Wizard with a Gun Review (Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 & PC)

With a title like Wizard with a Gun, how could I not force myself to love Galvanic Games’ quirky survival-crafting venture? In a similar vein as Squirrel with a Gun—yet another unruly number that bears all the same hallmark qualities of a memorable video game—the wizardly tale transports you to a world that’s seemingly more entertaining when emblazoned with endless pandemonium, wands, and bullets, of all things that could’ve made the cut. Needless to say that, as far as odd games go, Wizard with a Gun was always going to be “one of those” sorts of gigs. And you know what? I’m not even mad about that. On the contrary, I embrace unusual concepts — especially ones that force the likes of mythical characters to wield semi-automatic firearms.

It’s been a good few days since I first settled in to the whimsical realm of Wizard with a Gun, and to say my time as a wand-wielding, gun-toting pyromaniac has been rather enjoyable would be little more than a drastic understatement. But I’m getting well ahead of myself here, so we’ll rewind the clock ever so slightly—back to the opening hours in which I first learned how to strap a weapon to a wizard for, you know, reasons. Care to join us on this wacky adventure? Then let’s jump right in.

You’re a Marksman, Harry

To give you an idea of what Wizard with a Gun is all about, we’ll go ahead and flip the hourglass to its former position. Simply put, you and another friend take on the roles of wizards in a world that’s teetering towards its eventual demise. With only five minutes on the clock, both you and your wizardly brethren must set out to accomplish as much as humanely possible before the final minute strikes and the world reverts back to its pre-destructive phase. As for what you can do in this time depends on your play style; you can gather resources to craft new types of ammunition for your gun—sorry, wand—or unlock new areas to find rarer enemies to tackle, or bosses to eliminate.

The ultimate goal of the game, really, is to eradicate the evil that roams the land and essentially save the world. Easier said than done, mind you, what with each five-minute segment only allowing you to complete a couple of objectives at a time. And once all that’s come and gone, you can safely return to a Tower—a location in which time never progresses, and all of your tools and resources can be stored for future endeavors. Fortunately, this means you can make small amounts of progress between runs, and gradually chip away at all the content that the game has to offer.

As it turns out, progressing in Wizard with a Gun means being able to wield better guns, and with even more powerful ammunition and abilities. Again, to make headway on this rather barbaric task, you must first gather the necessary resources and pelts from the biomes and foes that make up the realm. On paper, it all sounds rather straightforward — and it is, for the most part, at least.

Cue the Collapse

So, why exactly is the world on the verge of collapse? Well, that’s just it — we don’t really know much about the cataclysmic event, other than the fact that the only thing that can prevent it, weirdly enough, is a wizard with a Time Machine. Unfortunately for you, that means going out and fixing the darn thing—a process that requires several attempts to obtain certain gears which allow you to step even further back in time.

It goes like this: you have a five-minute timer, and somewhere in this procedurally generated world, you must locate a gear. Failure to find said gear in the allotted time will result in countless enemies pouring from the borders of the realm. And what do you do when such an event occurs? Why, you flee back to your Tower, of course. That is, unless you have the firepower of two wizards to give you an advantage, anyway. Speaking of which…

Two Wizards Are Better Than One

It doesn’t take long to realize that, in order to actually beat the game and make way with its final obstacles, you’ll need to wrangle in a buddy to see you through to the bitter end. As it happens, running the campaign as a lone wizard actually comes with its downfalls: the enemies are equally as powerful as they are in the co-op mode, for starters. And not just that, but enemies, in general, are often more likely to munch away at your progress than when you’re battling them with a friend, which means, realistically speaking, you’re far better off slugging through the motions as a two-piece. Sorry, solo players.

The good news is, it doesn’t take all that long to start upgrading your arsenal with a web of new perks, which includes the likes of ice, poison, and fire spells. Like a lot of games that employ some form of crafting system, the more you unlock, the further you can go into the world and the more lore you can essentially unravel. What’s more, you can also go about embellishing your Tower with a few nifty set pieces and magical decorations. Truth is, though, the need to upgrade your Tower in the preliminary phases of the world’s downfall isn’t all there, as it’s more or less fodder for your time between runs out in the wilderness. A neat idea, for sure, but hardly worth exploring unless you’re desperate to scrape the barrel clean.

Outside of the generic customizable elements that you can tweak and experiment with, there’s also the option to add modifiers to your weapons, which basically let you alternate between different elemental rounds. Again, each upgrade comes with a series of boxes to tick, which means plenty of reruns are often mandatory to progress further.

It’s Awfully Lonely, Being a Wizard

Going back to what I said about two wizards being better than one — I meant it. On its own, the story is somewhat predicable and a little repetitive. However, for me at least, I found that the most fun came from working with another player, as it often brought forth new obstacles to overcome and tougher encounters to battle through. There was also that shared purpose that single-player games often fail to knuckle in on—a feeling that, quite frankly, stuck with me for all the while I foraged for bullets and whittled down enemies in each five-minute endeavor.

Granted, Wizard with a Gun does take its toll on you — particularly in the very beginning, when you’re learning to find your feet out in the pre-cataclysmic world. It isn’t so much the learning curve that bends you, but more the isolation and sheer loneliness that you’re forced to endure while you get your act together and start sifting through the pages. Not a massive problem by any means, but certainly one that felt alleviated by another player joining in for the ride.

Verdict

You could certainly do worse than Wizard with a Gun, that’s for sure. As an entry-level co-op shooter with a number of generic roguelite elements, it brings all that it set out to deliver — minus a hearty climax with a fitting pre-credits showdown. But that’s an easy thing to gloss over, as the rest of the game is a whole lot of fun, and doubly so when experienced alongside another like-winded wizard with a knack for creating havoc with a web of spells and a heart for mindless destruction, to boot. Alone, on the other hand, you probably won’t have the same experience, no thanks to the mismatched difficulty spikes and the game’s relentless efforts to make your journey a living hell.

Don’t get me wrong, a lot of the gameplay mechanics are relatively straightforward to grasp, and to be fair, the bulk of the combat is often made up of spamming a spell until all but one foe remains. What makes it difficult is the fact that, as time draws closer to its five-minute marker, more enemies tend to swarm the map, which can make solo exploits much shorter that, for example, joint ones.

For what it’s worth, I for one found my time in Wizard with a Gun mostly enjoyable, mainly down to the simple fact that I had another gun-toting explorer to experience it with. As far as co-op games go, it’s certainly up there with a lot of classic IPs of its kind, and it helps that there’s a lot of replay value, too. So again, while you might struggle to get the most out of it as a lone voyager, you’re bound to get a kick out of it as a rooting, tooting, magic-spouting two-piece — and then some.