Gal*Gun Double Peace can be seen in multiple gaming articles as a game that “knows it’s audience”. However, this opinion is only drawn after seeing trailers and screenshots of the moe-rail shooter developed by Inti Creates. A question has been coming up in various conversations, “What if this game sucks?” This can be a real issue. Could Inti Creates be shoving moe girls in our faces as a way to cover up the fact that they are delivering a broken or unplayable game? Well, I had the opportunity to play the localized version of Gal*Gun Double Peace to put all your gameplay questions to rest.
Gal*Gun Double Peace is no doubt a moe dream. Characters that are cute enough to be called your waifu throw themselves at the player only to be shot away. As distracting as this may seem, I had my doubts about the accessibility of the game. Jumping right in, I was immediately being rushed at by these kawaii girls. Without hesitation, I took aim. A small concern of mine, was that I haven’t played a rail shooter on console since The Die Hard Trilogy and Area 51 on the PlayStation. As it turns out, my memory of aiming on those games is not so fond. However, playing through Gal*Gun, the controls seemed impressively responsive, with additional settings to fit your play style. My aiming reticle wasn’t flying past characters on screen or difficult to see. Instead, I was having fun and any missed shots or mistakes felt like they were my own fault not the game’s.
Additionally, Gal*Gun Double Peace is not as easy as some might think. For those looking to get some simple moe action on the high difficulties, they are in for a surprise. I ended up dying multiple times, but it left me motivated to get better. Gal*Gun Double Peace‘s difficulty is not in the controls. Instead, it’s how you take on the mob of girls running at you. Quick questions that came to my mind during my playthrough: “Which one do I shoot first?” “Do I have the time to shoot that girl behind the potted plant?” “Ah, bathing suits! Do I even shoot?”
A rail shooter means you are basically on a track and go where the game takes you. Walking through a changing room in the game I thought, “If only I could peak under these changing room doors.” Well my perverted dreams were answered because that’s exactly what the character did next. Through out my 30-minutes with the game, I was impressed with the amount of exploring the game does on it’s own in every room. I never felt that the character was just walking from point A to point B. I would like to see more areas in the game, as well as, dive deeper into the story. In terms of playability, Gal*Gun Double Peace is not broken. Any critiques of the game would have to be found elsewhere.
Gal*Gun Double Peace is definitely a game that knows it’s audience. It’s astonishing that we don’t hear this more often. Inti Creates took on a project that could form multiple debates from social justice communities, but they developed what they wanted. I would like to see more companies take on this approach and welcome all the comments, criticisms, and discussions. It turns out they don’t only know their audience, but they know who they are and what they want to create as a company.
On a side note, I would also like to be honest, I played the game for 45-minutes, not 30. The remaining 15-minutes were spent being tortured by a girl in her underwear, but you can take a wild guess how I felt about that.
