From the developers of the SteamWorld series, including the fantastic SteamWorld Dig 2, The Gunk is an altogether different sort of game. Like an intergalactic Luigi’s Mansion, but starring a one-armed space lesbian instead of a nervy Italian plumber, the setting is an uncharted planet ready to be pillaged with the assistance of a rather satisfying to use proton pack.

This back-mounted vacuum cleaner can be used to scan your environment, which also fills an experience bar that unlocks upgrades, suck in resources to build said upgrades and clean up the titular gunk that’s polluting the otherwise beautifully rendered world. The proton pack can also be upgraded later on to help vanquish the world’s hostile lifeforms, most notably by sucking the innards out of the arseholes of the larger four-legged creatures.

The Gunk is at its absolute best in the first two-thirds of its approximately six hour running time. The unnamed planet you get to explore is resplendent with vivid colours, and accompanied by a pleasingly unpressured musical score. Things take a turn for the final third, as the tediously on-the-nose eco plotting has you infiltrating a miserably dark and gloomy base in which the sense of wonder is replaced with too many of the annoying but unchallenging enemies and a sense of the plot spinning its wheels to add an extra hour to the total.

Something that unfortunately plagues the entirety of the game is the unutterably awful writing and some of the worst voice acting ever to befall our ears. This starts out bad and rapidly descends to ear-rapingly horrendous, thanks in no small part to the two protagonists falling out and throwing the most pettily juvenile hissy fit in the history of gaming.

The bugs, by comparison, are easier to forgive. This is, after all, an indie game, so occasionally getting stuck on the scenery and entire textures spontaneously disappearing are easy enough to tolerate.

It never gives us pleasure to stick the knife into an indie title, but the fact The Gunk is so enjoyable until that final schizophrenic third makes it difficult to maintain a charitable outlook. It almost feels like a potentially great game has died at the altar of a hamfisted ecological tale, eschewing what could have been an unequivocally pleasing entry into the increasing bastion of titles that are both satisfying and relaxing.

Pros:
Gorgeous visual environment design
Sucking up resources and the gunk is enormously satisfying
First four hours make for a gloriously relaxing and enjoyable time

Cons:
Some of the worst writing and voice acting we’ve ever heard in gaming
Somewhat glitchy
Last third is a gloomy mess
Horrendously annoying and unrelatable protagonists

69% // Fair

https://steamproxy.net/groups/MensaGamer

From the developers of the SteamWorld series, including the fantastic SteamWorld Dig 2, The Gunk is an altogether different sort of game. Like an intergalactic Luigi’s Mansion, but starring a one-armed space lesbian instead of a nervy Italian plumber, the setting is an uncharted planet ready to be pillaged with the assistance of a rather satisfying to use proton pack. This back-mounted vacuum cleaner can be used to scan your environment, which also fills an experience bar that unlocks upgrades, suck in resources to build said upgrades and clean up the titular gunk that’s polluting the otherwise beautifully rendered world. The proton pack can also be upgraded later on to help vanquish the world’s hostile lifeforms, most notably by sucking the innards out of the arseholes of the larger four-legged creatures. The Gunk is at its absolute best in the first two-thirds of its approximately six hour running time. The unnamed planet you get to explore is resplendent with vivid colours, and accompanied by a pleasingly unpressured musical score. Things take a turn for the final third, as the tediously on-the-nose eco plotting has you infiltrating a miserably dark and gloomy base in which the sense of wonder is replaced with too many of the annoying but unchallenging enemies and a sense of the plot spinning its wheels to add an extra hour to the total. Something that unfortunately plagues the entirety of the game is the unutterably awful writing and some of the worst voice acting ever to befall our ears. This starts out bad and rapidly descends to ear-rapingly horrendous, thanks in no small part to the two protagonists falling out and throwing the most pettily juvenile hissy fit in the history of gaming. The bugs, by comparison, are easier to forgive. This is, after all, an indie game, so occasionally getting stuck on the scenery and entire textures spontaneously disappearing are easy enough to tolerate. It never gives us pleasure to stick the knife into an indie title, but the fact The Gunk is so enjoyable until that final schizophrenic third makes it difficult to maintain a charitable outlook. It almost feels like a potentially great game has died at the altar of a hamfisted ecological tale, eschewing what could have been an unequivocally pleasing entry into the increasing bastion of titles that are both satisfying and relaxing. Pros: Gorgeous visual environment design Sucking up resources and the gunk is enormously satisfying First four hours make for a gloriously relaxing and enjoyable time Cons: Some of the worst writing and voice acting we’ve ever heard in gaming Somewhat glitchy Last third is a gloomy mess Horrendously annoying and unrelatable protagonists 69% // Fair https://steamproxy.net/groups/MensaGamer