Biogun is a colourful Metroidvania with a hilarious plotline that involves dogs, vaccines... and bacon
Aside from its fun and quirky story, BioGun also brings nice twists to the typical Metroidvania formula that makes it stand out from other titles in its genre.
At first, I thought BioGun by indie company Dapper Dog Digital was just a pretty-looking but typical game of the Metroidvania genre, however, it was anything but.
For one, I was glad I wasn’t trying to save the world from an apocalypse, or trying to survive and take it back from monsters that ruled after a disaster. Or in a world of fantasy with elves, dwarves and dungeon monsters.
Instead, I’m a bacon-infused “smart vaccine” injected into a scientist’s beloved pet dog, fighting off the Duper Virus from one organ to the next in this vibrant twin-stick shooter adventure, and hopefully, find the cure to the virus that has threatened to wipe out all dogs in a "pet-demic".
That’s a very weird and yet hilarious plotline you rarely see in games these days, but somehow, it works.
The world, or should I say the insides of the dog in this game is quite vibrant and colourful, and how each organ looks from the inside and how it operates was cleverly done.
For example, one of my favourite side quests was rescuing "feepups" that you would find across the dog’s different organs. How they got there is another story which I have too many questions for.
The protagonist also gets to upgrade their equipment and their skills. And if that’s not enough, there are silly little trinkets that you can find that you can use to dress up your character a bit more.
With all the things to do and explore, at some point, I forgot that I was a smart vaccine or a nano-particle, instead of an actual adventurer in a dungeon.
Controls are a bit clunky — sometimes I found difficulty aiming with a controller but eventually I got used to it.
But overall, I think it works better with a keyboard and a mouse since aiming becomes much easier.
A new way to do Metroidvanias
With its emphasis on non-linear exploration, full 360-aim blasting (similar to Metroid Dread) and enhancing yourself to get stronger as you continue wandering inside your dog's body, BioGun is more akin to the Metroid series or maybe Axiom Verge, and less Castlevania-like.
And because it’s more like a twin-stick shooter, the way players approach encounters in BioGun is greatly affected by their "build" and playstyle.
This is largely determined by the combination of range, velocity, fire rate, and per-shot damage that they choose.
There are other ways in which the game stands out from others, and that's because of the many player-friendly design decisions that make the genre so much more engaging.
One of this game's more unique features is how the creators intentionally tried to lessen the runbacks and frustrating punishments most Metroidvanias have when you die in a boss fight.
BioGun addresses this issue in part by offering a significant number of retries. So when you die, you may almost instantly try again. On top of this, checkpoints are much closer to boss rooms, so there’s less running back and forth, and more time exploring and completing the map.
On top of that, players release an "enzyme" when they die.
You’d probably automatically think it’d be like a corpse-run mechanic that most games of the same genre have.
On the contrary, difficulty areas benefit greatly from it. In a brief span of four seconds, the player-dropped enzyme grants an infinite supply of energy; you can use this to either begin healing yourself right away or unleash your secondary weapons on enemies.
These small, thoughtful tweaks to the genre’s formula feel more like the quality-of-life improvements that allow players to enjoy the game and immerse themselves in it some more.
Biogun is still in Early Access, with plans for more side quests, rewards, and community features down the line.
Despite this, it doesn't feel like an unfinished game; rather, it offers a complete experience with a lighthearted story and plenty of feepups to rescue.
It’s a paws-itively addictive gaming for dog lovers. After all, who doesn’t want to save all the good boys and girls in the world?
Anna is a freelance writer and photographer. She is a gamer who loves RPGs and platformers, and is a League of Legends geek. She's also a food enthusiast who loves a good cup of black coffee.
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