Guns Gore & Cannoli 2 - Tops Shelf Indie Action

Top Quality Run and Gun Through World War 2, Italian Style

 Playing Guns Gore & Cannoli without mentioning it's improved sequel would be criminal, or worse, an offense to criminals. Instead of finding myself missing or wearing a pair of concrete shoes, I've gone and replayed the sequel to the indie hit Guns Gore and Cannoli, a game that not only continues the Cannoli story, but improves on the gameplay, controls and level designs, its just better in every way. I'll sing like a canary and say that the game is the best run-and-gun title on Steam, even without an enforcer holding a gun to my head. Now it is a contentious statement that this sequel really rises to the top of 2d shooters, but like a politician that takes bribes, I'm easily bought by features that play to pc gamer's strengths, things like full mouse-aim and enough guns to use more than the number-keys on a conventional keyboard. Although Guns Gore & Cannoli has console release, it still doesn't have me plugging in my Xbox controller to get this illicit job done. Speaking of jobs.

Vinnie Cannoli's second outing takes place in 1944, about fourteen years after the fateful blimp-escape that saw the fortunate enforcer escaping the Thugtown zombie apocalypse with a pile of cash for his troubles. The fortunate thug is no worse for wear considering he's evaded all the legal implications of murdering those non-zombie characters in the first game, at least until now. The new and mysterious Dark Don has a score to settle with Vinnie, a score that won't be tallied until players have blasted their way through the seedy 1940's slums to Nazi occupied Normandy. As Cannoli says, he's always wanted a vacation in Europe, though this sequel doesn't wander too far from the indie, cartoon goodness and offbeat humor that made the game so good. 

The appeal of Vinnie Cannoli and his wiseguy persona comes with the artwork and animation that were such a big appeal in the first game. A gangster is nothing without a sense of style and the Guns Gore and Cannoli series has no lack of it. Lot's of games take place in the 1940's almost all of them in war-torn Europe, but Guns Gore & Cannoli brings it's own hand-drawn style and slips it onto the gray lifeless warzone like a finely taylored suit, a suit paid for with untaxed crime-money. The addition of Nazis to pretty much any other game has already been done, but the as far as I know, the mafia vs Third Reich hasn't been done to death. There is death to be dealt though, and with the action turned up to eleven, thankfully there's enough firepower in this game to win WW2. 

The deep pockets of a mafia man's suit can hold a lot of guns. This time around there's a weapon wheel to aid in the selection of firearms that have expanded even beyond my keyboards number keys. It goes along with the new 360 degree mouse-aiming that makes getting headshots far more practical in the 1940's, maybe that's what Vinnie Cannoli was working on during his leisure. While you'd think that de-braining enemies at will would make the game easier, there's far more of them this time around. No gangster, no matter how tough can just stand there and tank damage like some kevlar clad cappo, so there's now a double-jump and dodge-roll. These new moves and arsenal all make Guns Gore & Cannoli 2 play more like an arena shooter than 2d platformer. Something about the environments and action feels familiar here, something I've already played. 

Running and gunning through the early campaign of Guns Gore and Cannoli 2 felt familiar to me, like a sugary snack from my childhood, though I couldn't put my finger on the familiar bullet-hole reminded me of my early gamer years. The macho Vinnie, gratuitous violence and lived-in environments all felt like something from a Build Engine game, namely Duke 3D. It's the real-world locations, mutant enemies and environmental interactions that feel like they run parallel to the old "problematic" fps games that still hold up today. It takes a character like Vinnie Cannoli to make a character-driven game like this work. The similarities go into the way that players interact with the environments too. There's no puzzles or keycards to find, but traversing the areas of the game means turning off valves for gas pipes or destroying scenery to progress. It's a kind of non-puzzle interaction that reminded me of my favorite games. Loading an artillery shell into a flak 88 cannon to blow open doors and even fight a boss was great fun, something that you don't see in 2d shooters that often. Not typical, but games of this quality seldom are.

Revisiting the two Guns Gore & Cannoli games was a fun trip down memory lane. The refined sequel of the second game really finds it's comfortable niche, a niche that not a lot of indie games do. The action never really gets old during the 3ish hour runtime. It's short and sweet, fitting for a game with cannoli in the title. The charismatic characters, crude comedy and non-stop action all make for a great pair of games, but it leaves me wanting more. With any luck there's going to be a third title, but I haven't heard any news of another sequel. Whether we get one or not, you'll get more posts in the near future, Gangsters.