Wondershot

All in all, Wondershot is brilliant if you have four friends around, equally brilliant with just two players, and even decent fun alone, if you enjoy the challenge maps. The lack of AI matches is irritating, but certainly not a deal breaker for the charming, competitive, multiplayer experience.

The solo component is far from great. Even when playing Wondershot as a duo or trio you'll probably be wanting a full group of four. That's the best way to ensure an entertaining time with some laughs. Otherwise, it's a very forgettable release.

Wondershot succeeds at being an entertaining party game, but is too easy to master, and best played in small doses.

Overall, Wondershot is a fun game for brief spurts of time, especially if one has friends with which to play. When alone, however, the game quickly becomes tedious and frustrating, and this can become a real problem since online play is not an option -- a serious oversight by the developer since the game is geared to be a party game. While it boasts fun graphics and sound effects, those cannot compensate for the sameness of gameplay. Since neither characters nor weapons level up, one must become increasingly skilled to progress through the game, and with its difficult achievement list, it could prove a real trial for completionists. The game's $12.99 price seems fair for the amount of gameplay available, but it will be neither a quick nor easy game to finish.

Top-down 2D games always have potential. In the case of Wondershot we are served with a huge number of shortcomings in terms of mechanics and general gameplay. The only saving grace is the couch co-op aspect suitable for long talks or small parties.

There's nothing wrong with it, mind you. It works well and is a generally fun concept to spend time with, but with such a thin number of options available within the game, while fun, it's hard to imagine most people playing it more than a couple of times. And while it might give you a warm, fuzzy feeling reminiscent of the olden days at first, digging out the old table hockey set will probably lose it's luster after 20 minutes or so.

Wondershot's focus on simplified combat gameplay succeeds to create an enjoyable and easy to understand formula.