Development studio Image & Form has gained a reputation for their SteamWorld series,
delivering simple concepts that go beyond what you see on the surface.
So far most of their games have been defined by fantastic 2D visuals, but
The Gunk expands that artistic flair to 3D,
encouraging players to explore a mysterious and alien world.
You play as Rani, part of a small salvage crew that includes her partner Becks
and their robot assistant Curt.
The team lands on a world they know little about in search of materials to sell,
only to soon be blocked by a gross sticky mess
they can only describe as the gunk.
The story that unfolds is largely told through radio conversations between the pair.
As Rani explores, encountering strange wildlife and ancient artifacts,
Becks has to stick with the ship, becoming somewhat impatient
since she’s just looking to pay the bills.
The further Rani goes down the planet’s rabbit holes, the higher the stakes,
only raising tensions between the two.
There’s clearly a wider backstory here as well, but the game avoids spelling it all out for the player,
leaving you to piece together the pair’s history and the greater context of this universe
from snippets of dialogue here and there.
The focus is shrewdly kept on solving the immediate mysteries before them.
Of course, at the heart of all this is the gunk itself,
a toxic substance that suppresses any life nearby.
By using Rani’s robotic arm, you’re able to vacuum up pockets of gunk,
and once every trace of it is removed from an area, that section of the map springs back to life.
Plants and fungi can be used as platforms or harvested for resources,
and blocked passages open up.
So the key to moving forward often comes in the form of cleaning up the surrounding environment.
The bubbling organic compound is clearly more than just an oily liquid, too,
as there are times when clumps of gunk circle areas in cloud-like formations,
or spawn enemies and other hazards.
The trouble is that unlike the addictive basic mechanics of SteamWorld Dig,
sucking up gunk lacks a sense of being intrinsically fun.
Tracing the circumference of each mass can take some time, and once in a while, an area may look clear,
but a pocket of gunk might be invisibly tucked behind a wall,
making you retrace your steps, sucking at corners until you find the last drop.
Also, while most areas require you to clear every last bit of gunk,
a handful of spots are overwhelmingly covered in the substance,
and you may realize too late that your goal in these locations isn’t to scrub it all away,
but simply to dig a path forward.
As a whole, it’s not a terrible mechanic, nor is it too much of a chore,
it just isn’t particularly compelling on its own.
The game is largely focused on exploration, searching environments to find the path ahead,
whether that means shooting targets to unlock doors, blowing away debris,
or planting spores that grow into mushrooms you can jump across.
Things are leisurely paced, allowing you to check out nooks and crannies for crafting materials,
often finding ladder-like fungi to use as shortcuts
back to the main path.
Rani also makes use of a scanner to examine life forms, materials and artifacts.
Not only does this provide bits of lore to learn about this world,
it also gives Rani ideas for upgrades to craft when you get back to camp.
Scanning is quick and unobtrusive, and if you’ve already scanned something, the icon changes color,
making it easy to avoid wasting time rescanning things.
Finding materials to craft these upgrades is one of the main incentives to explore,
but unfortunately a lot of these enhancements just aren’t all that useful.
There’s a plasma cannon that’s essential for opening certain doors,
but it doesn’t add a whole lot to combat.
Meanwhile, decoys used to lure enemies away from you can be helpful in crowded situations, but
the extra tweaks to augment them and other functions
are relatively minor in practice.
There really isn’t anything that brings a big transformation in how you play or navigate the world.
Combat really isn’t a priority and plays out in small short encounters,
with just a handful of enemy types.
Most of the time you fight small round creatures
that you quickly suck up and spit back out, like smashing fruit.
Later, the game mixes in spitting plant-like creatures
you have to rip out of the ground as well as larger creatures that charge at you like bulls.
In many cases, globs of gunk will continue to spawn new enemies,
so you have to shift between attacking enemies and mopping up,
but it’s never that difficult to keep on top of things.
At about six hours or less, The Gunk is a short run, which isn’t a problem in itself,
but it does feel somewhat abridged.
Just as soon as you get an idea of what’s really happening,
it isn’t long before you’re making a run toward the final showdown,
and it feels like some new tools or mechanics could really go a long way.
That said, it does provide a pretty world to explore.
Looking up to sunshine filtering through towering mushrooms consistently provides rays of hope
as its gloomy soundtrack mourns for a dying world yearning to come back to life.
The Gunk is a slippery one to pin down.
It doesn’t get too bogged down in any major flaws, but it doesn’t do much to surprise either,
sticking to adventuring basics, and a small toolset of abilities.
That said, there is some good characterization here,
and whether it ties into the SteamWorld universe or takes its own branch,
it be great to see Rani and Becks back for a more grand adventure.
Final score: 6.5 out of 10.
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