Gunman Clive 2

.

Gunman Clive 3 when? Franchement, on pourrait au premier abord se dire encore un jeu poubelle, mais c'est une petit perle. Parfois les choses simples font mouche et pas besoin de paillettes pour s'amuser.

Where the ♥♥♥♥ to start? The first Gunman Clive is a fun, albeit short, sidescroller adventure shoot’em up game. It was challenging, but it was engaging and fun, above all else, it had different difficulty settings that were all in all, for the most part, well balanced. This sequel, has more characters, more gameplay diversity, and even a richer colour pallet, but at its core, the philosophies of the game design have changed and sadly, they have changed for the worse… The game is relentlessly difficult and around halfway through, as soon as I got to a level where you’re on rails on top of a panda running away from a buzzsaw, after dying more than 30 times, I just decided to call it quits, it wasn’t… Frustrating perse, like it wasn’t so much that it angered me, as much as that it got tiresome and annoying after a while, and as such, I just didn’t really felt like playing it any longer, eventually, it felt like a waste of time, it’s a shame too because the difficulty settings don’t do anything for that level (really makes you think why have difficulty settings at that point), it’s as if the developers deliberately wanted to artificially prolong the duration of the game by lengthening it with an absurd amount of difficulty that isn’t balanced, nor is it fair; as such, the game turns into a tedious exercise in patience. Even the new character isn’t that good, it just seems as if an alternate difficulty mode given that he doesn’t have a ranged attack, just an spear that can get enemies at short range…

A great sequel. As the first one, every level has some new gimmick which make playing always fun. Played on Linux using proton.

Short passable side scrolling action game with a lot of mostly dull platforming but a nice unique art style that looks really good in its few on rail shooting segments. Loses the western theme fast to have you fighting ninja, on top of dinosaurs, on sinking ships, and in areas with shifting gravity. Good for the low price, but nothing really memorable mechanically or to keep you coming back.

For anyone about to call me names, just know that I have beaten this game and gotten the no deaths achievement on two other consoles with far less issue; I've earned the right to complain. This version has no way to X out before the game counts your loss, meaning if you want the achievement for no deaths, you have to do a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Iron Man run. Here's my stance on why that sucks: it isn't about making it through the game with no deaths, it's about making it through the game without a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ save system. ♥♥♥♥ that ♥♥♥♥. Stop counting my deaths against me and let me f**king save. I can't make it through the harder levels in the latter half unless I can trial & error my way through that. The fact you see fit to punish the necessary trial & error is what earns you my hatred. Stop forcing me to have to erase my file and start over and let me f**king save. It's a platformer, not a 9-5 job, it should not require the same stress reserved for brain surgery.

Worse music, worse level design, worse artstyle. Some segments require leaps of faith and adjusting to very different controls very quickly. Screw the panda level, I cannot get through the first obstacle.