Guns, Gore & Cannoli

The Good
+ Excellent graphics, animation and art style + Unique and powerful weapons to use + Fun blast and shoot action at first + Surprisingly intense multiplayer + Decent Switch port

The Bad
- On and off level design - Becomes tedious, especially later in the game - Little replay value or extra features

The Bottom Line
Guns, Gore and Cannoli is a game that I first bought for my brand spanking new gaming PC a few years ago. I thought it was a blast; with intense run and gun action, a detailed art style and loads of cartoon gore. Well, time passes. In late December, as a Christmas gift, Guns, Gore and Cannoli was ported over to the brand spanking new Nintendo Switch. The game was supposed to have a Wii U port; but was sadly canned. But it's now on Switch...so how does it fare on the new Nintendo hybrid console, and what do I think about it after a few years?

The main plot is that you're hardened mobster Vinnie Cannoli, who is sent to Thugtown in a attempt to find a lowlife gangster. But what's up with these hungry zombies? Well, that's for Vinnie to find out...and blast through. The plot and thematic elements for Guns, Gore and Cannoli is highly cliched; but it adds to much of the game's charm. The game's thematic material was inspired by a animated short featuring the character of Vinnie Cannoli, "Hell Bent for Whiskey". Go check it out if you want, it'll explain a lot of the ideas behind the game.

The entire game plays much like Metal Slug: run and shoot everything in your way. Literally everything. Zombies, mobsters, soldiers, mutant rats. You have 12 weapons to use, ranging from your trusty pistol with infinite ammo, a Tommy Gun, flamethrower, etc, as well as grenades and Molotovs...and that's much of the game. Straight up action. It gets tedious because of the little variety you have with enemies and weapons on offer. You got your standard zombies, your charging zombies, your jiggly zombies with whips, your zombies that burp out gas...your typical mobsters with machine guns and shotguns, and soldiers with rocket launchers and flamethrowers. Sometimes you can blast away glass or blow up the occasional car, and fight a boss or two. That's literally it. Don't get me wrong - I like mindless action, but the game loses it's steam later towards the end. You do get some fun deathmatch action going on, and that's a great diversion with friends.

What really appealed to me about Guns, Gore and Cannoli was it's art style and graphics. The game has this Belgian comic book feel, and much like Skullgirls, another game with excellent animated graphics, Guns, Gore and Cannoli is oozing with details. You will see glass break on the floor, you will see bullet casings and empty magazines and clips fall on the ground. You will see highly detailed backgrounds, you will see lots of cartoon blood and gore flowing through the streets. It's just such a joy to look at, which makes me wish there was an art gallery of sorts to peruse through. The audio aspect is also pretty good, adding to the atmosphere of the game. It's not too serious, but not too tongue in cheek either.

Being ported over to Switch, you'd expect some wacky stuff to happen, but it's decent enough. While it doesn't take advantage of the JoyCon's features, such as the HD rumble, it does play at a solid 60 FPS, much like the PC version and it controls well for the most part. The 60 FPS is also consistent when the Switch isn't docked, and for a game like this that's pretty good.

Of course, the game is flawed. The level design is iffy; many elements are on the spot, flowing with lots of constant action, or sometimes having weird puzzle elements and platforming segments that can sometimes work or outright kill you if you're not paying attention. The bosses are also pretty...eugh. There are only three bosses in the entire game and you'll die quite a fair bit. Two of them share the same attack patterns as well, and when the final boss has the same elements like the first boss, but with a significant difficulty bump, then that's dumb. The little replay value on offer is also baffling, and there's no unlockables or features to go for.

Overall, Guns, Gore and Cannoli is a fun shoot 'em up with a great art style and atmosphere, but also suffers from tedious gameplay and a lack of extra content. For a underrated run and gun game, it's not bad. I'd get it, but only during a sale.