“Achievement unlocked: shot another man again”. In an age of dudebro manshooters, it might be easy to unthinkingly dismiss Gunpoint as just another in an endless parade of grey shooters, maybe blue and orange if the art director felt like the gun designers were having all the fun. It’s even got gun in the bloody title. That would be a mistake though, because you’d miss out on the hypertrousers.
Let’s get one thing straight. In Gunpoint, you don’t shoot people. At least, not as far as I’ve got so far, and nothing is pointing in that direction either. You don’t even so much as point a gun. Plenty of guns are pointed at you, especially if you make a mistake. Which you will, regardless of – or perhaps because of – your hypertrousers.
This isn’t a review, the internet pretty much has that covered. Nor is it a discussion of the soundtrack, that’s so last Wednesday. This is just a few paragraphs of effusive praise and another excuse to use the word hypertrousers.
Fortunately the rooms are of the ‘8 metre high ceilings’ variety, presumably to make changing the lightbulbs an adventure.
Armed with nothing more than magical trousers trousers that let you leap small buildings, a trenchcoat that lets you fall without taking harm and gloves that let you stick to the side of buildings to climb them, you set out to infiltrate, steal, hack and generally sneak your way to innocence. Using an ever-increasing set of tools that let you manipulate the environment you sneak or leap your way through levels, misdirecting guards, disabling cameras, rewiring security systems and, more often than not, leaping through a plate glass top-floor window to safety. Both the mechanics and their presentation on screen are satisfying and fun, ideally suited to the tone and style of the game. The retro graphics, while simple and stylised, convey so much about the world you occupy, settling you firmly but comfortably into the city nights like tired legs into a pair of hypertrousers.
The game comes with a wonderfully wry and deadpan sense of humour that makes the time between missions an absolute joy to play, ensuring that the writing and conversations that make up the mission briefings are never a chore or something to be hurried through to get to the next level. Plus, hypertrousers.
Note the security guard having a nice lie down under the street light to the right. You’d never have got so far if he hadn’t been napping on the job.
You can see the trailer below, download the demo or get the full game from Steam. Go on. Then you too can know the joy of hypertrousers.
Hypertrousers