Samurai Gunn is about to explode. The game hasn't gotten as much attention as it should have but that's merely because not many have been able to play it yet, and playing is believing. Fortunately everyone can now play the game, as it's been stealth released not only on its own website (samuraigunn.com) but also on the Steam and Humble Bundle stores. It's currently on sale for a limited time at 20% off, a mere $11.99 for enormous amounts of samurai violence.
Samurai Gunn is simply a masterpiece of multiplayer mayhem. You choose one of a handful of different Samurai (really just different colors) and a location for your battle and you're ready to go. One button swings your sword, another shoots your gun (what, you thought the title was lying?), and a single hit from either will send your opponent's bloody corpse splashing around the environment like a certain little Meat Boy. Well-timed sword swings can parry swords and bullets, environmental dangers abound, and death is frequent. At 11 kills a winner is determined, with an epic showdown occuring in the case of a tie.
At this year's Fantastic Arcade, the videogame arm of the yearly Fantastic Fest held yearly in Austin, there was one title showcased that was clearly more popular than the others. Inside a custom arcade cabinet with four Xbox 360 controllers attached to it Samurai Gunn never sat still. There was always a group of people standing around it yelling and laughing and fighting to the bloody death with little pixelated samurai. Other cabinets had moments of silence in between plays but there wasn't a moment when there wasn't a crowd around Samurai Gunn, cackling away.
The game won the coveted Audience Award at the Fest this year, as well as the Most Fantastic Award which is decided by critics, effectively sweeping the event. After the awards there was an hour to kill so crowd at the theater demanded to play the game on the silver screen, and they did.
And now you should, too! One caveat for this release? There's only local multiplayer right now. If you can three friends over pick this up, because this was not made for a solo experience, although there is a survival mode to tinker with. Hopefully online multiplayer will be added in later but for now this game requires at least a friend or three to really show off its potential.
Samurai Gunn is in the works for PS4 and is clearly one of the most exciting exclusives for it. We'll let you know when it hits the platform, unless it sneaks up and stabs us beforehand.