Guts and Glory is a wacky and absurd game that unfortunately received a bad port to the Switch. The game is fun and silly, but the number of flaws in the Switch version are overwhelming. These issues turn what looks like an otherwise enjoyable game into an unplayable mess.



Developer: HakJak Productions

Publisher: tinyBuild

5 Hours Played // Review Copy Provided // $14.99

The concept behind Guts and Glory is to get from the start of the level to the end while just about everything is trying to kill you. Some levels are linear, some are open, but the goal remains the same: get to the end alive. There are different characters to choose from, each with their own vehicle. These provide different play styles, which add to the variety of the game. For example, there is a bike which is slow but narrow and nimble, or there is a car which is a bigger target but more durable.

The game is broken up into sections of levels, each built around a specific character. There is a neighborhood to match the bike-riding duo and a back-woods landscape for the four-wheeling redneck. You have the option to play any of these sections from the beginning, but once you’re in one, progression is linear. When you beat a level, the next one unlocks, and they progressively get more difficult. There are also unlockables, which come in the form of hats and playable characters. You are timed on each level, presumably with the idea that you’ll want to replay them for a better time (spoiler: you won’t).



Just a quick bike ride through traffic!

The physics and controls in Guts and Glory are wonky, but this seems to be by design. It reminded me of something like QWOP, but not nearly as trying, where the difficult controls are part of the challenge. It adds to the zaniness of the game. Not only are you navigating buzz saws and swinging logs, you’re doing so with unsteady controls. You also have a boost available, which adds to the difficulty of movement. It depletes when used and you can do tricks in the air to replenish the boost.

The violence in the game is excessive, but that is the point. Imagine you’re peddling along on your bike, pulling someone in a red wagon behind you, when a cannonball comes out of nowhere. You both explode in a shower of blood and gore. In the next run, your companion might have their leg dismembered and they’ll flop around bleeding as you attempt to complete the course.



Strike a pose!

These moments can be shocking and often hilarious. This is where the game hangs its hat. It is clearly targeted at people with a certain sense of humor. The simple concept of getting from A to B would be pretty stale on its own. When you throw in insane deaths, it makes the game more fun.

The ragdoll physics add to this as well. Not only are the bodies being dismembered and exploded, but they’re also flying and flopping through the air. Again, not everyone is going to get enjoyment out of this, but it is so ridiculous that you almost have to laugh at it.

I could see this being fun in a party environment, even if it is only single-player. Passing the controller around, laughing at the absurdity would be a good time. If only this version of the game was playable…



In the land of Guts & Glory, even your blood is bugged

In its current state, Guts & Glory on the Switch is an absolute mess. The game is riddled with bugs, frame issues, and slowdown. The blood will be static, causing strange geometric shapes. The camera can clip behind the terrain. The number of times I ran into an issue outnumbered the times I didn’t. The sub-par graphics and generic music won’t help this game’s case, either. The biggest offender of all is the load times.

This is the type of game that relies on getting the player back into the action quickly after a death. You will die frequently. Sometimes you will even start the level dead, or die within seconds of loading in. This type of bug is frustrating in its own right but would be mitigated if you’re at least able to restart instantly. Instead, there are 10 – 15 second load times after every death. In some cases, I was literally looking at the loading screen more than I was looking at the level itself. I timed it.



Get used to looking at this screen in Guts and Glory

There are other design issues which add to the frustration of playing Guts and Glory. The checkpoint decisions are odd. Some levels have them frequently, some levels have none. There was one level in particular where you have to drive for about 30 seconds before you reach anything. At which point, you’ll be decimated by a cannonball almost immediately. Queue the loading screen and another boring drive back to get killed again. One of the good decisions they made was giving the player the ability to skip a level.

The slow down is another significant issue. Some of the levels have multiple things happening at once. There will be logs flying, cannonballs shooting, and mines exploding. When anything like this happens, the game screeches to a halt and the frame-rate plummets. The entire point of the game is to avoid these hazards, and that becomes near impossible when the game performs this poorly.

All of this is unfortunate because it seems to be the product of a bad port. I’ve watched some videos of the PC version of the game and noticed many of these issues were not present. There were no loads between deaths and the game had minimal bugs, smoother gameplay, and polished graphics. Sure the controls are still a bit off and the graphics are simple, but it at least looks fun. This port is unacceptable and unplayable in its current state.



Another gruesome death

A patch is being worked on according to HakJak’s Blog. Whether or not this fixes the core issues of the Guts and Glory port remains to be seen. If this patch, or any future patches, have a significant impact on the game, we will update this review to reflect that.

This game has potential. The wacky, over-the-top concept and deaths are fun. It would be a great game to play in small sessions with a group of friends. However, this port is poor. Guts and Glory should be avoided on the Switch in its existing condition.

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