GUNS UP! 2.91

There's a certain branch of strategy gaming that's done very well on mobile devices but hasn't really been done very well on the PC. These side-scrolling base-defense games are the cream of the crop on smartphones, taking players for all of their time and money. Maybe it's the resistance of PC players to free to play mechanics or the fact that these games are generally made with a smaller graphical footprint in mind, but those games that do bridge the divide are generally looked at with some skepticism. One of the games that has managed to attract a decent PC audience is GUNS UP!

GUNS UP! markets itself as a side-scrolling 2D base defense game, a sort of hybrid of tower defense and strategy. In reality, it has more in common with the wave-fighting games that have been kicking around free flash sites for the better part of the last decade. That's not necessarily a dig at quality - it's just a note that the format isn't as alien as some gamers might think. The game definitely bills itself as a rival to games like Clash of Clans, with the obvious hope of grabbing the same kind of market share those games have.

On one hand, it's very hard to fault GUNS UP!. It's a game that makes a simple statement of purpose and generally sticks to the script. Does it try to reinvent the wheel? No, and that's more than fine. Instead, it tries to do the best that it can within the restrains of a fairly well-known genre. Most of the combat is easy enough and the game doesn't seem as punishing to new players as some of the more common genre entries. It's not perfect, but it does make a good case for itself in Early Access.

There are plenty of downsides to this game and a number of them might have a lot to do with the current state of development. Players generally complain about server problems, something that could be fixed in the future or could get even worse. More troubling is the fact that certain aspects of the game just aren't as balanced as they should be, leaving certain players to wonder why they should invest in specific parts of the game's meta. This is a huge problem in a free to play game, as players will absolutely fail to fund anything that doesn't have a purpose in the game.

GUNS UP! is interesting, but not perfect. It's got a great deal of potential and it's worth a try- but it's not necessarily a game that's going to be great when it is finished. It's almost certain that most of the monetization for the game won't be implemented until it gets out of Early Access and there's no guarantee that the current problems will be fixed. This game rides the inevitable fine line of all Early Access games - while it's definitely in beta, people are still playing so it needs to feel more finished than it truly is.

Note: This game is Early Access and is currently in development. Feedback is welcomed from players as the game develops.