Colt Canyon Review

Colt Canyon is a top-down shooter with roguelike elements. Developed by Retrific and published by Headup! Headup has also published another game known as The Coma 2: Vicious Sisters! Colt Canyon got a lot of praise from the fans for having a unique style and colour scheme. Unlike most roguelikes, Colt Canyon is skill-based and not grind-based! Which means that later runs won’t be that much of a difference than your current run.

In Colt Canyon, you take the role of a cowboy on a quest to request your partner. It all began after an encounter with a gang of bandits who attacked you and kidnapped your partner. The way to save your partner will be long and challenging. You will encounter people who will lend a helping hand as well as bandits who want to put a few bullets in you! Will you be able to save your partner and make it back safely?

Colt Canyon can be experienced alone or co-op with a fellow cowboy! Playing it with a friend really makes the game even more fun and enjoyable! Considering that Colt Canyon is a difficult game, it will either be easier or harder for you to clear it with a friend. I still suggest playing Colt Canyon alone first in order to get the hang of what to do. The game is played from a top-down perspective, which gives you an easier time seeing what is coming next. The best way to dodge enemy attacks is to dodge with the SPACEBAR. It is especially recommended to do so if you see a bullet flying towards you!

When you play Colt Canyon, you will very soon realise that ammunition is something precious that you have to spare or otherwise you will see yourself in a situation in which you really need the ammunition. So, I highly suggest in one-on-one situations to use the melee attack. When you make progress, you will also realise that you can choose other characters! Characters you unlock will start the run with different things and that is how you can choose the character that perfectly suits your style! 

Comparing Colt Canyon to other top-down roguelikes such as Moon Hunters, I really feel like both games look nearly the same when it comes to the style! I really love the style that Moon Hunters have and it got me really excited to see that Colt Canyon also got the same style! The beautiful art style is the reason why I keep playing. Everything from the atmosphere to the soundtrack just makes it a really cool western roguelike! The soundtrack for Colt Canyon is absolutely brilliant. It already got me jamming out in the main menu! Other than that, the controls for Colt Canyon are really simple. You will even be greeted with a tutorial the first time you launch the game. After a while, Colt Canyon gets awfully addicting. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been killed and retried ten times before, something with Colt Canyon really makes you want to keep playing. I wouldn’t recommend Colt Canyon to someone who is new to roguelike and that is because of the unforgiving nature that Colt Canyon has. The fact that Colt Canyon is skill-based makes it even harder since most roguelikes actually roll with the grind-based principles. But, for someone like me who enjoys a roguelike being rather challenging makes me really satisfied with myself when I make a large amount of progress.

To put it simply, Colt Canyon is a rather unforgiving roguelike that I wouldn’t recommend to those who are new to the genre. But it is rather the perfect game for those who seek a challenge and really want to test their skill in a proper roguelike!

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