Gentlemen! Demo

It seems that men are always quick to exchange the occasional fist, especially if alcohol played a role in the evening. While violence is condemned and looked down on today, a century ago it was only natural that two grown men would argue their opinions over a duel. Even top hat-wearing gentlemen adhered to the rules, although they did it with a bit more class, one might imagine.

Gentlemen! is the kind of game that’s only enjoyable with a few of your friends over, because besides the fact that it was designed for multiplayer, it doesn’t come with an AI, so it looks quite sad when you play it alone. Hence, this is basically an arena beat ‘em up game with power-ups and fancy weapons, ranging from the good old knife, all the way to electric shocks and dynamite.

Up to four players can enter the arenas at the same time and on the same computer, thanks to the shared interface. There is no split screen to make things difficult to follow, which means that all you have to do is keep an eye on your player and do your best to stay alive. You can choose between a few different characters, all of which have fancy names like Theodore, Monty or Jacques.

The game is quite fast-paced when it comes to movement and response time, but things are made even more chaotic by the fact that you can invert gravity for your player with a simple press of a button. Thus, the map is usually designed to be navigated using the anti-gravity gimmick, and there are many tricks you can learn to do along the way to avoid dying in mid-air.

As far as the available weapons, these range from the usual throwing knives and bombs, all the way to dynamite sticks and even electric shocks, in case you are feeling particularly violent. Most weapons require you to get close to your target, but others can be used successfully from long distances, as long as your aim is true and you assume a few risks.

All things considered, Gentlemen! looks nice and it certainly is tons of fun with the right company. However, the gameplay might get repetitive and boring after a while, especially since there are no special events and the weapons get a tad too familiar with time.