Review: Shotgun Cop Man (Switch)

Gun recoil (or kickback) has frequently been perceived as a drawback in gaming; a factor that, through the use of unlockable enhancements, can be minimized or even completely removed. Yet in Shotgun Cop Man, recoil is essential to both combat and movement.

Developed by Swedish studio DeadToast Entertainment (Victor Ågren), Shotgun Cop Man is, without a doubt, the developer’s most refined creation to date. It’s a more stripped-down approach compared to My Friend Pedro, yet the resulting gameplay is just as intense and gratifying as anything you might encounter in Super Meat Boy or Celeste.

You assume the role of the titular Shotgun Cop Man who, five years post-training, is dispatched to Hell to apprehend Satan. That’s essentially the complete narrative. Transitioning between realms includes brief cutscenes where Shotgun Cop Man and Satan confront each other, though these encounters are limited to the former demanding Satan’s capitulation, while the Lord of Darkness simply gestures and flies away.

It’s a humorous game, which is perfectly captured in the gameplay itself. Initially, you wield both a shotgun and a pistol, though you can exchange the latter for various firearms discovered throughout the game. Movement is directly connected to your shotgun: using a straightforward twin-stick configuration, you aim with the right stick, fire, and the recoil propels you in the opposite direction.

By firing your shotgun, you can traverse the stage and eliminate any adversaries in your path. However, this alone won’t be sufficient for most situations, so it’s essential to use both weapons simultaneously. Your pistol (or Uzi, sawed-off shotgun, minigun, flamethrower, or whatever you have at your disposal) typically offers a quicker fire rate along with significantly reduced recoil that can assist in dodging incoming attacks.

Shooting your secondary weapon also allows you to stay airborne briefly, with each successful kill reloading your shotgun by one round. To clarify, you maintain unlimited ammo, but can only fire your shotgun three times before reloading. Unless you manage to eliminate an enemy and thus maintain the ‘combo,’ you must land on the ground, which can be problematic if it’s filled with spinning circular saws.

This may sound absurd, but what’s truly impressive about Shotgun Cop Man is how seamlessly everything fits together. It’s a fairly forgiving game, particularly in the early levels, where you can often survive by simply firing in all directions and wishing for the best. However, as the environments become more intricate, you must adopt a more tactical approach to navigate the stages effectively.

The game promotes this by introducing optional objectives. You can complete each level in any manner you desire, but to fully ‘complete’ them, you’ll need to finish within a specific timeframe, defeat every enemy, and do so without sustaining damage. Focusing on these elements truly elevates Shotgun Cop Man, and there’s nothing quite as gratifying as checking off each objective at the end of a level. In summary, if you enjoy methodically eliminating foes in Hotline Miami, you’ll find yourself at home here.

But what if you do take damage? Fortunately, DeadToast provides a way to navigate most tricky situations if you catch a bullet now and then. When hit, your heart escapes your body and hovers in the air, gradually moving back to Shotgun Cop Man. If you manage to retrieve it, you’ll return to full health, but if you get shot again while heartless, you’ll perish and revert to one of the game’s many generous checkpoints. Even this is humorous, as each death scene zooms in on Shotgun Cop Man’s face as he lamentfully states, “I DIE.”

Featuring nine worlds with a total of 17 stages each, there’s a wealth of content to explore. Each world culminates in a boss battle, which can truly test your abilities against creatures that transform into various forms, spawn standard enemies at will, and teleport rapidly around the arena. However, once you familiarize yourself with the controls, most encounters won’t pose excessive challenges. To reiterate, it’s mastering the optional objectives that provides the true challenge, yet the immensely satisfying gameplay will entice you to replay levels repeatedly for 100% completion.

In terms of aesthetics, Shotgun Cop Man draws considerable inspiration from Super Meat Boy in its visuals. It features small character sprites and a broad view of action, helpful for spotting incoming threats. However, the environmental design can become slightly repetitive, employing an industrial theme that makes the stages resemble an underground nightclub.

Speaking of which, the music fits perfectly within a nightclub atmosphere, with a pulsating bass track accompanying you throughout the game. It really energizes you, and combined with the explosive sound effects from your firearms and the splatter of blood from your enemies, it creates an experience that would impress Michael Mann. When you take damage and lose your heart, the audio becomes muffled, almost resembling being submerged underwater; it’s a neat quirk and an excellent way to signify danger.

Lastly, performance on Switch remains consistently solid. Occasionally, during intense moments with rubble flying or when surrounded by enemies all firing simultaneously, the frame rate may drop slightly, but it’s never enough to hinder the enjoyment. Additionally, load times are virtually nonexistent, with deaths or level transitions occurring seamlessly. It’s an exceptionally polished game, and we genuinely look forward to seeing more from Shotgun Cop Man in the future.

Conclusion

Shotgun Cop Man can easily compete with the likes of Super Meat Boy and Celeste regarding precise gameplay. Employing your firearms for both movement and combat with a straightforward yet effective twin-stick configuration is a stroke of genius, and it results in a gratifying experience you’ll want to replay countless times. While not overly challenging in itself, mastering the optional objectives is essential for 100% completion, where you’ll discover enjoyment and difficulty in equal measure. It’s amusing, it’s violent, and it’s refined – we suspect it will become a cult classic.