by Michael Pitre

Created on: August 01, 2011   Last Updated: August 04, 2011

Cold and callous eyes stare you down, strangely indifferent to the fact that, in only moments, one of you will make the browser window your eternal place of rest. As instructed, you place the mouse pointer over an illustration of a bullet chamber and the countdown begins—three, two, one! Suddenly, your face explodes and you are dead. Your adversary holsters his pistol as bloody bits and pieces of your brain rain down from the sky. Plop, plop, plop. This is GunBlood.

A simple and straightforward Flash game—more of a mini-game than a full-fledged game—GunBlood manages to be surprisingly gory in an age where games saturated with violence are common fare. As a simulation of the classic Wild West shootout, the goal is simple: use your reflexes to fire a lethal shot before the opponent can do so to you. The excitement lies in the various ways each shootout can unfold; a proper headshot will result in instant death, while most of the other appendages can be injured to great effect. Limb damage can escalate to the point where both of you are laid out prone on your backs, firing at each other with only a shred of life remaining. Gunshots and moments of impact feel almost palpable, making gameplay intense.

Because there is no background story or profile for any of the game’s ten characters, the lack of context in the shootouts helps to lighten the heaviness of frequent decapitations. It’s the bonus rounds that are truly disturbing—a sort of historic predecessor to MTV’s “Jackass”. Your friendly assistant prefers to stand in your line of fire while throwing knives at you, while you attempt to shoot them out of the air before they plunge into your body. Another bonus round has you shooting empty beer bottles off of your assistant. He’ll take your bullets without much more than a brief groan, but shooting him will nullify the bonus round… and there’s so much blood!

With only nine levels (shootouts), four bonus rounds, no multi-player, and an easy learning curve, GunBlood might be short-lived entertainment, save for the fact that you can create a private high-score table for competition among friends. GunBlood also allows for cheat codes, which are found easily enough by doing a web search. Cheat codes can enable rapid fire, a laser scope, and unlimited ammo, but prevent you from qualifying for the high-scores. However, you can use the cheat codes to instantly teleport to the level or bonus round of your choice, serving as a way to polish your skills wherever you may find them lacking.

GunBlood is a free game and does a great job of being momentarily captivating, so there isn’t much room for complaint. The only drawback is when lag occurs between the moment you click, and when your gun actually fires. This problem seems to be remedied by lowering the “in-game quality” setting in the “options” section of the main menu.

Overall, if you suffer from morbid curiosity (or simply find gore appealing), enjoy moments loaded with suspense, and like to challenge your reflexes, GunBlood is a worthy distraction—and for many, very possibly a short-term addiction.

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