What would happen if a cop wanted to arrest the ruler of Hell? Odds are nobody was expecting to have that question on their bingo cards, especially since this year has been stacked with back-to-back RPG releases. However, the people of DeadToast Entertainment deliver an extremely fast-paced platformer with tons of mayhem and violence that is sure to be a speedrunners’ dream game. This indie title which Developer Digital also published offers a simple, fun experience that will offer what it delivers which is a Shotgun Cop Man who’s on a mission to arrest Satan.  

That is not a joke either as once the game starts, the mission for Shotgun Cop Man is that he needs to physically travel into hell and arrest the devil himself. After getting started on that path it’s just a series of stages in which Shotgun Cop Man shoots up a bunch of demons while also simultaneously avoiding dangerous obstacles along his way. Armed with both a shotgun and a pistol at the start Shotgun Cop Man utilizes the shotgun to launch himself into the air while he uses his pistol to take out as many enemies as he can on the way, and every demon he kills will drop other types of weapons, including pistols, SMG‘s, other shotguns, and many other advanced weaponry which can all be utilized in his quest to arrest the prince of darkness. Each stage has a certain number of levels to complete all with different platforming challenges and obstacles some simply just getting from point A to point B while others can only be as simple as shooting a certain number of enemies until the gate finally opens. This gameplay loop while simple offers a massive amount of fun and replayability, especially for those who enjoy speedrun games. There are four different total adjectives in every level, one being killing all of the enemies, the second one being completing the level within a certain time limit, the third being take no damage and finally discovering all the secrets in the area. These simple objectives are perfect for people who simply just want to speed run through the entire game. There are no cut scenes outside of a few 3-D rendered zoom ups that have quirky text boxes, But outside of that the game is simply just a run and gun platform game from beginning to end. 

Despite  the game being very simple, not every game needs to be a massive open world RPG with many gameplay mechanics and features. Sometimes all a game needs to be is a simple run and gun platformer with a large variety of replayability, which is what this game offers. Shotgun Cop Man may not be as deep or complex of a protagonist as some other 3-D Characters but his mission isn’t unnecessarily over complicated to understand. 

The style and overall appearance  of the game is also quite simple, with it very much taking a blocky, almost Tron-like appearance, but this adds more to the simplicity and fun of its world, much like another Devolver Digital game, Anger Foot. The game doesn’t need to be the standard of game of the year all it simply needs to be is simply just fun. While this game may not win any big game awards it is an extremely fun experience that hopefully other people will get around to discovering and enjoying,  especially those looking for another speed-running game that is simply there to be a good time for anyone who enjoys it. From what I have been able to play so far, the game doesn’t have a large difficulty spike, unlike other platform games that can either be too easy to play because they lean more towards younger audiences and familys or games that test the player to a large degree that could frustrate some but give confidence to others who invest their time into learning the mechanics. Luckily, Shotgun Cop Man is able to blend the best of both worlds without it being impossible to complete or infuriating to play, instead it opts for a more addictive style of game that makes the player want to come back and play again and again, similar to old school platforms or online flash games. 

Overall, I give Shotgun Cop Man, a very high rating and hopefully with this rating and recommendation other people will be able to find about this title so that they can enjoy this very simply fun and enjoyable indie game. 

Overall Score: 9 out of 10

Reviewed on: PC