The Gunk is an independent game developed by Image & Form Games, the creators of the Steamworld Dig series that was born on the Nintendo 3DS. These talented developers made the leap into 3D adventures with a game that does not disappoint, as it maintains its high quality from start to finish and its talent can be seen in every aspect. The Gunk was the last jewel that 2021 left us, and exclusive to Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S, Windows PC and Xbox Game Pass ..
The story of The Gunk introduces us to a duo of space carriers named Rani and Becks, who during a journey come across a planet that emits some strange energy signals. If they are lucky, this energy could help them pay their debts, so they decide to land on the planet, only to find a desolate-looking environment covered in a strange organic material and black which they call Gunk.
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Of the two carriers, Rani has a great spirit as an explorer, so she decides to go out to examine the planet’s landscape in search of the energy that they had detected from space. The Gunk grows everywhere and, although it seems harmless, but you soon discover that when you get rid of it the flora of the planet flourishes again, exposing a colorful and beautiful world. Under this premise, The Gunk presents us with an adventure of exploration on an alien planet, with a feeling of mystery and amazement at every step.
An excellent single player campaign.
The Gunk is a single player game with a linear structure, with excellent level design in which it is impossible to lose yourself. The platform and puzzle challenges that you face start with a fairly simple difficulty, but it increases little by little as you get used to each mechanic that it presents. Still, the layout of the maps, puzzles, and visual clues save you from taking too long to figure out where you need to go. Thus, The Gunk offers a short campaign but with a fairly high quality that is maintained for its entire duration.
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Those who had the opportunity to play Steamworld will remember relaxing which was digging, because you could spend hours opening underground paths just for the sensation of breaking each piece of earth. Image & Form replicates this sentiment in The Gunk, because in the same way it is relaxing to absorb the Gunk that we find everywhere. Even the areas where you have to absorb large amounts of Gunk do not feel a burden, all thanks to visual work on the texture of the substance and the feeling of control when absorbing it.
Thanks to the gunk it is necessary to explore the places twice: One full of Gunk everywhere, with blocked roads and threats to your health; and again as we have cleaned the area, with the plants blooming and the resources ready to take them. Cleaning the Gunk opens up new paths and puzzles, which creates a slightly addictive from cleaning areas of Gunk to see how they bloom when finished, solving the puzzle they present and moving on to the next one.
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A control that does not fail.
Controlling The Gunk is simple, but it works perfectly. In addition to freely walking in three dimensions, Rani is able to absorb with her mechanical arm, allowing her to clear the Gunk, collect resources, and interact with ruined mechanisms. Rani also has a scanner, with which you can examine the fauna, flora, mechanisms and important objects that you find. Scanning something new fills up the upgrade bar, which unlocks new skills once full.
The abilities Rani are unlocked with resources found while exploring the alien planet, and help you explore and survive the threats of the Gunk. Although Gunk is initially just a harmless substance, eventually you come across creatures that live off it and act hostile around you. One upgrade lets you cast a decoy, while another increases your arm’s absorption speed, and one more increases your overall health.
In total The Gunk offers 16 improvements that you unlock by scanning objects, and while these make exploration easier and increase your chances of survival, they are not actually necessary to pass the game. In The Gunk lives are endless, so in general it feels like a relaxing experience where what matters is exploration, not showing your skill as a player. Still, the final moments of The Gunk ask for all of your survival skills, so don’t expect a walk in the park for the entire campaign.
An excellent soundtrack.
The music is perfect with the feeling of exploration in a world in ruins, with a tone of mystery and wonder between its melodies made with stringed instruments. In the musical section, The Gunk can boast of having an ambient soundtrack that is perfect with the tone of the game, elevating each scene of this strange world and each key moment in history.
The structure of The Gunk is linear and the composition of its levels is very clear, so it will be very difficult for you to get lost. There are alternative routes that offer extra resources, but these are easy to identify and the main road is usually marked by visual cues, such as yellow paint stains, lights, or paths painted on the ground. Thanks to this, the pace of the campaign is fast, with secret ways for those who want to explore every corner and finish the game 100%.
Verdict: Everything The Gunk does, he does well.
Thanks to its linear structure, clear puzzles, and excellent control, The Gunk offers an experience that goes like waterBecause all the time you are advancing, discovering the secrets of the alien planet and absorbing Gunk, always accompanied by an exquisite ambient soundtrack.
In terms of its length, The Gunk’s story offers about six hours of gameplay (the counter stops when the game is paused or in cutscenes), but it maintains its high quality from beginning to end. The Gunk looks great on Xbox One S | X, but it looks great on next-gen consolesas its Xbox Series X | S performance and superior image quality bring the colorful world that Image & Form Games created to life. You can purchase The Gunk through the Microsoft Store for a price of $ 439 MXN, and you can play this version at Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S and Windows PC.
The good:
- A colorful, intriguing and worth exploring alien world.
- Simple and responsive control, you master it in a matter of minutes.
- Linear structure with an excellent level design.
- Perfect background music.
Extra comments:
- The campaign is not very long, but at no time does the quality drop.