The Gunk – -apkrig
It has been more than 10 years since the creation of the famous SteamWorld series, which includes various genres, always based on magically drawn 2D graphics. Studio Image & Form completely won me over with its steampunk world, so I was a little sad when his next act, The Gunk, left not only the iconic stylization of previous games, but also the entire steampunk world.
The Gunk surprised me all the more. The creators showed me that their visual skills do not end with flat characters, but that they can easily play with three dimensions. And I have even more faith in their next upcoming game SteamWorld Headhunter, which returns to the much-loved world, but in 3D.
But back to The Gunk. If you’re wondering what this strange name means, it’s a strange organic dark matter reminiscent of a slimoidal ulcer that covers a certain planet in deep space, on which the duo of space mercenaries Rani and Beck are looking for a way to make some money.
But a gunk sucking life from the local nature stands in their way. Coincidentally, Rani has a mechanical hand, which – probably because of her color – is nicknamed Pumpkin and which can suck up the ubiquitous gunk. Which is an activity that you will do practically in one piece in addition to jumping.
Aim with the left trigger and vacuum with the right until all that stinking sajrajt disappears from the planet’s surface. Does that sound like boredom? But where! On the one hand, it is extremely satisfying to watch the gelatin blob gradually shrink and disappear in your mechanical bottomless arm, and on the other hand, all this effort is worth the famous result.
Once the gunk is gone, the gray lifeless environment changes beyond recognition. Within a few seconds, the whole area around you will turn green, brightly colored plants, huge mushrooms will appear and a chirping life will return to the world. And this is where the developers convinced me that they are true masters of the fine arts.
The Gunk is a wonderful game in every way. Not only after the colors return to her gray world: She too gray and the blob itself create an overall aesthetic that is simply breathtaking. And when you add to that the exploration of the ancient ruins left over from the ancient civilization, whose history is the main driving force of the story, the parade is taken care of. It’s a pity that the pictures can’t capture it at all compared to big TV!
The game initially encourages you to explore the surroundings, because with your iron paw you not only vacuum gunk, but also the fruits of local plants and iron ore. This is the only way to improve the Pumpkin so that it absorbs more gunk and is stronger, so it can pluck tougher crops, for example.
But first you have to unlock the improvements in a very pleasant way. There is no experience and improvements are not hidden in boxes. Anything you haven’t seen before is wanted to scan you, and it’s catching your eye. This way you will learn something about the local flora and civilization that once inhabited this planet, and at the same time you get closer to the possibility of getting your hand with a new widget with each new scan.
However, there is no RPG, as it is very easy to unlock everything the game has to offer, so you do not feel any influence on your character’s direction. I actually collected the good half of the game just for fun, because there was nothing to invest in, and at the same time I had no reason to use some improvements for the whole game. Acquiring new skills therefore needs to be seen more as a kind of superstructure of the line that adjusts your options, which is quite a shame.
In addition to sucking up gunk and natural resources, pumpkins can do one more thing – protect you in combat. A few times during the game you will come across a gunkind, which spews annoying creatures. And because Rani is no warrior, but a simple collector looking for rare resources to sell in space, you are not very good at fighting.
You can just suck the annoying creatures into your hand and then kill them on the ground or on their friend. Later, two more forms of enemies appear, one of which annoys you from a distance and you have to figure out how to get to it, and the other is such a bull rodeo.
The fights are the weakest of the whole game. On the one hand, they’re not much fun, because Rani can’t do a single roll or double jump, so you’re just reliant on running, and on the other hand, they don’t pose a challenge, including boss fights, because Rani can last a surprisingly long time.
I probably wouldn’t mind at all if The Gunk was a purely exploratory adventure without half-action, which seems a bit inappropriate and superfluous here. But fortunately, she has so little in the game that she won’t distract you from loving the prospects here.
Although you explore the alien planet completely by yourself, you definitely do not feel alone. You have your friend Beck on the phone, who stubbornly refuses to go on expeditions with you because, confused, she didn’t take any shoes other than crocsy…
In any case, it is a pleasure to listen to their dialogue, supplemented by the noise from the radio, and you will experience a few unpleasant moments with them, as is sometimes the case in friendships. The story itself is a nice pull of the whole game. Don’t expect anything outright original that you would remember for a long time, but you just want to declassify the history of ancient civilization.
The Gunk pleasantly surprised me as a result. I didn’t expect anything from him and he got an absolutely beautiful exploratory adventure with a very satisfying vacuuming of the title slime, fun jumping and undemanding puzzles. The weaknesses are the uninteresting fights that the game would do without, and the overly shallow system of mechanical arm enhancement, which lacks weight.
Even so, you will enjoy those few hours with Rani and Beck, enjoy the beautiful stylization and you will leave satisfied after completing a very pleasant and relaxing adventure game. If you are paying for a Game Pass, then there is nothing to deal with. It’s really worth one afternoon and evening.
