‘Shotgun Cop Man’ Is the Strangest, Most Exciting Platformer I’ve Played in a Long Time (Review)

“F– YOU, SHOTGUN COP MAN.” The first words we see come out of Satan’s mouth and a proper way to prepare ourselves for the shenanigans in store. Shotgun Cop Man is not a very serious game by any means. But it’s serious in a few other ways. It can be seriously challenging at times. Seriously incredible to play and experience for the first time. And seriously quick to grab my attention, not letting me go until I rolled the credits. Sure, I may have gotten told to go f– myself more often than I would have liked, and I think that Satan needs a bar of soap in his mouth, but the incredible gunplay and the unique gameplay make Shotgun Cop Man a new cult classic in the making.

Precision Platforming Without a Jump Button Is Much More Difficult Than You May Imagine

Shotgun Cop Man is a game about being fast, furious, accurate, and most importantly, a shotgun cop man. It’s wild from the start, as the titular Shotgun Cop Man goes to Hell to arrest Satan. Yes, that’s the basic plot. Yes, it’s absolutely bonkers, and I love it. Made by the same development team behind My Friend Pedro, I knew I was in for a wild ride from the start. But one thing that differentiates My Friend Pedro from Shotgun Cop Man is a particular button. A jump button, in fact. You can’t jump in Shotgun Cop Man, a platforming game. How do you get around, you may be asking? You shoot the everliving heck out of everything, and it rocks so hard.

Blasting through levels, using the shotgun on my left trigger to propel myself forward, and the pistol (or other random weapon) on my right to dispense justice and hover when I needed to, the only way to properly navigate through these levels is by shooting. Going up, down, left, right, diagonal. It’s all going to require bullets. And if you want the best score, you’re going to need to dispose of everything, get to the end in a certain amount of time, and not get hurt. Otherwise, you’re going to see a disgustingly close-up version of SCM, just say “I DIE” in text-to-speech. I wish you luck, especially if you have any other plans for the next few weeks.

The gameplay loop is excellent, alongside the level design. Thumping electronica kept my adrenaline high, and I just needed to see what was going to happen next. Shotgun Cop Man grabbed me by the throat from the start, and wouldn’t loosen up its grip as I played further and dove deeper into Hell.

‘Shotgun Cop Man’ Had Me Go To Hell, for Heaven’s Sake

Each stage had roughly 15+ levels for me to experience. And while the general ebb and flow doesn’t change much throughout all of the stages, I was happy to repeatedly dive in over and over again. But, if I get bored of playing through the campaign, trying to beat my high scores? I can create a campaign. With full Steam Workshop support, I can only imagine the types of levels I’m going to get to play through once the full game releases. I’m not smart enough to make an engaging level, so I’m going to leave that to the heathens to make some deranged content.

The basic flow of SCM follows this type of stencil: complete a few levels, a horde rush where I needed to dispose of a specific number of enemies, more platforming, a boss, new stage. Thankfully, the levels have enough variety and spice for this formula not to feel old after a while. I was always curious to see what kind of messed-up stuff I would be getting into next. And God bless Shotgun Cop Man for having a will of steel, because he’s always ready to deliver some justice.

Everything controls great, and regardless of whether you’re running SCM on a literal potato or the world’s greatest PC, it’s going to run like a charm. Its simple visual aesthetic works heavily in its favor, especially as things get more chaotic in later levels.

I Love You, ‘Shotgun Cop Man’

If Shotgun Cop Man has a million fans, then I am one of them. If Shotgun Cop Man has ten fans? Then I am one of them. If Shotgun Cop Man only has one fan, then that is me. Shotgun Cop Man has no fans? Then that means I am no longer on this Earth. If the world is against Shotgun Cop Man, then I am against the world. If you can’t tell, I really enjoyed this experience. It’s got that pure Adult Swim energy, and is all sorts of deranged in the best possible ways.

When I grow up, I want to be like Shotgun Cop Man. I want to scour through the depths of Hell in a quest to arrest Satan. I just hope people don’t say “F– YOU” to me, as much as they do to the man of the hour. SCM is willing to put his life on the line to save us, so we need to be willing to do the same for him.

But seriously, if you’re looking for a new platforming obsession? Shotgun Cop Man is your man. It’s weird, quirky, and plays like a dream. Plus, trying to precision platform while only having shotguns available to propel you forward is a nightmare in all of the right ways. I don’t think anything can match this madcap energy quite as well as Deadtoast Entertainment did, and I’ll be in line for their next weird project.

Verdict: Highly Recommended

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Shotgun Cop Man is available now on PC and Nintendo Switch. A code was provided by the publisher for the sake of review. Reviewed on PC.