Guns, Gore & Cannoli 2 Review

Imagine playing a mafia boss caught up in World War Two but you’re not just fighting Nazi’s, you’re also having to contend with the mafia, police, zombies and mutant rates. Well this is what Guns, Gore & Cannoli 2 has on offer. Guns, Gore & Cannoli 2 is the sequel to Guns, Gore & Cannoli unsurprisingly and you reprise the role of Italian American mobster Vinnie Cannoli. After surviving the zombie outbreak in Thugtown last time, Vince still wants a piece of World War Two action.

Guns, Gore & Cannoli 2 is a standard run and gun twin stick shooter. You play as Vince or one of the other playable characters and you move left to right on a series of beautifully hand drawn backgrounds. Enemies pile in from all angles and it’s your job to kill them all. You can jump and roll whilst you possess an arsenal of weapons to help you on your way. The main purpose of Guns, Gore & Cannoli 2 is to get to the end of the level which is essentially moving as far right as you can. Enemies are actively looking for you so if you try to run past them they will continue to track you down. As the title suggests Guns, Gore & Cannoli 2 has a lot of weaponry to get to grips with and there is a tonne of gore; everyone dies in a very gory manner.

Each weapon has its advantages, the chainsaw is useful for close combat, the flamethrower can burn multiple enemies, the shotgun is another one to use when getting up close and personal, whilst an RPG is great for hitting gunners hiding in a bunker. There are a variety of enemies which includes a big mafia guy who runs into you, police carrying a riot shield, ball & chain zombies who are able to throw their chain and send them flying across screen and giant mutant rats. The bosses are suitably tough, operating out of Nazi made machinery, generally they all follow a pattern but it’s still fun nonetheless blowing them to smithereens. The environment can also be used to increase the carnage on-screen. There are machine guns that can be mounted, air conditioning units can be shot so they fall on an unsuspecting victim below and flammable barrels can be set alight with some accurate shooting consuming those around them in a fiery death. There are also fans that can suck whoever is near into them causing major damage.

Something I always like to see in a game, is that in Guns, Gore & Cannoli 2 the different enemy types will attack each other whether that is mafia vs the police or zombies against Nazi’s, this adds a little more tactical nous to what is mostly a shoot on sight title. There’s no special weapon or secondary shooting mechanic which is a shame, not sure why the enemies can throw bombs but Vinnie can’t.

Guns, Gore & Cannoli 2 is a short game, maybe 3 to 5 hours to get through, but it is a fun 3 to 5 hours to play with. The plot moves on at a steady pace and is quite humorous at times. The voice acting and general dialogue doesn’t sound out-of-place in Guns, Gore & Cannoli 2. Graphically Guns, Gore & Cannoli 2 is very nice to look at, whilst the scenery at times can become a little repetitive as you move across the screen, it all looks really slick and professionally drawn. Vinnie and the guys he shoots at are all charming looking sprites that suit the environment you’re playing within. There is a local coop mode which definitely adds more longevity to Guns, Gore & Cannoli 2, when there’s up to four of you shooting the place up the screen is full of bullets, explosions and screams. You can also play online but I couldn’t find anyone in the lobby but that shouldn’t detract to what Guns, Gore & Cannoli 2 has.

Guns, Gore & Cannoli 2 is a short but fun and especially entertaining title. Sometimes a simple game is matched with simple graphics or a meandering plot but that is not the case with Guns, Gore & Cannoli 2. Vinnie is an interesting anti-hero and the plot is fairly engrossing even taking into account that after each dialogue you’ll just be running and shooting again. Guns, Gore & Cannoli 2 whilst short on time is definitely worth investing your time in simply because it is fun game to play.

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Playstation 4 code was provided to Bonus Stage for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to press@4gn.co.uk.