Gun Loco Hands-On

In today's crowded shooter genre, everybody has got to have an angle. In Gun Loco, a new third-person shooter from Square Enix, that angle is a bit sharper than others. The grimy aesthetic and brash protagonists establish a grindhouse-esque attitude, while the hard-hitting gunplay and brutal finishers give the action a raw appeal. It doesn't have the slickest presentation or the smoothest mechanics, but when we played Gun Loco at Tokyo Game Show 2010, we found that sometimes a little attitude goes a long way.

The demo we played plunked us down in a besieged urban environment, where shabby-looking buildings loomed high over streets choked with barricades and patrolled by thugs. Wielding an assault rifle and itching to shoot somebody, we trotted down an alley to start some trouble. In tow were a handful of friendly AI henchmen, dressed outlandishly in big bunny costume heads and feet and spandex shorts with white fluffy tails. These characters felt like AI stand-ins for what could be a multiplayer team of soldiers, and the strange costumes indicated that character customization might play a role in any competitive play.

As it was, however, we were up against bots, and it wasn't long before the bullets started flying. Shooting, aiming down the sights, and tossing grenades were our basic offensive options, and we also had to make sure not to stand in the open for too long because the bad guys were pretty good shots. We followed a pulsing waypoint as we ran through the streets, blasting enemies as we went, and noticed that in the bottom left corner of the screen there was not only a timer, but three stars that seemed to indicate that we were being rated on our performance.

After some good old-fashioned run-and-gun, we started experimenting with the strangely powerful left shoulder button. Merely holding it down sent our character into a sprint, and tapping it while holding a direction with the left analog stick triggered a roll dodge maneuver. Sprinting also caused certain vertical surfaces to glow blue, and we found that we would automatically jump over or slide under these obstacles if we sprinted straight for them. Aiming down the sights while sprinting sent us into a slow slide in which time seemed to slow down ever so slightly to allow us to squeeze off some extra-deadly shots, but the real surprise came when we sprinted directly into an enemy.

The camera snapped to an overhead view, giving us a better look at what was about to go down. Our character launched himself into the air and planted a two-footed dropkick right into the enemy's chest. The enemy's entire upper body instantly severed at the waist, sending the torso flying and leaving the legs to fall limply to the ground. The bloody wound and protruding vertebrae made a grisly sight, and no sooner had we shouted with surprise and amusement than we were off to do it again. Another encounter ended similarly, but started as a grapple. As we quickly pulled the triggers to gain the upper hand, our character slowly bent the enemy over his knee until once again the torso snapped clean off. Well, not exactly clean off, but you get the idea.

After we dispatched no small number of enemies and flanked some turret emplacements that had previously mowed us down, the level reached a climax with a battle against a tank. Gruesome powers aside, our bullets were no match for the armored vehicle. Fortunately, a few conspicuously placed red barrels helped us pack enough of an explosive punch to vanquish the threat. Another demo scenario involved running around a larger, more open industrial environment, shooting out junction boxes to destabilize fuel storage tanks and then running like the dickens to escape the imminent explosion.

While there was some fun to be had in Gun Loco, the sections we played were practically begging to be played with other human players. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get further details on any multiplayer offerings, but we do know that there will be support for 12-person matches online. It's clear that the brash attitude plays a big role in both presentation and gameplay, so those who like a little extra viciousness with their combat should keep an eye out for more on Gun Loco in the coming months.