Review: Enter the Gungeon (Nintendo Switch)

If your game has guns in it, 9 times out of 10 I’ll push it away from me faster than a plate of overcooked peas. But when a gun game is good, it’s really, really good.

Enter the Gungeon ain’t your daddy’s dungeon crawler. Playing as one of four gunners, you enter randomly generated levels of bullet hell. Each gunner has their own strengths, weaknesses and play styles. Actual levels play similarly to Super Smash TV on the SNES, only way more palatable as far as modern gaming sensibilities go.

Enemies will fly at you in every single room you enter, and you must gun them down while avoiding every single blast they dish out. Luckily, an action movie dive is part of your moveset, turning even noobs into regular John McClanes, dodging every bullet fired. At first, the task may be daunting, especially if slower, relaxing titles like Breath of the Wild are still oozing from your fingertips. No worries, Gungeon is incredibly forgiving, and doesn’t punish you for sucking.

And trust me, for a long while, sucking at Enter the Gungeon was all I did.

Fortunately, the difficulty is like eating a bag of Flaming Hot Cheetos. Yes, it stings. Yes, the pain is unbearable. But underneath the searing heat , here’s happiness. I didn’t beat the first level until I was three hours in, but it didn’t make me put down the Joy-Con for a second. Every single time my butt was handed to me I dove back in, which is super easy to do. After dying, a simple button click lets you take another crack at the level without making you wait.

And because the levels are randomly generated, every single time you die will feel fresh. Perhaps this pass will have you stumbling on a weapon that reminds you of an NES Zapper. Some guns even fire condensed love rays. Maybe this time you’ll dodge the sword-wielding giants. Who knows. Just rest assured you’re going to love every second.

Enter the Gungeon is as heart-pumping as a Die Hard movie, and twice as charming. Bullet hell aficionados will be at home, but so will newbies. Randomly generated levels make this a perfect pick-up-and-play game, but if you get a few friends in the loop, you can make a total game night out of it. On charm, action, challenge, and fun, Enter the Gungeon fires on all cylinders.