REVIEW

Gal*Gun 2 Review

by Jake Stewart, May 7th, 2018

Gal Gun 2 is the kind of game that you have to shut your windows, mark yourself as offline, and hide yourself in the dark to play. Normally when describing this type of game, I’d generally use words like “raunchy” or “lewd” but Gal Gun manages to skyrocket straight into “absurdly perverted” and “incites deep self-reflection.” Gal Gun 2 really strives to be as “sexy” as possible, but in the process loses sight of what would make the actual gameplay compelling.

The story (as is the norm in these games) is relatively nonexistent. The player takes the role of the single male student in a school filled with hordes of young women. The Demon, Kurona, has sent out other demons to possess the women of the school and it’s your job to stop her. An angel sent from heaven becomes your sidekick and delivers everything you could need on your demon-sweeping rampage. The special care package includes, a pheromone blaster, fancy demon-viewing goggles, and a ghostbusters-esque vacuum.

The gameplay takes the form of an on-rail shooter where you use your blaster to bring hordes of infatuated schoolgirls to “euphoria.” During these sections, demons will clutch onto the girls and will need to be collected with the vacuum. While putting up your last stand against the hordes of girls, well-placed shots on “certain” body parts will result in an Ecstasy Shot. Best way to explain this mechanic is essentially just a headshot, only you’re not aiming for the head. Another combat mechanic is the ability to stare into a girl’s eyes for long enough that they perform a “love-strike” knocking out the other girls around them.

The levels consist of fighting off the obsessed girls and demon capturing using the aforementioned mechanics over and over again. Unfortunately, that’s about as deep as the variety goes. There is practically no variation in enemy types, backdrops are almost identical, truthfully if you’ve played one level you’ve played them all. A lack of variety, underwhelmingly simple combat, and lack of any real difficulty makes the levels feel like a chore rather than a fun experience. As a big fan of arcade shooters, I found this to be really disappointing. The roots in Gal Gun VR became apparent in this lack of variety. Maybe if I was playing this in VR the combat would be more interesting, but on a controller, everything feels slow paced and boring.

Visually, Gal Gun 2 looks as decent as it needs to. Character models are polished, animations are smooth, and backdrops fit the aesthetic well. I particularly enjoyed the variation of the schoolgirls appearance, as they seemed to have a fairly large library of hairstyles and faces to cycle through. While you’ll start to see the same faces after a while, it was certainly better than a small handful of girls being cycled through over and over again.

After the sexual appeal wears off, Gal Gun 2 leaves you with a mediocre shooting gallery with a severe lack of variety. In its current state, Gal Gun 2 doesn’t feel like much of a finished game, and even less so a full-priced one. While the “euphoria” and charming world may carry the game for a few hours, you’ll be burnt out on the experience long before the already short campaign is over.