GONNER

DON’T LOSE YOUR HEAD.

PC | US$9.99 | www.gonnergame.com

What’s with these glyphs? Whose skull is that? Why is there a hovering whale? GoNNER raises these and other questions, but explains almost nothing. It’s up to you to figure out the world and its rules. Here’s a clue: if it moves, kill it. Being a procedurally generated side-scrolling shooter, all you ever need to do is move, jump, shoot and not die.

GoNNER is best played with a controller, although the keyboard controls are workable. You spawn as a drop of water and grow arms and legs. Collect a head, a gun and a backpack, then you’re able journey through the surreal corridors, chaining kills to earn glyphs and increase your score multiplier.

GoNNER quickly transitions from eerie mystery to quirky action platformer.

The art style oozes personality. The variety of enemy designs ensures each type is immediately identifiable — handy, as each behaves in a specific way. Bats chase, slugs move languidly across walls, porcupines roll up into an invulnerable state, and robots explode when damaged but not killed — often leading to a deadly lesson in being aware of your surroundings.

The exact layout of each level is revealed as you progress. Floors and walls are initially invisible, only appearing if you or an enemy monster is in proximity. Screenshots don’t do this effect justice. The floor turns red in the presence of enemies, who melt as they’re damaged. The backgrounds grow more vivid and lively as your combo builds.

Along the way, you find new weapons, heads and backpacks. The shotgun is powerful and fires a wide spread, but you’re constantly looking for more ammo. The shark-fin backpack fires a barrage of bullets. Our favourite tactic is comboing the teddy head’s triple jump with the laser, using it to propel myself across the level. It almost always ends in death, but it feels cool.

The campaign is short but difficult, relying on procedural generation to keep things interesting. It doesn’t take long to work out an enemy’s patterns, and there isn’t much variety in the level generation. Nor is the range of equipment overly diverse.

GoNNER doesn’t offer the longevity of the best roguelike shooters, but it’s nonetheless a stylish, weird and entertaining action platformer.