THE INSIDER SAYS: “Let’s start with the survive-the-odds co-op gameplay of Left 4 Dead, but pixilate it to look like a bloody awesome Nuclear Throne tribute. OK,  now make the playable characters…cute? Welcome to Guntouchables! ”

Really, the opening  lines here sum it up the experience best, but for the sake of explaining why this game is more than worth a glance, let’s quickly delve deeper into GUNTOUCHABLES. So, yes, it’s a combo of Left 4 Dead (1-4 player co-op) and Nuclear Throne. Then you’ve got the bean-like heavy inked art style for all these sociopathic doomsday preppers that adds a bit of comic hilarity to the pixilly blood.

While the masochistic among us can go solo in Guntouchables, the game is really intended for you to squad up. In fact, the devs were so adamant about it, the game released free for the first 24 hours at the 1.0 launch to encourage more people to team up. (Really, though, for the $5 US asking price, it’s a helluva lot of fun.)

Each Guntouchable player takes on a role – different weapon loadouts and specialties. Work together and you’ll survive (a LOT) longer. The gameplay is simple enough, issuing goals as you run around the small map for a mission. Survive. Escape…then kick off the next mission.

Between missions, you’re voting on the modifiers that’ll throw more curveballs at you during the next step in your run. 

There’s even amusing audio that calls back to the arcade days of Smash TV (or Mortal Kombat) as horde difficulty intensifies. The ONLY thing missing: No music backing tracks to compliment all this insane action. Not the end of the world (PUN!) — there is a music slider in the settings so here’s hoping, it’s something to get patched in later.

Speaking of which, the devs promise a continuing open roadmap. They have said that, “Launch will just be the beginning. Guntouchables is designed to be a heavy and easily expandable experience, and any content additions will increase the possible outcomes and combinations exponentially.” They also say they want to expand the game with community feedback.

INSIDE LOOKS:

• Greed is good…here: It’s all about risk and reward. Jack up the difficulty to earn more rewards. Trade in that loot for weapons and perks. 
• Between each mission, players must vote between a random selection of mutations that will grant enemies new traits and abilities. 
• You won’t make it long in the apocalypse without the right set of tools. Choose a loadout that fits your style and then mod it with upgrades to your personal preference. A clever combination of perks and gun mods will turn you into an unstoppable mutant killing machine in no time.

Guntouchables is currently available on Steam for PC.