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Wizard With A Gun attempts to mix Shooter elements into an RPG survival framework, which is a fantastic idea in theory, but the two elements don’t mix as well as you might expect due to an imbalance between the two, which results in an uneven and sometimes frustrating experience. You play as a wizard who wields guns as their primary weapon, which is a bit different than we’re used to seeing. Even though we’re locked into a primarily physical weapon selection, the magic lives on through your gameplay. However uncommon it is to see a survival game try to take on shooter elements, Wizard With A Gun made a valiant attempt. I very much loved the little story there was even though seeing more of it would have been nice, as well as the crafting and building within the game. However, my enjoyment was stifled from some inappropriate audio elements, gameplay that grew stagnant, and some late game balance issues.
Wizard With A Gun Review: Into the Shatter
When it comes to the story in Wizard With A Gun, Galvanic Games and Devolver Digital did something unique. They not only broke the fourth wall, but messed with time travel as well, making it different than we’re used to seeing. The graphics and audio for the game were beautiful, but contradictory to the gameplay in some ways. While Wizard With A Gun is, after all, a sandbox survival, the shooter elements demand attention as well, and it feels like they aren’t getting enough recognition. Given the fact that this combination of genres is so unique, I think there needs to be much more focus on it to fully capitalize on the concept.
Story: Gunmancer to the Rescue
In a world where there are no remaining Gunmancers, it falls upon you to save the day. Of course, you are the only remaining hope, and you must use the Chronomancer’s Wheel to travel back and forth through time to find all the Ancient Gears and banish the Chaos. The story is very straightforward, leading you down one very clear path: defeat the monsters who have stolen the Ancient Gears and return them to the Chronomancer’s Wheel to save the world and repair the Shatter.
Wizard With A Gun introduces a whole new world where you jump through time and access different worlds, all of which take place in the Shatter. The Shatter is ever-changing and plagued by Chaos, which takes your gaming experience to a whole new level with timed exploration. You must maintain Order, the opposite of Chaos, and extend your exploration by defeating the Chaos. However, many enemies stand between you, and the one thing you need to unlock new worlds and defeat the Chaos once and for all: Ancient Gears. Wizard With A Gun combines difficult magical and mechanical elements to create any RPG sandbox Survival player’s dream game.
However exciting and interesting this premise may be, the story told in Wizard With A Gun is lacking. There are points where you get pretty heavy doses of lore and dialogue, but it’s all found early on in the game. After you leave the tutorial stages, the story dies out quickly and you just fall into the persistent grinding with no narrative payoffs.
Gameplay: Navigating the Void
The gameplay in Wizard With A Gun is dreadfully repetitive. While enemies and worlds that you defeat and explore change as you progress, the gameplay is the same. You rollback time, head out into The Shatter, defeat enemies, and pick up Ancient Gears. The loop persists throughout the game. There are some elements that give you more of a feel of the survival portion of the game, like base building, but overall, nothing changes much throughout your time in-game. The odd exception is at the end of every area, you must fight a boss. It’s all very straightforward and to the point, making the gameplay feel extremely grindy.
Additionally, the lacks balance. While it’s clear that there are both shooter and survival elements, you depend solely on the shooter elements. Everything you do revolves around guns. Want to heal your friend? Shoot them with a Healing Bullet. Searching for a pet? Shoot an enemy with a Charming Bullet. It all revolved around bullets and guns.
While you might not get to build a base, you will have a safe space called the Tower where you can decorate and redecorate to your heart’s content. This is where you will keep all of your resources, crafting stations, Arcana banks, and much more.
Graphics and Audio: A Strange and Chaotic Lullaby
When it comes to the looks and sounds of Wizard With A Gun, the graphics are beautiful, but the audio contradicts the gameplay quite a bit. The music is relaxing and chill, very much something you could fall asleep to, while the graphics take us to new and adorable heights with vibrant colors and some of the cutest enemies you’ll ever see.
While these would be a great pair under any other circumstances, Wizard With A Gun leans more on the shooter side of its genre, and it would make sense to have some more engaging music. I found myself nearly falling asleep throughout many fights with the Chaos monsters due to the relaxing music. Though, the game runs and plays well with very few glitches or graphical errors, and I would consider it some of the better graphics I’ve seen for this style of game.
Conclusion: Wizard With A Gun Could Have Done Better
As fantastic as my playthrough of Wizard With A Gun was, there are some clear areas where it fails to deliver on its premise. Given the fact that the game has plenty of survival aspects mixed in with unique shooter elements, the game didn’t feel like it was entirely balanced between the two. There are several instances where it felt as if the scale tipped too far to one side rather than being a good combination of the two. Additionally, I felt like the game was very repetitive and didn’t do much to bring variety to the table. I would have loved to see some more story to the game, and some more intensity with the music, especially with later boss fights.
That said, there were quite a few redeeming factors. The combat within the game was difficult and offered quite a challenge for players but was still exciting and interesting with loads of cute and unique enemies to take on. Overall, Wizard With A Gun was a fun little game to play through, but with some minor improvements, it could be amazing.
*Review copy given by publisher; reviewed on PC.*
Wizard With A Gun
Wizard With A Gun was the chaotic, silly excitement that I didn't know I needed.
The Good
- Beautiful graphics
- Unique story and goals
The Bad
- Dreadfully repetitive
- Music that doesn't quite fit
- A lack of balance between genres
