Gunborg: Dark Matters Review (PS5)

There are plenty of arcade-style platforms out there, and God knows some of them are absolutely majestic. But every once in a while, developers out there come up with ambitious ideas that promise to take the gaming world by surprise.

This is the recipe that Gunborg: Dark Matters is based on. And the description of the game is as promising as it is compelling.

“Harness the power of dark energy as you, jump, slash, shoot and bombard your way through an army of alien soldiers and killer robots in an arcade-style, action platformer with a slick 80's synthwave soundtrack.”

In other words, Gunborg promises just the perfect mix of fast-paced arcade gameplay packed in a very refined platformer and also sporting a captivating soundtrack that millennials are going to be crazy about.

As a side-scroller whose core gameplay comes down to killing aliens and robots, Gunborg is based on a very simple concept. You pick up weapons or use the sword available out of the box and go fight the enemy as part of an adventure that’s painfully short.

If you didn’t get what I mean, just try to play it and it’ll be over before you even realize it. In some ways, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as Gunborg could easily become a gaming sensation among speedrunners.

+3more

One of the best things about it, however, is that Gunborg is getting annoyingly difficult at certain times, so don’t be too surprised if you end up playing the same level over and over again. This is actually part of the whole fun, though once you figure out how to do everything, it’s all just a matter of how fast you complete a level.

I’ve been people finishing the game in less than 3 hours, and this says a lot about the difficulty level. But as I said, Gunborg has pretty solid replayability, and for a platformer, this is something that’s more important than most people seem to realize.

The controls are probably the part that will drive you insane. There’s a major learning curve, there’s no doubt about it, but after getting killed a few times, you’ll probably get used to what each button is supposed to do. Using the shield is an essential part of the gameplay, so make sure you keep your finger close to the trigger most of the time.

Gunborg’s control system comes down to the two sticks and the 4 triggers on the PlayStation 5 controller, and as I said, it takes a while to get used to this setup. Aiming was the most difficult thing for me, especially during more challenging battles, and it happened way too often to get killed simply because I ended up shooting at the sky.

+9more

The soundtrack is absolutely terrific. The last time I enjoyed the music so much was in art of rally, and both games seem to have found just the right way to provide players with fantastic audio. I ended up headbanging on several occasions without me even realizing it, and when you combine this with the experience of killing enemies, you end up with gameplay that makes the time fly.

This is why it’s a shame Gunborg is such a short game. Completing a level doesn’t take more than a couple of minutes if you know what to do and have already got used to controls, so occasionally, you don’t even have the time to enjoy the awesome soundtrack.

The Good

The Bad

CONCLUSION