Enemies/Weapons

Enemies

The enemy count in this game was fairly low, probably hovering in the one or two hand region. There were two or three robots that you fight, one dinosaur, a scorpion, three oddly shaped creatures, an alligator, and a cowboy. It may sound like a quite a few, but the variety when it came to each level was pretty low. Either you were fighting scorpions and dinosaurs or it was cowboys and oddly shaped creatures, or some combination of the two.

Most of the common beasties aren't impressive, but the few large ones that you encounter are a real treat. The size and fluidity of their movements is really impressive. The brontosaurus and other large creatures have to be just as cool as Kabuto in Giants.

Ack!	Convention?

AI

Sadly, the enemy AI leaves a lot to be desired. Many enemies could be sidestepped or killed from far off distances. Those that did put up a fight had decent aim, but invariably moved in a totally random fashion.

Weapons

What variation the enemies lacked was totally made up for in the plethora of ways you could kill them with. Gunman is truly unique in the tweakability you can get out of your weapons. The primary weapon the game starts you with has four levels of customization, each permutation resulting in something that is totally different. In one mode it is a sniper rifle, another mode turns it into something like a machine gun. Very dope. The same level of customizability goes for explosives, missiles, and just about every other gun. If we counted up all the combinations, we would have a number well into the double digits, 32 to be exact (if Rewolf's count is accurate).

Crackle away

Some turret action

Unfortunately, we seldom used this feature. You simply don't have time to fiddle with three different settings while trying to kill the baddies. While playing, the only time we really configured the gun was to find out what the different settings did. We never once fiddled with them during battle.

Thankfully, the developers realized this fault in the game. You can now download a mod that allows you to save your favorite weapon configs and map them to buttons! If the modification hadn't come out, one of the coolest features of the game might have been a pitfall for it.

That backdrop could use some work

Head chompers

Oomph

Another interesting feature the developers incorporated into the game is recoil. Firing a shotgun or a missile launcher sends you reeling backwards. This didn't seem to affect gameplay too much unless you were standing still. Being of the circle strafing and keep-your-ass-moving school of FPS play, I didn't really notice the recoil too much, except for a slight stutter.

Rolling thunder

As if 32 weapons aren't enough, the developers even provide you with a TANK! Driving this vehicle around proved to be quite entertaining. While using the tank, you get unlimited ammo and seeming invulnerability. Gas shortages are about the only thing this hulk is susceptible to. As cool as this vehicle is, it is available in only one of the levels, playing a rather minor role in one of the other levels. Boo-hoo, too bad it isn't available in multiplayer.