#ScreenshotSaturday is a magical thing. For those not familiar, it’s a hashtag on Twitter where game developers post screenshots and gifs of the games they’re working on. There’s a great deal of quality work there, but sometimes a game just looks SO INCREDIBLY GOOD that I need to know everything there is to know about the game. That’s exactly what happened to me when I first saw a gif of My Friend Pedro.
After finding out about the game, it immediately went onto my list of games to watch. But as the release date drew near and I received a copy of the game to review, my excitement turned to nervousness. Just how hard would this game be, and would I be able to pull off such badass moves?
I’m glad to report that there was no reason to be nervous. While being especially epic takes some skill and practice, even folks who are usually more slow and strategic or take a while to get used to controls (both apply to me!) will feel downright awesome playing My Friend Pedro.
The gameplay is simple enough: you run through various levels with a growing assortment of guns, the ability to slow time, and a limitless sense of style. If you’re dual-wielding guns you have the ability to lock onto a target and then aim at another to take them both out, and there’s a spin “dodge” move that lets you avoid damage, but this as complex as the controls get. From the first few levels, I was able to slow time, bounce through the air, and kill two enemies at once, even if it took a bit of messing around to remember how to do it.
What I really loved about My Friend Pedro was just how the levels were laid out. This isn’t Contra, it’s almost more of a puzzle game with guns. There are enemies laid out throughout (almost) every level, and once you’ve handled them you can take your time before moving on to the next set. Don’t get me wrong, there are loads of fast-paced, hectic moments where you’ll really need to put your skills to the test, but this flow makes the game really approachable. Better yet, even death never set me back more than about 10-20 seconds. Paired with the fact that nothing is random, even the most challenging portions are turned into a strategic challenge since you’ll know exactly what’s going to happen and where. One particularly crazy battle had me take out at least a dozen enemies within a small space, so when I died I made sure to dual-wield guns instead of using my shotgun. Knowing where the enemies would come from also made it easy to head over and kick them in their dumb faces as they were trying to attack as well! Oh and hey, if you play on the easiest difficulty (graciously called “Normal”), you’ll heal after encounters and be fully healed when you come back from the dead.
In addition to the approachability of the game, My Friend Pedro mixes things up incredibly well. Some segments are close-range shooting and others are long-range; some involve lots of platforming and rolling and dodging things; while others give you super fun objects to incorporate in your bloodbaths. Kicking an explosive into an enemy’s face and then shooting it so that it takes out a group never gets old, nor does kicking a pan into the air and shooting the heck out of it so that your bullets ricochet into the bodies of your enemies. These moments are made even more epic with the liberal use of slow motion. There are loads of other surprises that I won’t spoil, but let’s just say that the gunplay isn’t the only ridiculous thing about this game. In a game with 40 levels, I never once felt like I was just doing the same thing over and over.
Once the game is completed, players can head back into any level they want with any difficulty they want to try to get high scores. Each level has individual global and friends-only leaderboards, and you earn bonus points from combos, stylish kills, not dying, and completing a level quickly. I ended up getting a C-rank on most levels (the lowest rating), but I was able to improve my scores on levels after completing the game and managed to get 10 Bs, 3 As, and 3 Ss so far. But best of all, it was just SO MUCH FUN, even when I had terrible scores on levels.
I did have a couple issues with the game while I was playing. For one, the controls were a little difficult to use all at once sometimes, like when I was trying to dodge and shoot two enemies at once. This involved using the left stick to move, the right stick to aim, the right trigger to shoot, the left trigger to lock on with the second gun, and the left button to dodge, which really isn’t a small feat with the Joy-Cons attached to the console. Luckily this isn’t something that happens much – I only did it once, in fact – but those who really master the various abilities in the game will likely use these kinds of grips frequently. Secondly, I just never got the hang of the dodge move. Pressing or holding the left button causes you to, well.. it makes you twirl. This twirl makes you avoid any bullets that otherwise would’ve hit you while you’re twirling, but it also obliterates your ability to aim. Again, someone with more skill would be able to use it only as long as necessary, but I think I used the move less than ten times the entire time I played. Like everything else in the game, though, the twirl looks amazing, especially while you’re still shooting bullets in every direction.
In the end, My Friend Pedro was everything I was hoping it would be and more. It’s a glorious bullet-filled romp with humor, action, and the perfect balance of style and tension. Levels are short enough to play on the go, and they’re so varied with so many surprises and ways to tackle enemies that I never once felt tired of shooting people. The difficulty was absolutely perfect, and I loved that I wasn’t punished for dying repeatedly in particularly difficult portions of the game. It’s a dream come true for action fans!
My Friend Pedro is available on Nintendo Switch (reviewed) and Steam (Windows).
A review code was provided for this review.