Gunpoint: Closing Out a Cold Case

 

Even though I consider myself a dedicated, lifelong gamer, I am also one of those gamers who rarely ever complete a game. For me, games are more about exploring possibilities and settings rather than completing a campaign. In other words, I just dabble, content to immerse myself in whatever alternate reality the game developer has created.  For me, it is the moment-to-moment experience, rather than any sense of accomplishment that I seek when I play a game.  This is why it is a truly shocking development for me to return to a game that I last played when it was new - I'm talking back in 2013!  The game is Suspicious Development's (aka Tom Francis's) Gunpoint.  And like a femme fatale, I just couldn't let it go.

Gunpoint is a tightly designed puzzler where the player is put in the gumshoes of "professional spy, amateur electrician, and weaponized jerk" Richard Conway.  One rainy night in the big city, Conway, while testing his new fall-resistant raincoat, accidentally involves himself in a murder that happens in the building across from his apartment.  With no other options, Conway is forced to rely on his skills to not only extricate himself from being framed for the murder but also bring to justice the actual killer.  Over the roughly four-and-a-half hours of gameplay, Conway will take contracts from about half-a-dozen characters, all of whom have an interest in solving the murder.  

As I wrote above, I rarely ever get sucked into the story of a game, but with Gunpoint it was different. Whether it is due to the humor that often comes through in the writing, or just because it had a tightly constructed narrative involving corporate intrigue and personal vendettas, the game's story always struck a chord with me, so much so that leaving the game unfinished always bugged me, even a decade later.

Now, a game that has a good story is fine and all, but if the gameplay isn't there, what good is the story?  Fortunately, Gunpoint also is a fantastic puzzler.  Upon embarking on a contract, the player is confronted with finding a way to infiltrate various buildings, all of which are wired up with various security devices and often patrolled by different qualities of security, to hack various terminals and laptops for evidence.  It is here the player has to use his wits, along with any special equipment he purchased in between missions, to use the target building's various electrical and security systems to aid his break-in while neutralizing the rent-a-cops.  This gameplay is surprisingly addictive as the game doesn't rush the player along but allows as much time as needed to solve this cyber-heist riddle.   Sometimes the results are unexpectedly hilarious, as when I accidentally fell through a glass roof to land on a patrolling security guard, knocking him out cold (problem solved!).  Other times it involves a complex rewiring of various devices so that either they don't function as intended, or they function in a way that will serve to stymie the rent-a-cops (such as the time I rigged an elevator call button to trigger a sound sensor which, in turn, would lock a door, trapping a security guard in a small room where he couldn't disturb me).  Of course, the player can forgo the clever stuff and just go in like a brawler, smashing through glass and beating guards senseless, but be forewarned, violence often just makes your job harder and your client unhappy.  It is telling that the developer wanted you to puzzle this game out and not blast everything in sight by how he made the pistol one of the most expensive items in the game, not to mention it triggering a 30-second countdown timer where a police sniper will arrive and kill you instantly.  

Buildings are presented as 2D cutaways, making gameplay a snap

The soundtrack for Gunpoint adds to the pleasure of the gameplay.  It is a spot-on tribute to jazz right out of a classic film noir, something that provides a catchy and invigorating soundtrack for your spy hijinks.  Check out the OST's "Five-Floor Goodbye", for a toe-tapping example:

 

The combination of slick, easily digestible puzzler gameplay along with a snappy detective narrative and catchy jazz soundtrack makes this rather minimalist package - for me, it provided roughly four and a half hours worth of gameplay - become something larger than the sum of its parts, a game that almost a decade later, I just couldn't get out of my mind and needed to return to for closure.  

The only negative I have for Gunpoint is its lack of replayability.  Once you finish the game, there isn't much reason to ever play it again as the narrative and missions are entirely linear and scripted, albeit Conway's blog finale that is generated about the case does alter based on the choices made by the player during the game. But considering this is a $10 game on Steam, one that even offers a try-before-you-buy demo, there is not much to gripe about when it comes to this one-way ticket. 

(Actually, I do have a second complaint: not enough rain!  Even though the first two missions take place during a rainy night, the rest of the game is unfortunately dry.  This pluviophile objects to the dearth of precipitation in Gunpoint!)

There you have it, a game review almost ten years in the making! Ha!  Who knows? Maybe this will start me on a quest to complete the many (many, many, many, many) games that I have abandoned over the years, often due to no fault of their own.  Even if I don't, it is nice to finally be able to put this one away completed.  A game this fine deserves a proper resolution.  

By the way: here is my gameplay summation:

 

Here's an interesting footnote to that conclusion:  When I confronted the main bad guy, I drew my pistol and he did the same. Neither of us fired, instead, we walked up to each other, pistols held at the ready, and played a game of chicken.  Ultimately, he lowered his gun, unwilling to risk his life in a shootout.  When he lowered the gun, I lowered mine as well...and then lept at him and began pounding away with my fists until he fell to the floor unconscious. I needed that bare-knuckled catharsis. Unfortunately, I went at him a bit too enthusiastically as I discovered that I unintentionally beat him to death! 

Oh well. Bad things happen to bad people. That is just the way the dice roll when you are under the gun on the mean streets of Gunpoint.