Enter The Gungeon is a new-age fusion of a bullet-hell and rouge-like aspects done well. Its top-down action aspects are great.

A fast-paced shoot ‘em up where you face various enemies as you travel deeper and deeper into “The Gungeon”. Armed with a large assortment of weaponry, your quest is to take on a giant bullet that has landed on the planet and has the ability to shoot into the past, and free the world.

Enter The Gungeon is quite difficult when starting off. You begin with 4 characters to choose from. Each one has its own unique abilities that will assist you as you make your way through the treacherous “Gungeon”. When you first start up, you choose a player, then head straight into action. Each level is randomly generated as far as the setup of the map goes. I’ve noticed that even though the layout of the map seems to change, the rooms are always a similar setup with the same enemies. Eventually, you learn the pattern of how the rooms work. I will remind you though, do not head into every room with blind confidence. This game will catch you off guard and quickly teach you a lesson. The learning curve is steep, but you will pick it up eventually.

The action is the best part of this game. The ability you will use the most is definitely your dodge roll. When dodging, you are invulnerable to any bullets and you can use it to leap over obstacles. One of my favorite aspects of the game is how you can flip tables to use as protection. You can also knock over barrels, push them towards an enemy, then shoot them to cause an explosion. Using the environment is definitely quite helpful when your back is against the wall. The weapons are fantastic! Yes, you have your standard shotguns and assault rifles, but it’s the unique weapons that really advance the experience. One weapon I found was an electrically charged crossbow that when shot, ricochets around the room hitting enemies. Not your style? How about a banana that you can throw that explodes like a MIRV into multiple other exploding bananas? The special weaponry you find throughout that game is what really amps up the fun level. In addition, you can fast travel to any room with a teleporter in it, which I really enjoy. I’m a completionist and after exploring every room I find myself on the other side of the map, but I press tab and click and I’m instantly by the final room.

Once you traverse your way through “The Gungeon”, shooting up enemies and discovering various weapons and secrets, you face the final boss. Now, I’ve only faced a couple different bosses, and these boss fights aren’t easy at all. Bullet hell isn’t a strong enough term to describe these fights. I’ve noticed the best way is to take these fights slow and strategically. If you rush in and try to slug it out, you will most certainly die. Use your dodge ability frequently and take shots when you have an opening. You also can collect these little blue items, which when activated, makes all the bullets on the screen vanish and your enemy will stop shooting. It’s a very useful item and I would suggest saving them for dire moments.

Having issues with enemies? Just throw an exploding banana MIRV their way!

The graphics are also well done. The pixel character and enemies are starting to feel a little drawn out to me, but the explosions and weapons effects really make up for it. Throw in the chaos from different items around the room being shot to hell and it really gives you a fun gun battle every time. The music also adds a nice element to the intensity of the gameplay. It gives you a good sense of adventure while traversing the dungeon and it adds a nice tempo to the various boss fights you’ll encounter.