Watch the Review in 3 Minutes for Wizard with a Gun, an ambitious sandbox survival game that gets a bit too bogged down in the minutia.
Wizard with a Gun Review Transcript
Wizard with a Gun is a sandbox survival game from developer Galvanic Games and publisher Devolver Digital that sends players either solo or in a group on a quest to rebuild the universe and time itself.
I don’t know what I was expecting from a game called “Wizard with a Gun,” but what I got still managed to surprise me. This is an ambitious little action-adventure game that somehow finds a way to combine elements from things like Bastion and Minecraft to create a package with memorable music, engaging gameplay, eye-catching visuals, and solid world-building. And while it works most of the time, there are quite a few things that could be refined to make this the kind of game you can’t put down.
You play as a Gunmancer, which, yeah, is a wizard with a gun, but that’s selling it a bit short. You can be a wizard with a pistol or a submachine gun, or a rifle, or a shotgun. While these are decent options, the combat’s potential truly lies with elemental bullet types like fire, ice, lighting, water, and poison. Past that, you can toy around with other ammo types and modifiers with special effects, such as oil bullets for extra fire damage, or freezing bullets, which can trap targets. It doesn’t feel quite as tight as it should, but it’s still endlessly satisfying to find synergies between your tools.
Combat is one of Wizard with a Gun’s key components, but the backdrop of your shooting gallery is interesting, too. The main story takes place between two worlds: The Shatter and the Tower. The latter is a customizable crafting hub where you can create, decorate, and read up on bite-sized bits of lore that you’ve collected. It also houses the Chronomancer’s Wheel, a broken time-travel machine that you’ll need to fix by collecting missing cogs.
As you might’ve guessed, those cogs are lost in the Shatter and often guarded by an impressive list of enemies that includes a great assortment of bosses and mini-bosses. What helps the Shatter really stand out, though, is the ever-present timer sitting at the top of the screen. This countdown represents the strength of chaos, and when it reaches zero, you’ll have to make your way back to The Tower while the world ends around you. It’s basically a countdown to hard mode, creating a risk-reward system for those who are willing to lose it all for some extra loot.
While I enjoy most of what Wizard with a Gun offers, my feelings about the crafting mechanics aren’t as positive. As you explore the Shatter, you’ll come across different biomes with unique resources that can be used to make guns, ammo, workbenches, and much more. What starts as a pool of materials quickly expands into an ocean of items to manage, and while there are a few ways to organize your goods, clunky menu navigation makes crafting upgrades and new ammo types feel like a chore. It’s a massive shame because while combat pushed me to try bullet combinations, the fun-killing menu simulator felt hellbent on holding me back. I didn’t hate crafting, but its edges, which permeate nearly every aspect of the game, are too rough to ignore.
From exploration to decoration, it seems like you can experience everything Wizard with a Gun has to offer with a friend. Outside of a few connectivity hiccups, my brief time online revealed an experience that could be perfect for co-op. That’s because Galvanic has crafted a game that nails two-thirds of its core offerings even if that last, intrusive third consumed far too much of my 12-hour playtime.
So, if you check out this isometric shooter’s twangy guitar tunes and vibrant cartoon visuals, and I think you should, just be prepared for a lot more than a wizard with a gun. Wizard with a Gun is out now for $24.99 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X | S.
