Gunman Clive

iOS ports on the PC tend to be rather hit-or-miss; some are done in a decent fashion, while others have little justification for being on the PC in the first place. The journey of Gunman Clive to the PC stopped first at the iOS and 3DS stations beforehand and, as with every game initially made for mobile platforms, one has to ask whether or not it’s actually worth picking up on PC.

Gunman Clive starts without much exposition. A supposed Mr. Johnson’s daughter is kidnapped by bandits, the titular hero being tasked, by his role, with rescuing the damsel in distress. The player is thrown right into the gist of it, and familiarizing oneself with the controls and the game mechanics is far from difficult. All you will be required to do in order to progress is pass through rather basic platforming sequences that are spiced up by fights with the enemy.

As you progress through the game you’ll battle a number of static or patrolling foes. Some are positioned in windows, others come from trap doors as you approach them.  Then, there are ducks that move around, waiting for that miscalculated step that will plunge you into their feathery selves, leaving you devoid of life, having to restart the level. Platforming segments offer a small variety of traps, such as the classic insta-kill spikes, fans that make movement in a certain direction easier or more difficult and blocks that fall from under you, should you attempt to make yourself comfortable on top of them for too long. The gradual manner in which they are added to the gameplay contributes to avoiding tedium from setting in.

A number of guns with different types of projectiles may drop from enemies as you vanquish them, however, take one hit and you’re back to your initial firearm. So far, this should be familiar to most people who’ve spent some time with old-school action platformers, because the game makes it known that it wants to imitate them. The different difficulty settings alter the gameplay a little bit, providing some replayability. The easiest lets you play as a healthier Clive, aided by checkpoints that save your progress, while normal difficulty takes away a chunk of health and returns you to the very beginning of the stage, should you cross paths with too many enemies or projectiles.

The length of the levels is more than enough to turn what could be punishment into a very enjoyable time as the longest ones will take somewhere around 90 seconds to complete. Given the fact that there are only twenty stages in the game, Gunman Clive is far from being a long title. As you will die a couple of times before learning certain positions of enemies or how to take down that one boss, one playthrough shouldn’t be longer than an hour and a half. It is worth noting though that there is potential replayability through the introduction of two extra characters with slightly altered gameplay. Miss Johnson can slow her speed while descending in the air while the other character is a duck. And you want to play as a duck.

When one mentions a predominantly brown graphical style you may automatically think about modern military shooters and, perhaps, unnecessary repetition. Brown is clearly the predominant nuance in Gunman Clive. There’s even a tendency towards an almost monochrome theme when it comes to the visuals, with enemies being highlighted using powerful color contrasts. These details alongside the game’s watercolour/hand-drawn style, both sets it apart from the crowd and pleases the eye in a great fashion. The music present also has a retro feel, but somehow manages to keep itself in line with the “clean” aspect of the title, adding to the Wild West setting.

Gunman Clive is difficult to hate. It offers fluid gameplay that emulates the platformers of old, combined with a very clean overall aesthetic. Sure, the premise may be underdeveloped, if analyzed closely, and maybe some will be put off by the brevity of the title, but for a project developed in one’s free time that costs a mere 3 euros, it’s impossible not to recommend Gunman Clive. On top of that, why would you miss the opportunity of playing as a duck?

MateÈ™ Bogdan Robert, NoobFeed
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