Gunman Clive hit the 3DS eShop in early 2013, and somehow I was nearly completely oblivious to it’s existence for months. Picking it up on a whim while it was on sale, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the game’s stripped down bare essentials platforming. While never taking the world by storm, I feel like Gunman Clive deserved more recognition than it received. Two years later, Hörberg Productions has hit the 3DS eShop with Gunman Clive 2. Is this just more of the same, or something new entirely? In truth, it’s a bit of both.
The core gameplay of Gunman Clive hasn’t changed a lot since the original game. Reminiscent of classic platformers of old, the platforming is refreshingly simple. Running, jumping and shooting are all you really need to worry about for the most part. Most of the game’s 25 levels are played in traditional side-scrolling platformer style, and the controls during these segments are tight and responsive. Movement has a definite momentum which might seem unfamiliar at first but will soon become second nature.
It’s a good thing that the platforming is so reliable, since Gunman Clive 2 offers up some hefty challenge, a real test of your platforming abilities. There are no lives, so you’ll never see a Game Over screen, but Clive 2 is still quite unforgiving. There are no mid-level checkpoints, so death sends you back to the start of a level. Levels only last a minute or two, though Clive demands your complete attention and skills to survive to the end of these short levels. There is some reprieve in how you return to the start of a level near instantly on death, which does help to prevent frustration and really bolster that ‘just one more go’ impulse.
While the small set of available actions might make Clive seem simple on first glance, after a few levels you’ll really see how Hörberg expands on these simple controls by building some genius level designs around them. Altered gravity and animal riding sections can really test your reflexes and understanding of the game’s mechanics. Levels proceed through some unexpected locales as well. If you ever wanted to play as a bloke (or lady, or chieftain, or duck) riding a minecart across the backs of dinosaurs, well, Gunman Clive 2 will let you play out that bizarrely specific desire.
New to Gunman Clive 2 are flying combat levels, placing Clive or one of the other playable characters on a flying machine appropriate to the surroundings. These levels feel incredibly reminiscent of classic Lylat Wars (or Star Fox, if you’re that way inclined), giving players environmental obstacles to dodge, and enemy creatures to shoot if they get in your way. These levels are not frequent enough to take the spotlight away from the stellar platforming levels, but are definitely a pleasant change of pace after a length of non-stop runny-shooty.
The original Gunman Clive still looks incredibly unique. Even two years after it’s release, no other game has borrowed it’s interesting hand drawn visual style. For those unfamiliar, every one of Clive’s 60 frames per second is rendered with textures and effects that give it the look of a hand drawn piece of pencil art. Line shading and smooth animation really serve to make Clive (and Clive 2) stand out from other platformers on a visual level, and brightly coloured hazards help to make sure important parts of the level aren’t lost in the shaded aesthetic. While sound effects are more functional than impressive, the music of Gunman Clive 2 is well composed. Each level’s accompanying backing track helps keep the action flowing and reinforces the theme of each area.
Gunman Clive 2 is not a lengthy game. Through all of it’s levels and challenges, I found myself seeing The End after two hours of gameplay. It doesn’t seem much when compared to many other indie or AAA titles, however I feel this is a perfect length for this kind of game. Across the 25 levels you get just enough time to really come to grips with the game’s mechanics and hone your skills without ever feeling like you’re just playing padding for the sake of length. For players that find themselves wanting more after defeating the final levels, there are hard difficulty levels to try out as well as a total of four characters to play through with, each with their own attack styles. For the price, I’d argue that Gunman Clive 2 delivers more than enough intriguing gameplay to feel substantial.
I’m honestly finding it difficult to fault Gunman Clive 2. It’s certainly no AAA big budget platformer, but it never intended to be. It’s fairly unassuming, but people who take a chance on it’s tiny price tag will find a short but satisfying platformer that will remain fresh throughout it’s play time. Gunman Clive takes action-platformers back to their relative basics, and is an absolutely worthwhile purchase and play experience.
Rating: 4/5
No rush, you got until June 30th.
So much Shovel Knight.
First time on a Nintendo platform.