I finished playing Squirrel with a Gun last night, and overall, it’s a hilarious game that doesn’t take itself too seriously (after all, it features a squirrel wielding various firearms, including a rocket launcher!). Beneath its ridiculous premise, the game cleverly hides some challenging sections amid its fun silliness, adorable outfits, four collectibles to hunt for, and satisfying finishing moves.
Each gun comes with its own finishing move, and there are realistic elements such as each weapon having an appropriate kickback. If you fire certain weapons too close to yourself, like the rocket launcher, you’ll take damage as well. As you’d expect, the pistol and shotguns are ideal for close-up encounters, while the sniper rifle lets you pick off enemies from a distance. Sometimes, you’ll need to carry a gun from one area to another to achieve a goal or collect an outfit or acorn. And definitely try out the finishing move for every gun because they are fantastic!
I love how some of the outfits, colors, and accessories have actual gameplay benefits, while others are just for your enjoyment. For example, the albino fur makes you immune to electricity, and there’s a party hat that can be used to explode things. When I didn’t need any special abilities, my favorite combination was the red fur, rainbow mohawk, and sweater.
The various areas of the map provided fun and unique ways to collect the coveted Golden Acorns, keeping the gameplay fresh and engaging. I enjoyed gathering as many as I could (I ended with 52 out of 56). Some are earned by defeating enemies, others through platforming or climbing, and some involve puzzles or helping the townsfolk. There’s even one that includes the squirrel pole dancing!
The boss fights were surprisingly challenging, partly because I approached them with the mindset that “boss fights are hard,” which led me to overcomplicate things, especially with the first one. For the second boss, I recalled my experience from the first encounter and opted for a simpler strategy, resulting in far fewer deaths. The optional Doll House area was delightfully creepy; I quickly found myself saying, “Oh hell naw,” and fled as fast as I could. The “fur” you acquire from that level is both fitting and horrifying at the same time.
The end credits include a mini-game that is a chef’s kiss way to keep someone actually watching/playing versus just skipping and ending the game. However, be warned: to earn the related trophy, you need to replay the boss fight to reach it (it’s the only trophy I’m missing, in fact).
My only complaint is with the new additional Ratatoskr level, which heavily leaned into difficult platforming, relied too much on the gun jump mechanic, and had checkpoints that were too far apart. After a particularly lengthy section involving gun jumps, avoiding shooting agents to prevent kickback off the platform, and tricky jumps to dodge mines, I died and was reset too far back, prompting me to rage quit and say, “Fuck that!”
Still, 10/10 game, and highly recommended!
(and yes, I’m going to attempt to do better about posting about stuff on the blog again, versus just my goals and gaming updates, including game thoughts!)
