Introduction
In Guns Gore and Cannoli you play as Vinnie Cannoli, Vinnie lives in the mobster world and works for Belluccio as an enforcer. This game is made because of the short-animated film called Hell bent on whiskey which also features Vinnie as the main protagonist. In this game, you not only deal with gangsters but also with zombies that want to eat your brain. That was not what I expected when I started this game but it was really funny. I am usually not into the gangster or mobster themed games but this game was a fun experience. The game also features couch co-op, this means that I played the game with my wife which was awesome. We have amazing teamwork and those zombies got destroyed by our combined bullets! The game is in 2D and the levels are linear but the graphics are really good. The name does not lie, you will see guns gore and a whole load of cannoli. I never ate cannoli in my life, I wonder what would it taste like?
What did I think of the game before playing?
I did not investigate too much before playing this game, I got one copy in a bundle that I bought and the header looked really cool!
Without further ado, I put this game in the weekly poll and started wondering what kind of game it was so I looked it up the steam page.
I really liked what I saw on the steam page, the graphics look like it cost a lot of effort to make and the animations of the characters are smooth.
I was quite interested in the story, I had no clue how you would mix gangsters with zombies until I looked at the short animated movie that has inspired this game.
In the movie, Vinnie also encounters a zombie along with his partner Paulie.
After the game won in the poll of the week I installed Guns Gore and Cannoli and started the game and we started playing together. My wife and I completed the game in one play session of about four hours. Our brains had turned to mush (not really, we game this much every week on Sunday)!
Story
The game begins with introducing Vinnie Cannoli for the people that have not seen the movie called Hell bent on whiskey. It seems like a simple job at first, Vinnie needs to get Frankie out of Thug town and deliver him to Belluccio.
Before Vinnie knows it, he is surrounded by a whole load of zombies that want to eat him. The zombies have drunk a special kind of alcohol that made them zombies but the gangsters in town have not become zombies because they drink imported beer. There is only one thing to do when zombies come to eat you! Blow them to kingdom come! Vinnie travels through thug town in search of Frankie. Vinnie finds Frankie but he is being held hostage by a rival gang of Belluccio.
Vinnie makes minced meat of the gangsters that are holding Frankie hostage. Frankie tells Vinnie there is only one way out of this zombie-infested town and that is by using the blimp that is anchored to a tower. Frankie and Vinnie fight their way through thug town to get to the tower and find a guarded bridge. Frankie waits below while Vinnie takes care of the guards, after taking care of the guards Frankie blows up the bridge with Vinnie on it.
Vinnie manages to survive and curses Frankie, after swimming Vinnie finds some bridge pieces that he can rest on. It does not take long for zombies to pop out of the water to try and eat Vinnie. Vinnie takes out his shotgun and blasts the zombies to pieces. Vinnie enters the sewers and decides to kill Frankie for double-crossing him. After traveling through the sewers and killing many zombie rats Vinnie finds an evil scientist lair. After surviving many booby traps Vinnie catches up with the evil scientist and interrogates him for the full story. Vinnie learns that they were experimenting with beer that turns people into zombies but the project was supposed to be left alone. Frankie found out and ordered all the beer and made sure it got served to everyone on Sant Patrick’s day. Vinnie puts the evil scientist into a vat of poison and decided to catch up with Frankie and kill him. After coming out of the sewer Vinnie is very close to the tower and starts climbing it but Frankie made sure all the gangsters are waiting for Vinnie. When Vinnie reaches the top of the tower Frankie is loading up money in the blimp, Frankie took all the money of Belluccio and killed the leader of the gang. After a long gunfight, Vinnie gets the upper hand on Frankie and jumps in the blimp with him and throws him out. Vinnie leaves Thug town in ruins with no witnesses left.
Gameplay
You will need to fight your way through long levels filled with many zombies that will be in your way. You will start with a small pistol but you will find better guns along the way. You will also have grenades you can throw on the hordes of zombies. I really enjoyed the co-op part of the game and I think that is where the game truly shines but the game does not have a lot of different gameplay. When you die after losing all your health points you will restart at your latest checkpoint. If you need more health you will need to find some cannoli on the ground or even in the sewers. It does not seem very delicious on the ground but Vinnie really loves Cannoli. You also have some platforming in the game but it is very minimum. You can take cover behind objects when you get shot at. You will encounter some boss monsters and you will need to think of strategies to take them down. The game lacks in the gameplay department, luckily the game is not very long and it remains enjoyable but if the game was bigger it would have been a real problem.
Sound and graphics
The graphics are really nice and fun to look at. The world and characters seem hand-drawn to me and I really like how the animations are handled.
The sound and sound effects are fitting for the game. I really liked the lines that Vinnie says, eat me, wait stop eating me!
What did I think of guns gore and cannoli after playing?
I really liked the gameplay, especially the co-op in this game was very good but the game is very short. We were able to finish it one session of gaming but we both liked the game.
I think the game lacks a bit in gameplay but the graphics make up for it. If I had to play this game alone I would not have enjoyed it as much.
My personal rating for guns gore and cannoli is 7.6.
Pros and Cons
Pros
– I enjoyed the story of Guns Gore and Cannoli.
– The graphics are very nice to look at.
– The couch co-op is an amazing experience for this game. – The lines that Vinnie says are awesome.
Cons
– The gameplay is lacking in Guns Gore and Cannoli.*
– The game is really short.
* This is acceptable since the game is not really large.
I did enjoy this game and I would recommend you play this with someone else. I and my wife are looking forward to playing Guns Gore and Cannoli 2
I give this game a …drumroll…
7.1
Leave your thoughts in the comments.
I hope you liked reading this review, I hope to see you in the next review.
Thank you for your review, you definitely encouraged me to try this game… and I had no idea that it allows for couch co-op! Definitely a big advantage!!
Great to hear that!