The Gunk It may not be the most complicated name in the universe for a thick black jelly that emits an ominous red glow, but luckily it certainly does. When space rulers Rani and Becks touch a forgotten planet in search of a strange energy signal, the place is completely filled with those. It oozes and thumps in the caverns, plains, and rivers of this once-vibrant landscape, and the urge sucks it all into Rani’s great-energy gauntlet (in this case a hand literally empty) is incredibly powerful. After all, when it turns the ground black and takes away all of the world’s colors, this is a case of Extremely Bad Bacteria that you’ll want to fix ASAP.
Your reward for picking up all the sundries in any given area is the type of graphic witch video game that works best. An explosion of light, a small sound, and the world was instantly transformed back to its former glory. Despite its somber name, The Gunk’s often gorgeous, soft pastels and coral-like flora reveal visuals so breathtaking it’s hard to believe it’s the company’s first 3D video game. SteamWorld, Image & Form developer. If this is what they have been holding back all these years, then their upcoming action adventure SteamWorld Headhunter should be a real treat for old eyeballs. That said, while Image & Form have clearly navigated their 2D to 3D transition from an artistic perspective, their typical flair for adding their own spin to other genres less successful together. There’s a lot to like about this 3D action platformer, but it lacks the spark to really make it famous.
Gunk is not related to the SteamWorld universe. Aside from a few nods of the cheeky Easter egg in Rani and Becks’ ship, it’s an indie adventure that would be great to play with the kids over Christmas if it weren’t for the swear words. seldom, no often, rarely. Language aside, Rani and Becks make a likeable duo, and their hilarious and engaging radio conversation reminds me a lot of Aliya and Six from Inkle’s Heaven’s Vault. There’s a witty playfulness to their dialogue that makes them a fun pair to hang out with throughout this five-hour planet, and I hope we get to see them and the delivery bot. Curt’s slightly callused yellow (whose only line is an increasingly harsh-sounding but endearing “You’ve been served!”) get another outing in the years to come.
You play as Rani, who ventures to clean up standard trash and investigate that strange energy signal while Becks watches over the base. At first, the game seems to follow the same spatial trail that games like No Man’s Sky, task you with scanning local factories for data and finding resources to upgrade your power glove. The more things you scan, the more upgrades you’ll eventually unlock.
Loosening myself in this beautiful world, I began to launch the scanner left and right between. I wanted to absorb every little bit of information I could about this strangely inverted ocean floor, especially since the visual language of the surrounding landscape seemed to be deftly eliminating that classic video game problem only. are the smallest and most obvious parts of the stage interior layout. requires a bit of disclosure of the flavor text. Turns out, despite everything seeing like valid candidate(s), there are in fact just over 50 scannable objects to find in The Gunk which means a lot of the time my scanner goes dead . It does, at least, highlight what’s and isn’t scannable with little notepad icons that change color once you’ve logged it, but overall, I can’t help but feel it’s all a bit lacking. sure.
That’s partly because the gauntlet upgrades you unlock by doing all those scans are a bit lackluster. There are some important upgrades in its 16 power arsenal, such as faster absorption speed, the ability to run (for some reason), and a larger basin area to suck up the gooey threat That’s it, but while a good portion of them focus on giving you a boost in combat, the game’s easy challenge makes many of them feel a bit redundant. For example, I never needed the ability to revive myself, because on one rare occasion when I took so many direct hits, the generous checkpoint knocked me out early in the game. The same goes for the smiley monster drawing beacons, which you can upgrade to last longer and have a wider range of effects, but there’s never enough enemies on screen to made it worth it with the somewhat unwieldy button juggling on my controller. In fact, many of them feel like a concession to young players who may not have played this type of game before, which is why I am so confused by the solid scenario. its adult direction. Anyone who has played even the most high-end 3D games before is likely to jump over to The Gunk, leaving little incentive to engage in scans, resource gathering, or upgrades.
That said, sucking up space carrots and juicy big space berries with Rani’s power glove, and will always be a treat. This We clear with a yellow glow that tells their story, and the way small roots and rock fizz blocks and wobbles when they’re bounced off (not to mention their satisfying “tchunk” slamming against your fist) is incredibly satisfying, and the same goes for smoking junk food. There’s a convincing audio and visual technique to the whole thing but also goes a long way to making up for the simplicity of what you’re actually doing. There is rarely any kind of puzzle element involved in getting what you need on this planet. All you need to do is point and pull the trigger of your gun and the job is a good result.
Thankfully, once the story wheel kicks in, all of this planetary exploration pretense quickly backslides in favor of some good old-fashioned 3D platforming. Here’s what The Gunk is really about, and with the exception of Psychonauts 2, it’s arguably one of the most polished character performers I’ve played outside of the Nintendo console. There’s a few cheesy jumps here and there (and I really mean just a few), plus those creepy yellow brushstrokes that tell you yes, this is definitely a cliff edge that you can hang on, but on the whole Rani makes for a keen and confident jumper.
So it’s a pity that her athletic ability was never really put to any real test. Most areas fall into a similar pattern: you arrive, clear the litter, then use the newly hatched seeds and its furry base to head further inland and track Rani’s nose to look for trouble. There’s only so much you can do with a glorified hand drum at your disposal, but Image & Form gets a lot out of Rani’s metal watch. She can giggle, suck blood, and sometimes blow up obstacles to get where she needs to be, and occasional skirmishes based around the same core set of skills. It just never evolved the way you might expect with Image & Form’s following catalog of unique genre twists and combinations. You are sowing the sprouting seeds of the tree at the beginning as well as you are at the end, and even the number of different enemies you face can be counted on one hand. The key path often turns into fun little secrets that require a bit of puzzle thinking, but your only reward is additional resources to eat. It’s all very artistically done, but it’ll also be a cool stroll in the park for most people, more than the slick ballets of Double Fine’s Psychonauts or any of the Mario games. Any recent 3D.
Gunk is better then awesome, but with it on Game Pass you’d be silly to skip it. Maybe it’s just the time of year, but looking at each area stretched out in a bubble of light and color, not knowing what it will be like until the very end, it feels a lot like pulling back one’s window. one Advent calendar, with each de-gunk revealing yet another delightful treat for the senses. It’s the Christmas comfort food for lazy afternoons on the sofa, and in less than five hours, it can also be finished and swept clean in just a few sessions. Really very good.
