Shotgun Cop Man

Around six years ago, I found myself absolutely entranced by a daft but effortlessly fun indie action game known as My Friend Pedro. This delightful idea took all of the fluid and chaotic combat that movies like John Wick made immensely popular and then delivered it in a side-on, gory, and violent manner perfect for fans of Hotline Miami and similar experiences. To this day, My Friend Pedro is one of my favourite indies, which is why I didn't need any more convincing when DeadToast Entertainment announced that it had a new game in the works.

This one is called Shotgun Cop Man, and it's a very literally named game with a similar setup and flair as that of My Friend Pedro. You once again play as a gun-toting and no-nonsense protagonist who is tasked with blasting through enemy forces and trap-ridden levels to reach an end goal, except instead of committing violent atrocities at the behest of a sentient banana, now you have a much more morally clear objective; to find and arrest Satan by venturing deeper and deeper into Hell.

Yep, this game is all about one law enforcer heading into the underworld to find and apprehend the Wicked One, and that is truly all there is to know about this game from a narrative structure. Even the Steam page is brutally honest about this streamlined storyline, as we're told to simply "go to Hell, arrest Satan". In fact - and this is one of my favourite parts of Shotgun Cop Man - there's basically no dialogue either, except for when you complete one of the nine main levels and advance further into Hell to briefly run into Satan and for the hero to shout some kind of judicial threat and for Satan to simply reply every single time with "Fuck you, Shotgun Cop Man" while brandishing a middle finger at the player. I could stop here and this would be pretty much all you need to know about Shotgun Cop Man from a story perspective.

But anyway, the gameplay. This is where DeadToast do once again flex their skills. Shotgun Cop Man is a simple title and there's no denying that. There are nine chapters to complete, each of which have around 17 levels to overcome, with levels taking anywhere between 30 seconds to 2 minutes to beat. During each level, the core objective is to reach an end marker, avoiding hazards, solving minor environmental puzzles, and defeating enemies along the way. The catch is that the gameplay is very fast and typically quite demanding, meaning there are additional objectives for beating each level within a time limit, killing all the enemies along the way, doing so without taking any damage, and even completing all three at once for the level to be considered truly beaten. It may seem rudimentary, and in many ways it is, but it's also far more challenging to complete than what first meets the eye and this is how this game comes to life and reaches new heights. The drive to become better and to master the mechanics is what allows this game to remain so thrilling and engaging all throughout.

To keep things fresh, DeadToast constantly looks to equip the player with new guns. You always keep your trusty shotgun on hand, because the movement mechanics revolve around using your guns as a way to generate lift, i.e. by firing the shotgun at the floor to serve as a pseudo-jump. The other weapon is the one that can be swapped out, and this enables access to machine guns, miniguns, sniper rifles, and countless other ways to blow enemies and the environment to smithereens. The weapons are randomly dropped and spawned meaning you could go for an extended stint with just your trusty shotgun and base pistol, or could be equipped with the best tools for several levels at a time. You'll want to be in the latter shoes as the variety of enemy types expand as the game progresses, as do the traps and problems you have to avoid, turning what once was a very basic and rudimentary gameplay structure into almost a bullet hell chaos fest where your stress levels hit an all-time high while you attempt to avoid any form of damage.

This is mostly a platforming challenge that players have to overcome, with side-on levels packed with traps and environmental hazards, but there are times when boss fights creep into the equation. Each of the nine core chapters have two boss situations, one being a room where you're trapped with tens of enemies and hazards, and another where you actually face a powerful new enemy with fresh attacks and abilities. Both are tough and stressful and fast, but also some of the highlights of Shotgun Cop Man. They also tend to reflect the speed of the regular levels as you can typically blast through these in a couple of minutes at best, lending to a game that can be completed in a few hours (perhaps double that for completionists searching for the elusive 100%). The only major anomaly to this is Satan himself, as this is a much more demanding boss fight that can take 10+ minutes to overcome unless you're perfect all the way throughout.

DeadToast is a developer that knows how to do simple things but very, very well. Shotgun Cop Man, like My Friend Pedro, is a thoroughly entertaining action platformer that doesn't require much of your time and yet feels effortlessly replayable and fun. The thumping metal soundtrack and the simplistic art direction work wonderfully in the game's favour (even if the bullet hell is sometimes a bit much to track, but when isn't that the case for bullet hell games?), and the way it constantly manages to build and introduce new systems, traps, enemies, and weapons means that you never become bored or tired of the formula. This is another fabulous indie action game from a developer that I truly wish we could see games from on a more frequent basis than once every five-to-six years.