The Gunk Xbox review: Adventure has never been so satisfying

The Gunk Hero Source: Windows Fundamental

Following the 2022 release of SteamWorld Dig two, the team behind Image & Form were hoping to expand their horizons with their side by side project. A game prototype was eventually tested that resulted in players vacuuming up black gunk allowing for plants to abound that the team deemed "ridiculously gratifying," and thus The Gunk became Paradigm & Grade'due south side by side game.

Releasing Dec. xvi, The Gunk is a tertiary-person activeness-adventure title that tells the story of Rani and Becks, best friends and partners who scavenge the galaxy in a canaille spaceship affectionately known as Grit Bunny. Becks is a skilled and resourceful mechanic who manages to proceed the Bunny going despite the pair's tough times. Rani, the playable character, has a heart of golden but often lets their audacious nature guide them.

The Gunk Rani Source: Windows Central

Having lost their arm in a mining incident prior to The Gunk'southward events, Rani is equipped with a large, orangish, mechanical prosthetic arm the duo refer to as Pumpkin. Pumpkin serves as a scanner then that players can learn identifying data nigh items in the world, too as a vacuum for sucking upwards crafting materials and gunk.

The Gunk Reco

The Gunk

Bottom line: The Gunk is a satisfying puzzle-gamble game where ii down-on-their-luck space scrappers must help save an alien planet from a destructive black goo. The combat in The Gunk does feel frustratingly underbaked, simply solid story pacing and excellent puzzle challenges help overshadow the struggle.

The Good

Cute environment
Puzzles are enjoyable
Writing and voice acting is well washed

The Bad

Combat is underbaked
Limited accessibility options

Disclaimer: This review was made possible by a review code provided by Thunderful Games. The company did non see the contents of the review before publishing.

The Gunk: What you'll like

The Gunk Curt Source: Windows Central

For most of its roughly viii-hour playtime, The Gunk excels at being a story-driven puzzle-gamble where players explore a visually stunning planet that is slowly beingness devoured by a mysterious black goo. Rani scrambles through tiny and dark crawl spaces in caves into giant open meadows with streams and unusual flora bursting with colors, giving players a sense of an expansive world total of potential despite the game mainly sticking to linear pathing. The Gunk's environmental storytelling is above the board, as Rani explores and interacts with the remnants of an aboriginal conflicting civilization. The more Rani uncovers, the deeper the mystery of the planet becomes.

Category	The Gunk
Title	The Gunk
Programmer	Image & Class
Publisher	Thunderful Publishing
Genre	3D action-adventure
Xbox version	Xbox Serial X
Game size	10.7GB
Play time	7-viii hours
Players	Singleplayer
Xbox Game Laissez passer	Yep
Launch cost	$25

The gunk itself in the game is an all-encompassing corruption. Areas that are covered in the gunk are dark and lifeless, but players tin can use Pumpkin to vacuum up the gunk and effectively clean each area. Once all of the gunk is removed, a dark-green chimera swells upwards around Rani, bursting colour and plant life around them.

Clearing out the gunk often requires a fleck of puzzle solving, however, every bit Rani's vacuum skill has limited range. Players will demand to engage with the environment by growing mushrooms or throwing explosive institute heads to clear obstacles in their path to overcome the alien planet'south terrain.

The Gunk Alien Ruins Source: Windows Central

These puzzles are well planned out, and its typically fairly easy to come up upwards with the solutions for them adding to the casual exploratory nature of the first one-half of the game. Generally, objects that players can interact with feature a aureate sparkle to aid them stand up out. This can go far easier to find and collect crafting materials that are needed to create upgrades for Pumpkin. Withal, at that place is no map so if you do happen to miss collecting something, yous may find yourself at the end of the game running back and forth through previous areas trying desperately to find more than crafting materials. Thankfully, at that place is a fast travel beacon located at the entrance to each segment.

The Gunk: What you won't like

The Gunk Sneezed Source: Windows Central

There's a surprising lack of wildlife on the alien planet we visit during our time with The Gunk. In one particular chapter we encounter an unusual animal that we help to save from the dreaded Gunk Critters, but following the decision of the affiliate we never see another one of these animals ever again. Seeing a little more than wildlife could have helped cement the story notation that this is a planet that needs you to salvage information technology. The lack of wildlife diversity also spills over into the handful of enemies that y'all'll run into in The Gunk.

In fact, I'd dare say the gainsay as a whole is the one glaring weak spot in the entire game. There are only iii enemy types that the player will encounter in The Gunk, and the only ways Rani has for tackling them is with Pumpkin'south vacuum suction. This leaves players having to get Rani up close to the enemies to engage them. However, Rani doesn't take any moves available to contrivance incoming attacks and their overall movement is a chip deadening fifty-fifty when running. In a game that otherwise felt like a relaxing and satisfying adventure, the combat was an unnecessary struggle. Solving the puzzles and immigration the gunk were sufficient antagonists in their own right.

The Gunk: Should yous play information technology?

The Gunk Wildlife Source: Windows Central

The short reply to whether or not somebody should selection upwardly The Gunk is a resounding "Yes, admittedly." While I did discover the combat lacking, I was and then enamored with the rest of the world that had been laid out earlier me that I didn't mind shuffling my fashion through the annoying Gunk Critters just so I could see what Rani was going to uncover next.

The narrative is a wonderful allegory for the importance of taking care of your domicile planet, but there'due south plenty humour and puzzles and exploration laid at your feet that you feel like you're taking something genuine away from the experience. The Gunk is the kind of indie game that I would hands recommend to someone who thinks they don't similar indie games. The game's inclusion in Xbox Game Laissez passer on release means there's even more reasons to give it a try.

The Gunk Reco

The Gunk

Bottom line: The Gunk is an excellent showcase for what indie games can bring the table. The game's narrative is well written and engaging, the vocalisation interim is excellent, and the puzzle design is intuitive. However, there are some shortcomings with combat and limited accessibility options.

We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.