The Digest: The Gunstringer is one of, if not the best Kinect games around.  It’s fun, it works, and comes with so much at a budget price.  You’d be stupid not to give it a try.

THE FACT SHEET

RELEASE DATE: September 13, 2011
PUBLISHER: Microsoft Studios
DEVELOPER: Twisted Pixel
ESRB RATING: “T” for Teen
GENRE: Shooter

PRODUCT OVERVIEW:
The Gunstringer has you playing a marionette cowboy skeleton who is looking to get revenge on his old posse who betrayed him.  Using nothing but your hands and arms, you can shoot your enemies down, punish them with your fists, and avoid obstacles in a very unique adventure.  The Gunstringer is priced at $39.99 and includes a free download code for Fruit Ninja Kinect and access to The Wavy Tubeman Chronicles DLC.

PRODUCT FEATURES:

• Budget price of $39.99
  
• Variety of different enemies, bosses and weapons
  
• The first Kinect game that can be played sitting down
• Two player co-op throughout the whole game
• Comes with Fruit Ninja Kinect download code and free Wavy Tubeman Chonicles DLC

Microsoft’s innovative sensor has seen a lot of hatred from hardcore gamers since its release back in November.  Sure, the technology is cool but there really have not been many games that appeal to that hardcore market Microsoft has lured to their system.  Twisted Pixel, the genius studio that bought us hits on Xbox Live Arcade such as Splosion Man, Comic Jumper, and most recently, Ms. Splosion Man hope to remedy this with The Gunstringer.  The Gunstringer is Twisted Pixel’s first ever retail title.  It was originally slated to release on Xbox Live Arcade but after Microsoft saw it, they helped to make it much bigger than originally intended.  Does The Gunstringer deliver as the first must have Kinect title for hardcore gamers or does it fail to live up to the hype?

In The Gunstringer, you take control of a marionette cowboy skeleton that has mysteriously come back to life after being betrayed by his posse.  The Gunstringer is after revenge as you will travel far and wide to kill The Gunstringer’s posse.  The game’s story contains four acts along with a prologue and epilogue.  Each act has four levels and a boss battle while the prologue and epilogue each contain one level.  The Gunstringer’s time in the west is a pretty nice length for a forty dollar title, five to six hours for your first playthrough.  You’re definitely gonna want to play through the game multiple times as you can use in game cash to unlock behind the scenes videos and extra modes such as a hardcore difficulty mode and even commentaries by the game’s developers and Rooster Teeth.  With all of this bonus content on top of the core experience, there definitely is a lot to see and do in The Gunstringer.  Each act in the game has its own unique environments, obstacles, and enemies, forcing the game to never feel repetitive, even if you are doing the same actions in each level.

In order for this game to ork well, the controls have to be completely spot on.  This is the first Kinect game one could play sitting down which makes it not as physically intense as other Kinect games.  You hold your left hand up to control the movement of the Gunstringer and your right finger acts as a pistol which you can aim at enemies by pointing at the screen.  These controls are used through the majority of the game and they work pretty well for the most part.  They are accurate enough to make the experience work.  It was not one hundred percent accurate though.  Peaking out of cover by moving my body sometimes didn’t work so well as I had to thrust my body a few times for it to notice me.  The pistol is not the only weapon you use throughout the game.  There is also a shotgun, flamethrower, and sword which you are able to use for small portions of different levels.  Your body really is part of the experience and I can definitely say it works.  Multiplayer, which allows one other player to aim and fire at the screen during the campaign is fun but I would have wanted to see more from multiplayer.

For the price you are paying, you are getting plenty of content.  You get The Gunstringer, Fruit Ninja Kinect, and the Wavy Tubeman Chronicles DLC which is a 40 minute interactive movie and is one of the oddest experiences you’ll have on Kinect for a long time coming. It’s still a blast to play however, and it’s free.  You’ll definitely need to play it, it’s an experience.

The Gunstringer is easily the best Kinect game I have ever played.  The controls work well for the most part, I can play sitting down, and the game has enough variety and personality to keep me interested the whole way through.  Twisted Pixel did an incredible job to craft a game with characters, settings, and gameplay which stands out from the majority of games released this year.  The Gunstringer with all of its bonuses represents the best value for a new game this year.  It has enough content to keep you busy longer than many sixty dollar titles.  If you have a Kinect and are looking for a great game, do not even hesitate to pick up The Gunstringer.  No matter who you are, you will enjoy it.

Single Player: 5/5 | Multi-Player: 3/5

Special thanks to Twisted Pixel for providing a copy of this game for review.