There’s definitely something special and unique happening over at Crazy Monkey Studios, the team behind Guns, Gore and Cannoli. It’s obvious even from the game’s absurd and whimsical name: the title Guns, Gore and Cannoli doesn’t inherently command respect, instilling instead a vision of a silly and thematically shallow indie comedy. While there are undoubtedly comedic (and plenty of nonsensical) elements present throughout the game’s six-hour campaign, Guns, Gore and Cannoli instead attempts to challenge these preconceived perceptions and offers the player a different experience altogether: One of a serious game set within a fantastically preposterous world, founded on simplified gameplay mechanics and shocking oddball circumstances.
What sets Guns, Gore and Cannoli apart from other games of similar genre and structure is just how serious it takes itself at times. Laugh-out-loud moments were surprisingly rare, instead letting the game rely on seemingly random oddities and heightened stereotypical characters to fulfill the comedic requirement. The development team knew what they were doing as they approached such a bipolar project, and they created a game that never tries to be more than it is, allowing Guns, Gore and Cannoli to offer the best it has to the player. Simple but efficient systems make up the gameplay: move left and right on a 2D level, jump with x, shoot with R2; Everything else the player can do is just a bonus to the purity of these platform shooter procedures. In this, Guns, Gore and Cannoli manages a delicate balance between honoring the history of the 2D platform shooter (Earthworm Jim jumps immediately to mind) while also taking advantage of modern technological advantages.
Unfortunately, a lackluster story achieves only enough to act as a vessel for the player to explore the gameplay mechanics rather than truly taking the experience to new heights. A brief introductory video tells the story of Vinnie Cannoli, a gangster in the 1920’s, who has been hired by Mr. Bellucio to rescue a man named Frankie from the rival gang in Thugtown. The catch happens to be that almost all of the city’s inhabitants have been turned into zombies. Getting off of the boat that brought Vinnie to the city acts as the tutorial for the game, though it only takes mere minutes to understand the concepts and controls.
That which gives Guns, Gore and Cannoli such a unique sense of self, namely its deliberately serious approach to absurdity, often drags the story down into a place of stale and banal cliches. The big twist in the middle of the game can not only be seen from a mile away, but also falls entirely flat, lost in a moment of attempting to give too much weight to something so ridiculous. The story never picks up either. Everything unfolds exactly as one might imagine and, while this plot serves well the purpose of building to a thoughtful and well balanced final level (not to mention a fantastically climactic final battle), it never becomes more than a mean to those ends.
The other potentially major issue within Guns, Gore and Cannoli is perhaps a more fundamental and base problem inside of the game’s structure. Having various levels of difficulty is standard practice in modern gaming, and Guns, Gore and Cannoli offers the player four different options. Normal mode proved itself to be a respectful challenge across the board for the first two to two-and-a-half hours. But after that there was an extremely steep and sudden increase in difficulty, causing any sort of progression to come to an immediate halt. The number of enemies on the screen tripled, their attacks came faster and harder, the terrain offered no assistance, and better weaponry was much farther ahead within the game. Such an occurrence may not be too much of an issue for the most hardcore of gamers. However, this sort of fundamental balance issue, especially one so drastic and fast, can many times drive away casual gamers who may be more inclined to play on easy or normal modes.
All of that is truly a shame because Guns, Gore and Cannoli, in it’s unassuming and sincere approach to the silly and frivolous, offers so much for players to love. The art style is beautiful, portraying this heightened version of the 1920’s in a dark, yet vibrant, 2D cartoon style. The animations are both excellent and hilarious, as demonstrated in the large variety of ways the player can cause zombies to explode across the stage in a manner that was always satisfying. Even the audio serves the game well. In one military-themed level, for example, a rendition of “When Johnny Comes Marching Home” (the Civil War-era anthem that may be better known as “The Ants Go Marching One by One”) weaves subtly in the background amidst the gas-bomb and rocket-laden battlefield. This appropriately sets the atmosphere for the level and the new enemies about to appear. It became clear when R2-D2 made a cameo that this team understands how to combine quality with candid playfulness.
In speaking on the time period of Guns, Gore and Cannoli; The manner in which the project approaches the 1920’s setting is far and away the understated highlight of the entire experience. The character Frankie makes a point of mentioning he is a veteran of the Great War (as World War II hasn’t happened yet), the prohibition carries a substantial role in the story, and even small elements such as cars and phonographs in the backdrop bring the period to life. For a small indie comedy (to over-simplify this project’s complex categorization), this level of depth and representation is a testament to the devotion of the artists behind it.
While the fundamental controls are simple to promote an effective exploration of the 2D platform shooter, there is an element of depth within the game’s systems. Vinnie begins the game with a simple handgun (which conveniently has infinite ammo for those moments when things get tight), but throughout the game gains access to new weapons. These include a Tommy gun, rocket launcher, and even a Teslacoil gun which allows the player to electrocute all of the enemies within range. These guns never come with an explanation or tutorial, but the game utilizes subtle clues and visual guides to help the player learn while on the move, keeping the pace of the game flowing. Other control mechanics help keep things moving as well, utilizing staples of the genre like a grenade or molotov to break up large groups, or a melee attack to give Vinnie a breather when he’s overwhelmed.
The PlayStation 4 version of Guns, Gore and Cannoli also offers local co-op and a wonderfully zany four-player Versus mode. These additions actually help address (in a sense) the few issues that weigh the game down. Having a friend or two jump into the roaring 1920s with you does in fact help alleviate the overwhelming difficulty jump midway through the game’s campaign. Even if the difficulty proves too much at times, it does allow for some good laughs. However, it’s the minimally emphasized Versus mode which really takes the cake. In Versus, up to four local players (or AI characters) can battle it out on a number of unique stages with the various weapons from the campaign. The amount of options and conditions the players have control over in this mode is worthy of applause, and the raw chaos of Versus is a joy to behold, as it features all of the best aspects of Guns, Gore and Cannoli without being held back by the restraints of a forced story.
There is little doubt that Crazy Monkey Studios is a team of passionate and dedicated individuals; The sheer truth of their artistic exploration pours out of almost every facet of this game. Guns, Gore and Cannoli manages to walk a tightrope between violent murder and zombie leprechauns hanging upside down in the air from one leg tied to a balloon, which can be no easy feat. Though an unsatisfying story and some fundamental difficulty balancing issues plague the game, Guns, Gore and Cannoli is a successful achievement in attention to detail, effective game play, and a unique approach to comedic insanity.
A PS4 code for Guns, Gore, & Cannoli was provided by Crazy Monkey Studios for the purpose of this review