Wildcat Gun Machine

Upon starting Wildcat Gun Machine, you’re thrown straight into the deep end without any real context on why you’re here or what your main goal is. While some people may enjoy not sitting through a five-minute-long cut-scene to explain the story or the character’s motivations, I found it a little strange and a bit rushed. I normally like to get to know the character a little more and the reasons for why we’re here and doing the things we’re doing. Sadly it’s never explained, and why our main character is always surrounded by ghost cats is another detail that is never touched upon. The game doesn’t want to waste your time with any sort of introduction or fluff, it wants you to familiarise yourself with the combat and the controls through actually playing it.

Wildcat Gun Machine is an interesting take on roguelike and bullet hell games, but the roguelike aspects feel a bit lacking, especially the story. The game looks and sounds great, but a lot of the time I kind of felt like I was just going room to room, fighting enemies, and then going back to the checkpoint, which mitigates a bit of the challenge. Still, Wildcat Gun Machine is enjoyable, but if you're specifically looking for a roguelike game to keep you busy, you might find things a bit lacking here.

Wildcat Gun Machine is an addictive and incredibly difficult shooter. The vast variety of weapons and the exploratory element keep it interesting. If you're looking for a challenge, you'll certainly find it here.

If you’re a fan of twin-stick shooters and bullet hell and love hideous monsters, this might be for you.

Wildcat Gun Machine has its merits. Its proposal works well for an uncompromising game and the frenetic dose of action entertains for a while. Perhaps its biggest problem is not daring, abusing simplicity in its combat. Despite not compromising in practice, the absence of history disappoints and, in this sense, the game loses the chance to captivate the player more. So, it's only recommended for those who like action games with high difficulty, but it's better not to create too much expectation.

If you’re drawn in by the art style, chances are you’ll have some fun with Wildcat Gun Machine. Fans of the twin-stick shooter genre might want to check it out, too. It makes a refreshing change for this type of game to not be a roguelike in the current market, and while it won’t be featuring on anyone’s GOTY lists, there’s still hours of entertainment to be had with it.

Overall, Wildcat Gun Machine is a decent shooter. There are aspects of the game that feels unpolished or even rushed but the core gameplay loop is fun and that is what should ultimately matter. Hopefully, the game gets better through patches. Cause as it is right now, it’s only worth a single 6-8 hour run with hardly any reason to go for a second or more.

As a massive fan of twin-stick shooters in their many forms on the Switch, or anywhere else, any new entrant into the arena is always met with some excitement...

Wildcat Gun Machine has plenty of great ideas that come tantalisingly close to greatness. The general bullet hell moment-to-moment gameplay works well, propelled by its excellent soundtrack and memorable enemy and weapon designs. Unfortunately, the restrictive weapon carry limits and lack of incentives like new gameplay mechanics or plot progression turns to the game into a grind before long. Wildcat Gun Machine is far from a bad experience, but it may feel insubstantial for many bullet hell shooter veterans.

The name Wildcat Gun Machine feels like it should evoke something positively thrilling and explosive, like the movies and games that clearly inspired this twin-stick shooter. Instead, you just nod along and play, hardly getting more irritated than modest frustration at an untimely death. But there’s no permadeath, no chance to lose it all, and no moment that delivered a Woah. Instead, you charge ahead, shoot, upgrade, and shoot some more. For some, that might be enough. But while I was waiting for Wildcat, I just got a tabby.