Squirrel With a Gun

Squirrel With a Gun
Fight tooth, claw, and gun!
Protagonist(s): A squirrel Genre(s): Action-adventure Platformer Third-person shooter Rating(s): T Platform(s): Microsoft Windows PlayStation 5 Xbox Series X/S Release Date: August 29, 2024 (PC) October 15, 2024 (PS5, X/S) Developer(s): Dee Dee Creations Publisher(s): Maximum Entertainment Country: United States

Squirrel with a Gun is an indie action-adventure game developed by Dee Dee Creations and published by Maximum Entertainment. It was released on August 29, 2024, on Windows, and is was released October 15, 2024, on Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5.

Synopsis

A squirrel breaks into a top-secret lab and eats a special hard drive that is shaped like an acorn, prompting the agents to pursue it. The squirrel escapes the secret underground facility and wrecks havoc in a residential neighborhood.

Good Qualities

1. To get the squirrel out of the tree first: The concept of a squirrel wielding various firearms and generally causing chaos is chock full of black comedy, and that's really saying a lot.
   • In fact, it may even remind some gamers of Conker's Bad Fur Day and its Xbox remake.
2. It has several ways for you to wreck havoc in a neighborhood, a la Grand Theft Auto, Goat Simulator, and Untitled Goose Game.
   • Heck, you can even rob acorns from people by making them stick up their arms.
3. Many different weapons and vehicles to play around with, and you can even do a double jump with guns!
4. Memorably hilarious moments throughout the game, including but not limited to:
   • This part in the beginning.
   • One scene in which the squirrel gets blasted in the air by Father while screaming (though it did survive that, albeit taking heavy damage in the process unless if you wear a bomb suit).
   • One part in which the squirrel attempts to do an Akira-style slide with an RC car only to flip over and fall out.
   • Another one in which the squirrel drops six grenades into Father's tank hatch before blasting its way out.
   • The takedown scenes. Enough said!
   • "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!! *catches its breath before it continues screaming*
5. Plenty of cleaver puzzles to solve that allows you to think creatively.
6. Good amount of replay value with a plethora of golden acorns and costumes (some of which are useful, like the bomb suit).
7. Catchy music, despite being repetitive.
   • The boss battle music, "Take Your Shot" by Hypnotical is arguably the best music in the whole game, as well as one of the best boss battle themes in gaming history.
8. The squirrel itself is an absolutely adorable and hilarious protagonist.
9. Beautiful graphics, especially on the squirrel itself.
10. On October 15 (when the console versions came out), the game now has a Photo Mode in which you can take screencaps and add funny edits on them, like adding the rainbow afro clown get-up (which is most likely based on the Afro Circus meme from Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted).
11. The devs are planning to add new content with some free updates in the future to make the game worthwhile.

Bad Qualities

1. Missed Opportunities:
   • Each weapon has only one takedown animation.
   • Only two bosses.
     • Speaking of which, their names, Father and Mother, sounded painfully generic and it's never explained why they're called that.
   • Incredibly short, clocking in 4 hours.
2. Depending on your viewpoint, the squirrel's screaming can quickly get on your nerves.
3. No voice acting for the human characters whatsoever for some reason.
4. In order to progress and unlock things, you have to collect a certain amount of acorns and golden acorns, which makes it tedious. Sound familiar?
5. The game is plagued by some game-breaking bugs and glitches here and there at launch, though these will eventually get patched.
6. Controls are clunky at times.
7. Plot Holes:
   • How did Father managed to survive the explosion in his tank at the end of the boss fight with him?
   • How is the house filled with lava without even burning down?
8. While the graphics are beautiful, they can be dated for some reason and look like a PlayStation 4/Xbox One game.
9. For some reason, you take damage during cutscenes (as stated in GQ#4.2).

Reception

The game received mixed reviews from critics, with a 61/100 on Metacritic. Many praised the game for its gameplay and dark humor, but criticized the technical issues, floaty controls, and short length.

IGN (who gave it a 6/10) compared the squirrel to the titular character from John Wick.

GameSpot gave the game a 4/10, praising its puzzles while criticizing its story, combat, controls, and technical problems.

Despite polarized reception from critics, the game has "Very Positive" reviews from gamers on Steam.