A few weeks back, Dave Corn very kindly reviewed the Steam version of Squirrel with a Gun. Well, now it’s my turn as I have been playing the Xbox version. So here’s a second opinion on developer Dee Dee Creations and publisher Maximum Entertainment’s Squirrel with a Gun… it’s a game about a squirrel with a gun.

“Squirrel, meet gun. As the neighborhood’s most obnoxious rodent, develop a knack (and a love?) for crime and mayhem in pursuit of golden acorns in this nutty sandbox shooter and puzzle platformer. Fight tooth, claw, and gun to escape a secret underground facility and defeat the Agents.”

I guess I had better get the main goal out of the way first. You need to collect acorns. That really is about it. You play as a squirrel who has mistakenly stolen a piece of top-secret tech (because you thought it was an acorn) and now a load of black-suited agents are out to get you. The collectable acorns serve two purposes. The first is an in-game currency that you use to unlock new cosmetics and weapons. The second is to unlock other areas (via unlocking vehicles), which is how you progress to the end credits. Unlock new areas, take on the two bosses, the end.

Squirrel with a Gun is a pretty short-lived experience if you stick to the story (which is very light) and you can expect to see the credits roll in around 5-7 hours. But, the short story is not really the point of the game. The main focus of Squirrel with a Gun is to just mess around and enjoy yourself. But how much enjoyment you will get may not be all that grand. Aside from the two bosses, the only real enemies in the game are the agents, and they don’t offer much of a challenge. You just aim your gun at them and shoot, and they will stand right there out in the open and happily take your bullets to the face too. In short, the AI is not great. That really covers the combat side of the game, it’s a bit plain. There’s a takedown if you manage to stun one of the agents, but there is only one animation for each gun, and the novelty soon wears off.

Where Squirrel with a Gun does fare better is in the puzzle-platforming. Pretty much all of the acorns will be in some hard-to-reach/hidden place, and you’ll need to use some sharp platforming skills or lateral thinking to get them. Your squirrel can not only jump, but it can climb up poles and trees. You can also use your chosen gun as a double jump. Different guns will allow you to double-jump in different ways. For instance, the standard handgun will let you do a jump with every button press, and the Uzi will let you do a more prolonged jump to reach higher platforms. Then there is the rocket launcher, which will send you… well rocketing in the air. You need to use both your normal squirrel-like agility and the guns to get to some of the more tricky acorns. 

There is a lot of humour in Squirrel with a Gun, but the gameplay is quite shallow given the unique concept. The lack of enemies and the rather limited combat are a major drag. But the platforming and puzzles are pretty good. With around a £16 price tag, I’d suggest you wait to pick this up on sale for £10 if you are curious. Still, I would like to see this do well so that the devs are encouraged to make a sequel. I think the same concept with more depth to the gameplay and more varied combat could be great. As it is, in my opinion, Squirrel with a Gun is an okay game that will give you some good laughs for a handful of hours. It plays more like a tech demo of an unfinished game that shows some early promise.