Mischief Maker wrote:
So yeah, any word on whether Gunhound is worth it? Can you change the awful keyboard layout in the full game?
So far it doesn't feel as fun as Gigantic Army. Let me quickly scribble down the stage layouts for the first two stages:
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Alright, the first stage has a downward slope at the end, but that's basically it. It isn't until Stage 3 when you need to actually aim some jumps.
There are some things in the game that makes it feel less tightly designed than Gigantic Army. The most stupid thing is how sometimes, in the middle of a stage, the game decides you absolutely need to pay attention to the talking heads and refuses to proceed until you acknowledge the lines of dialogue with a button press. When this happens while you're fighting against the enemy, as it sometimes does, it's utterly annoying and distracting. There doesn't seem to be any way of disabling the story parts, either.
The weapon system is nice and I think you can unlock more parts to equip your mech with, though I haven't managed to get any yet. But I'm assuming that's why the game tracks your total score between runs, like Mars Matrix' DC port or Crimzon Clover. Even though the game has only five stages it's pretty hard, I've been unable to beat the third stage yet. There are health pickups but they're rare and it only takes a few big shots to destroy your mech. And personally I don't like the graphical style much, I much prefer nice, clean sprites over this.
Considering how you can get Gigantic Army far easier (Gunhound is only sold through Amazon.jp) and for far cheaper, I'd recommend getting that one first. This one so far hasn't justified its price.
And no, you can't change keyboard configuration in the full game either. I've been playing with a pad and those buttons can be configured any which way.