Gauss

Top-down shooters are not as popular as they have once been, but there’s still the occasional game released every now and again using the classic mechanics that appear so rudimentary nowadays. Naturally, it’s still possible to impress the public with a top-down shooter even today, at least as long as it’s done responsibly and the gameplay is engaging enough.

Gauss is a top-down shooter in which you get to explore a steampunk world and kill hundreds of evil robots. The main selling point is the fact that it features multiple classes to choose from, and each class has a special ability that helps you on the battlefield. On top of that, the game is also playable in co-op, which means that players can help each other and work as a team.

The available classes range from tank, to sniper and medic, and they all come in handy when things get tough. Their skills are pretty predictable, but the action is actually quite engaging and fun. Thus, medics can drop healing medkits for their teammates, while the sniper’s bullets can penetrate many enemies if they happen to stand in a neat line. Obviously, it’s important for the players to work together to achieve maximum efficiency.

The bad thing is that the action gets pretty repetitive after a while, given the fact that nothing really changes when it comes to the rooms or the enemies. There are bigger robots making an appearance every now and again, as well as turrets that guard the perimeter, but don’t expect anything out of the ordinary most of the time. Although this is a student project, it would have been nice to see more variety.

As for the graphics, they are actually pretty nice for an independent studio of this size, not to mention original in most cases. The characters and the units are detailed and nicely modeled, but the enemies come in huge hordes that kind of ruin the illusion. Even the level design is quite nice, but then again the rooms are not that different from each other.

All things considered, Gauss has obviously got something going here, but it’s far from polished in most regards. Hence, it would be nice to see more content in the future, and the gameplay could use a few touchups as well.