Squirrel with a Gun

Squirrel With a Gun is a delightfully chaotic sandbox shooter that drops you into the tiny paws of a heavily-armed, acorn-obsessed rodent hellbent on unleashing furry mayhem. Pack it up, guys — this is the simply the best, most self-explanatory title a game could have. From triggering explosive acorn-fueled rampages to solving intricate environmental puzzles, Squirrel With a Gun delivers a wacky, refreshingly original experience that'll have you grinning from ear to ear.

Surprisingly Deep Setting

The game's story is refreshingly simple yet unabashedly bonkers — you awaken trapped in a shadowy underground lab, with only your trusty firearm and an insatiable lust for golden acorns to guide you.

What follows is a seamless blend of frenetic shooting galleries, brain-teasing obstacle courses, and sandboxy free-roam shenanigans, tied together by the ever-deepening mystery behind your captor's nefarious motivations. Like a Saturday morning cartoon mixed with Saints Row's signature lunacy, it revels in its own tongue-in-cheek sensibilities while offering just enough substance to keep you invested.

Squeaky Skirmishes

Combat is instantly gratifying, with an impressive array of upgradeable weapons - from machineguns to rocket launchers — each packing an appropriately oversized punch. Clearing out hordes of cartoonish enemy agents or duking it out with bombastic bosses is an absolute blast, made even more enjoyable by the sheer absurdity of unleashing pure firepower as a plucky rodent warrior.

Just as impressive are the inventive environmental puzzles, forcing you to creatively leverage your arsenal's physics-defying recoil to propel yourself across gaps or manipulate objects. These brain teasers break up the combat brilliantly while still allowing you to apply your newly-upgraded firepower in novel ways.

To put it in context, Squirrel With a Gun belongs to the same school as I Am Bread and Little Kitty, Big City. Much like Untitled Goose Game, the game never takes itself seriously, basing most of its entertaining factor in how much you enjoy messing around with its quirky engine.

A Nutty Sandbox

The open sandbox environments, while not huge, are impressively interactive playgrounds worth exploring. Harassing unsuspecting pedestrians, hijacking remote control cars, or just clambering up trees all feel shockingly immersive given the game's budget scope. And the wealth of customizable cosmetics on offer gives you fun incentives to liven up your murderous furball's look.

While the novelty does gradually wear thin toward the end, and load times can be a touch sluggish, Squirrel With a Gun more than makes up for any minor rough edges by simply doubling down on its own wacky charm. Like the manic fever dream of Rat Simulator meets An American Tail gone horribly awry, it takes a magnificently silly premise and milks it for all it's worth.

Pros

• Creative, humor-filled premise executed brilliantly
• Clever physics-based environmental puzzles
• Surprisingly interactive sandboxes to cause mayhem

Cons

• Novelty wears a bit thin by the end
• Technical hiccups like long load times
• Open world areas are a bit smaller in scope