagonist that I shouldn’t even have called Lisa. However, I still feel like it could’ve done better for its handcrafted levels and gave it a little bit more of that visual touch to keep most rooms from being just a room.
Wildcat Gun Machine doesn’t have a story, it doesn’t have the driving force of games you’d play for its great narratives and maybe that’s okay or maybe it’s not. I, myself, am still not convinced that it doesn’t deserve to have a named protagonist or know what drives her to slay the spawns of hell but really, who cares? Despite not having all that, Wildcat Gun Machine provides the kind of challenge and fun to most room encounters thanks to the varied enemy types you encounter for each one and to some carefully placed exploitable traps to clear waves of enemies or whatnot. It’s as challenging as it is frustrating in most cases and it definitely gives a sort of achievement when you finally clear a level or two aside from all the possible weapons you could get. This might not be the dark souls of bullet hells and twin-stick shooters but it made a bloody good attempt at being one.
Developer: Chunkybox Games
Publisher: DAEDALIC Entertainment GmbH
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X and Series S, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows
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