For almost six months, a small team led by Beau Blyth has been working on Samurai Gunn 2. Early access began on Steam last July and regular updates should last for another six months. The developers prefer to take their time, which shouldn't prevent us from enjoying this preview.
Samurai Gunn 2 is a logical follow-up to Samurai Gunn, a game that is already almost eight years old. The concept obviously does not really change between the two opuses and it is always a question of honoring the local multiplayer confrontations through a game of samurai – not without kidding! – at a particularly high pace. Up to four players can thus compete on logically renewed tables for a sequel which attempts to apply the “Mister Plus” formula to a formidably effective concept.
Reader and Fortune Teller
For anyone who knows Samurai Gunn first of the name, landing on the main menu of this sequel is surprising. While enthroned a vibrant start on Samurai Gunn, the second actually offers three main options: a campaign mode, the inevitable and classic versus as well as a comic. We will move on to this third option very quickly, for now it is a question of reading the first chapter of Trigger Soul by Valentin Seiche. The result is nice, but let's recognize that the PC screen is not the best way to enjoy it.
The other surprise comes from the presence of a campaign mode, “adventure”. To be honest, we will evacuate this second game option almost as quickly as it is still largely in development. It allows solo or several to embark on a kind of adventure. On a rather hideous world map, this allows you to chain events that the developers want as varied as possible. For the moment, we walk around without having much of a goal on this map and as soon as we approach an important place, a "dungeon" comes out of the ground.
It is then a question of participating in a confrontation against creatures managed by artificial intelligence. Of course, the first challenges are extremely simple with a handful of humanoids to knock out and without any particular originality. Thereafter, things get tough and you can have creatures that come from all corners of the level, critters that walk on the ceiling, others that give the impression of teleporting. As you can imagine, the difficulty of these challenges will increase even if, for the moment, things are quite simple.
All the more simple besides that one plays with several. No doubt the developers will adjust things as development progresses. They have already pointed out that this campaign is planned to be much longer whereas currently, everything can be completed in a single game session, provided that the participants know a little about the principle of Samurai Gunn. Still, of course, the heart of a game like Samurai Gunn 2 lies rather in the clashes between human players.
Katana Among Us… but not too deep!
The cooperative is nice for five minutes, but what we want is to be able to cut up the brother, massacre the friends or knock out the little cousin with a well-adjusted return of the ball. In a word like in "blood", we want to find all the pleasure of playing Samurai Gunn with these little extras that make all the salt of a successful sequel and, for the moment, Samurai Gunn 2 seems to tick a lot of boxes. First of all, it should be noted that it is no longer just a question of local confrontations, the “online” is making its debut.
It is indeed possible to launch parties to face players from everywhere. As it stands, the concept is unfortunately a bit flawed insofar as we do not yet see how the level system can work and we therefore find ourselves facing players much weaker / much stronger than us reducing as much the interest of these confrontations. On the other hand, technically, it does not work badly at all and it therefore bodes well for the rest of the events. We just hope that a ranking/level system will be on the menu.
The online mode has of course for him to be able to be "limited". Hear by this that we can create a party and invite only selected people, by sending them an invitation for example. This allows you to stay with good people, above all it allows you to organize real parties between friends, at a distance, as you would do in the living room in one or the other. Moreover, apart from this connection mode, the operation of the parties is strictly identical whether one is remotely or locally.
It is therefore always clashes between a maximum of four players on tables very different from each other. It is also high time to discuss the main new features of this suite which enriches the number of selectable characters by making, for example, nods to well-known games. Of course, we find the heroes of the first opus (Hayao, Otomo or Hiroshi) and if there is obviously no question of integrating the hidden characters of Samurai Gunn, we can count on the arrival of a lot of newcomers .
new blood
Helmsley, Slug, Pops or Golem all present a new style, but we will focus more readily on the integration of Ana from Spelunky 2, Minit which comes from the eponymous game or Impostor and Crewmaster from Among Us This kind of crossover is fashionable and suits a game of the caliber of Samurai Gunn 2 particularly well. Previously, it was simply a question of jumping, "slashing" or shooting with one of the three bullets in our magazine.
Samurai Gunn 2 comes to bring a little new blood, even if the heart of the game remains the perfect mastery of simple techniques and a keen sense of timing. Jumping can be boosted by holding the down key activated and it is still possible to jump on walls. Slashing is done in all directions and returning a ball is always on the menu. The gun holds only three bullets and can be fired in all directions. The dash, via the left trigger, makes its entry: it consumes a bullet, but allows you to slide aside while avoiding sword blows.
Horishi king of the “two in one” dash
A system of combinations allows jumping / slashing at the same time, doubling the speed of our bullets or slashing just after a shot. More importantly, each hero has its specificities and the Impostor for example has no shooting limit and camouflages itself to be almost invisible. Horishi also has invisibility, but only by dashing, an action that allows him to fire bullets that are then invisible. Otomo has a constant boost to his speed as his bullets create a spray of fire when they hit the ground. Hayao has the ability to climb walls and he moves faster on the ground.
For his part, Minit throws his sword rather than firing bullets. In fact, he doesn't have that three-ball limit. Ana can use a jetpack to fly, bombs instead of bullets, and has the ability to use a rope to climb. Golem's bullets are able to destroy those of others while Pops fires explosives that knock out nearby characters. The studio has already announced the arrival of other heroes to further enrich the distribution and it is not excluded that adjustments modify the current heroes. After all, that's what early access is for.
JVFR
JVFR
Characters from Among Us, Spelunky or Minit complete the basic cast and other heroes are to come © Nerces
Same thing for the environments which are perhaps far from final. At present, we can already count on a great variety with a procedurally generated level for Spelunky, a "flagship" level around Minit, a level where it is possible to cut the light for Among Us and many others. more “neutral” levels for a total of 19 paintings. We appreciate the great variety of each of these levels, but it is impossible not to regret the disappearance of quantities of tables from the base game, in particular those with moving mechanical parts.
JVFR
Thinly sliced
Still, Samurai Gunn 2 suffers from a slightly more annoying "problem", such as a change in orientation. The first game had its formidable simplicity and any player could quickly get into the game. Experienced players had an advantage, but it was still possible to have fun and "get it all" in minutes. Samurai Gunn 2 plays more on the technique card and there are more controls. Thus, the clashes with four players are particularly delicate for newcomers who will have all the trouble in the world to progress, even more than on the first opus.
Don't make us say what we didn't say, that doesn't make Samurai Gunn 2 a bad game. The clashes are still as nervous, the fun is there, but it will probably be less easy to get out the game for a quick game with passing friends. On the other hand, the slightly more technical aspect should delight the old backpackers of the first opus and the integration of online quickplay should make it possible to find players of their level. Of course, we will have to see what all this gives in the final version, the developers still have plenty of time to adjust things.
Planned release "during 2022" only on PC and Switch for the moment.
