Wondershot | Review

Games are social. It’s not necessarily an image that the mainstream press likes to portray when covering video games, though. Gaming as a social event doesn’t fit the image they have of gamers, when the basement-dwelling loner is the more headline-friendly caricature. People who play games – and research would suggest that’s most of us – know that games are often better shared. It’s a premise that Microsoft tested with the original Xbox, and the foundation on which the Xbox 360, and now the Xbox One, was built. Games are for playing together.

While Xbox Live is still the best platform for online gaming, there’s a different – and far older – way to play together. Wondershot by French developer Leikir Studio is just the latest in a series of recent releases that promote that staple of social gaming – local multiplayer. Joining the likes of The Living Dungeon, and In Space We Brawl, Wondershot is designed with couch multiplayer gaming in mind from the outset.

What’s refreshingly unique about Wondershot is the target audience. This is a kid-friendly game, and moreover one that feels designed for parents to play with their children. The game carries an ESRB rating of E10+ for fantasy violence; the violence here though is so overtly cartoonish we feel the rating is a little tough. As always, these ratings are just a guide and we would recommend parents try the game out for themselves to make up their own minds. One of our testers found the game perfect for his seven-year-old sons.

The premise here is pleasingly simple – a top-down arena shooter for up to four players that features one shot, one kill mechanics. Here’s where it’s interesting: it takes just one shot to kill an opponent – and you only get one shot! Weapon variety should give you some idea of how this works in practice: bow-and-arrow, slingshot, boomerang and hammer. Miss with your one and only shot and you’ll have to run to pick up your ammo before you can reload. A kill, though, grants you another shot straight away so you are ready to defend yourself instantly.

With each weapon behaving slightly differently there are plenty of opportunities for different play styles to emerge, and the game is at its best with three or, preferably, four players. Loose alliances are formed, and broken just as quickly. A temporary ally may turn against you as part of their grand plan, or a truce may be broken with a single errant shot.

And it’s that hasty – and often shouted – negotiation that takes place between rounds as you jostle your friends next to you, or twin boys scheme to gang up on Dad, that creates lasting gaming memories. Your recollection of super mutants killed or tombs raided may fail over time, but you’ll always remember the day you pummelled Timmy with the couch cushions because no-one could be that lucky…

Rounds are fast and fluid – the one shot kill mechanic leaves no room for wars of attrition. There’s a tension from the outset – do you bide your time and wait for that perfect wonder shot, or do you fire at the first opportunity and then dodge defencelessly as you run to retrieve your wayward weapon?

There’s a simplicity to the controls – this is no twin-stick shooter. Movement and aiming is carried out on the same stick, forcing you to either attack or flee. With only a single shot to play with, the “move-backward-shoot-forwards” defensive strategy is redundant, though you can lock your player into their current direction by holding the right trigger. The left trigger allows for a defensive roll that can also be used to clear mud traps without being slowed by the gloop. Shooting is on a single button press, too, with slightly different shots depending on whether the button to tapped or held.

A bow and arrow is a fairly straightforward weapon, but is blessed with good range and a fast-flying arrow. Shots from the sling can bounce and ricochet, whilst the boomerang has limited range but returns (part of the way) back to its owner, making retrieval quicker and safer. Hammers are for hitting things. Not complicated, hammers. Thwack.

There are a variety of arenas in which to do battle – though we found those with moving cover and, best of all, portals to be the most fun. Portals allow you to hop across the level, skipping through cover to get the jump on your enemy – but the canny player will use them to shoot through instead. It’s even possible to chain portal shots together if you get the angles right. In these cases, it’s easy to lose track of your shot completely, especially as you’re defenceless until your shot hits home or you run to retrieve it.

Alongside the multiplayer battle mode there’s a co-op horde mode variant – Endless – which sees you and a buddy fighting of waves of increasingly tougher enemies. There’s a single player mode too – Adventure. While superficially similar to Endless, this mode serves as a series of tutorials to familiarize yourself with the mechanics of the game, tackling increasingly tougher arenas. Many challenges come with a time limit, and offer rewards for completing without missing a single shot.

“Wow, what can I say? As a mature gamer I was expecting so little, yet as a family WE got so much from Wondershot. So easy to set up and jump straight into the action. The battles are intense and hilarious when trying to reload. Add in disappearing cover and portals to make a frantic few seconds per round. Yes, seconds! The beauty of this is my 7 year olds couldn’t get bored. The first few top-down battles saw me as a hero, but a decent control system and savvy twins soon saw my victories whittled down. My boys love it because they know they can beat me; I love it because it’s pleasingly different.”

~ Mark and the twins

Visually, the cartoony style suits the child-friendly nature of the game – deaths are represented by comical puffs of smoke and a big X. The music is earworm-worthy and bounces along at pace with the lightning rounds, whilst sound effects are of the whizz-bang variety. All good stuff.

The game is not without its flaws. While one of our testers – and his family – loved the game, another was less impressed. The simplistic controls may be off putting for those used to a little more nuance, and some kids on the cusp of maturity may feel the game’s a little too uncool to be cool (do kids even say cool anymore?) The focus on local multiplayer – there’s no online mode whatsoever – will certainly limit the game’s audience and appeal. The single player mode is basic and quickly repetitive.

“The game was alright. The controls were hard to get used to and I got bored of it pretty quick.”

~ discerning 10-year-old-tester

With only four weapons to choose from, three game modes and limited arenas, there may not be much to bring the friendless back for many single-player sessions. And the lack of online play will make this game a definite no-no for some. With Wondershot, Leikir Studio aimed squarely for the local multiplayer market, and here it’s very nearly a bullseye. In the right company and with the right attitude, Wondershot is a great way to spend a little time with friends.

Wondershot is available to download now from the Xbox Store priced £10.39, PlayStation Store priced £9.99, and in the Nintendo eShop for £8.99 – though on Switch it’s discounted to just £0.89 until 2 May 2021.