The proton pack from Ghostbusters, Megaman's arm cannon, and the Nintendo Zapper from Duck Hunt all make appearances. Further, many guns are based on pop culture. There's even a T-Shirt Cannon, a gun that fires pillows, and some guns become melee weapons while reloading. Others are wackier in their approach-the Glacier gun shoots ice cubes, Void weapons fire energy blasts, Super Soakers shoot streams of water to push enemies back. Some are modeled on real life, like the Derringer, M16, Uzi, and Revolver.
Now, let's look at the guns, and there's a lot of them. It's imperative that the dodge-roll is used and mastered-as the game goes on, some enemies and bosses take a very bullet-hell approach which means relying on the standard movement is an easy way to get killed. It not only gets the player out of the way of bullets quickly, but it allows rolling through bullets when timed correctly. The dodge-roll is perhaps the most vital weapon in the player's arsenal.
This should lead directly into discussing the guns, but first, it's worth mentioning that the tutorial teaches not only how to shoot, but most importantly, how to dodge. The Hunter starts with a crossbow and a helpful dog, the Convict has a shotgun and molotovs, the Pilot has a lockpick and can haggle with shops, and the Marine starts with armour, one ammo drop and the ability to reload faster. Each character has different abilities or starting equipment, and this variety is part of the challenge. Players take control of one of four starting characters in a bid to find this gun. Why are we gungeon-ing? Apparently there's a weapon that exists on the bottom floor capable of erasing the past. The concept isn't exactly fresh, but Gungeon brings a lot to the table to differentiate itself from the crowd.
In the same vein as Binding of Isaac and Nuclear Throne, Enter the Gungeon is a randomly-generated, top-down shooter that asks players to clear floors of enemies before taking on a boss and then moving down to the next area. I'm outlining these things because they illustrate two key aspects of Gungeon: first, that it's difficult, and second, that it can be very, very random. However, I've not even seen the final floor of the 'gungeon' yet and I certainly haven't rolled credits. I have made progress, though-I've unlocked around 60% of the guns, items and additional features, and the starting area is almost filled out with playable characters and NPCs. WTF Pop culture references, like the Nintendo zapper from Duck Hunt.ΔΆ5 hours in, and I've only scratched the surface of Enter the Gungeon. LOW The randomness can make some playthroughs impossible to complete. HIGH Clearing an entire floor without taking a hit is incredibly satisfying. And don't stop dodge-rolling once you enter.