Gunscape is a retro first-person shooter and Minecraft builder which could use a lot more polish to play on the go. It plays better on a proper computer screen because constructing maps is easier with a mouse and keyboard than what’s pre-defined on the Nintendo Switch. As a result, the controls don’t feel as intuitive when building, but perfect when fighting.
Otherwise, if you’re playing in another person’s sandbox with their construct, there’s a bit of fun to be had, assuming they added a story to go along with the map. The default scenario isn’t all that compelling, and I struggled to wonder why I’m roaming through this zombie laden lab at all.
Another issue comes from finding actual players to go toe to toe with. There are plenty of maps to try out from fellow gamers, but as for when they’re online, and if there’s a rating system, I didn’t find the alerts to make that immediately apparent.
Maybe that’s because not everyone is aware of this update or want to spend lots of time with it every day. Gunscape was originally released in 2016, and as for why it took eight years to get a port to the latest systems, only developers can answer that.
After making a custom map, one can playtest it with others or go crazy when you have a family of local gamers to battle it out with. The camera gets sensitive, and after enough practice, I got used to running around and targeting the enemy. As for knowing what to do, that depends on mastering the controls, so you can switch between weapons easily and do as much damage as possible. The game needs some tweaking before it can jump at you. I love the classics since gameplay is not as graphically demanding and has more emphasis on the story. Here, it’s only as good as those who stitch in some kind of narrative during all the fire fights going on.
As for keeping Gunscape in the library, I feel a large enough fanbase has to exist before it gets too quickly sunsetted. Therefore, I’ll keep the installation around and look again later, to see if more folks are playing. Otherwise this update may well be stuck in the water for being released too late.
3 Stars out of 5
Gunscape Promotional Trailer
