Showgunners Review: A Show-Stealing Tactical RPG

I don’t envy any developer trying to carve a niche in the tactical/strategy RPG space these days. To say it’s an incredibly crowded genre would be an understatement, meaning it takes an awful lot to stand out from the crowd.

Developers Artificer clearly understood the task that stood ahead of them when they set out to try and create something fresh with Showgunners. And while the combat itself may not set reinvent the wheel, the setting and ideas that sit around the core tactical gameplay do more than enough to result in a product that feels fresh and exciting.

A Thrilling Setting

The first areas which felt like a total breath of fresh air when booting up Showgunners were its narrative and setting. Where so many developers fall back on tired, generic, sci-fi or fantasy tropes, Showgunners instead drops players into the shoes of Scarlett, a former police officer who lost her family at the hands of a deranged killer. As if that wasn’t dark enough, in her quest to seek revenge and gain closure, Scarlett must enter Homicidal All-Stars as a contestant, a deadly gameshow in which the participants have no other goal than to kill off their competitors. For some players, such as Scarlett, the reward is simply revenge and knowing they’ve gained some form of justice. For others, such as the crazed goons who’ve been pulled from death row, the reward is their freedom and waiving of their execution. The stakes are high, then, and you can bet blood will spill.

Visceral Combat

I mentioned at the top that combat doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t a bloody good time – and I mean bloody in the literal sense. With a setting so twisted and clearly inspired by the violent sci-fi action flick, The Running Man, what Showgunners lacks in innovation, it more than makes up for with sheer spectacle.

In her quest for revenge, Scarlett must fight her way through a twisted series of gauntlets against all manner of psychotic opponents. Much like something like X-Com, battles see Scarlett and her companions, who turn up as the story progresses, duking it out on grid-based battlefields that are conveniently dotted with a mix of waist-high and full-height cover. Each squad member, somewhat predictably, can take up to two actions during their turn, but be warned, attack prior to moving, and you’ll find yourself unable to use your second action to move.

Leaning into the whole absurdity of an ultra-violent gameshow, enemies frequently meet their maker following hilariously over-the-top death animations and disgustingly squelchy sound effects that never failed to make me smile like one of the homicidal maniacs on Scarlett’s kill list. Adding further to the intensity of the action are the traps that the producers will frequently drop into the death-filled arenas. Exploding barrels, high-speed trains, and clouds of poison are just some of the hazards to contend with, and they do a great job of shaking up the flow of each battle.

It’s a splash of variety that is needed as well because of one major gripe I have with Showgunners, and that’s in its character progression. Don’t get me wrong; the developers have done a decent job at creating archetypes that stand out from one another – whether it’s Phantom’s ability to stay hidden and snipe from long range, or Tybalt’s knack for manipulating the battlefield with hacks, teleporting and decoys, there’s a decent amount of variety within the characters themselves. The issue comes from the ability to really meld these characters in a way that feels like something personal to yourself. Characters never really deviate from the archetypes they start out as. Some of my favorite moments in competing games come from taking a unit and crafting them into something that takes them down an entirely different path from where it started. I love building out my own squadmates into bespoke monsters that become borderline game-breaking, and that just isn’t possible here.

Showgunners, to be fair to Artificer, isn’t trying to be that type of game. Instead, it’s a more controlled experience, more linear, and, as a result, more accessible. You could argue that this is actually a great entry point to the genre for anyone put off by how daunting it can often be. For someone such as myself, however, who appreciates a bit more control in how my characters grow, and the ability to really create my own journey, I can’t help but feel Showgunners may come across as a touch limiting in its approach.

The Fame Game

Perhaps my favorite way in which Showgunners manages to differentiate itself is through the explorative sections that punctuate the carnage. Between battles, Scarlett and her band of misfits find themselves exploring various environments in search of cash, equipment, items, and weapons. It provides a nice break from the full-on violence of the battles and makes up for the lack of any kind of research system, as is commonplace in competing titles. At first, I lamented the absence of a feature so central to the genre, but the route the developers have gone here in making you scavenge for upgrades to your loadout is far more thematically fitting, given the setting.

It’s during these sections that you’ll also get the chance to interact with Homicidal All-Stars’ rabid fan base. Spectators litter the environments with your responses to your engagements, with them dictating the type of player Scarlett is perceived as. Develop your personality far enough in one direction, cocky, for example, and you’ll potentially open up sponsorships that bestow various bonuses and, if you’re lucky, more toys to bring into battle. It isn’t an incredibly deep system, but it leans heavily into the nature of Showgunners’ universe.

Conclusion

Showgunners is a violent delight that leans into its setting and premise to great effect. It may not be the deepest tactical RPG out there, which, in turn, removes a lot of the replayability that the genre is known for, but as a 12-15 hour experience that puts spectacle and accessible systems first, it’s a hell of a good time.

You could argue that by removing a lot of the class versatility and research systems that genre veterans appreciate, it’s narrowing its appeal somewhat, and I myself don’t see myself ever going back for a repeat playthrough. However, it’s just as easy to argue that by carving its own path and not sticking religiously to genre conventions, Showgunners is opening the door to a whole new world of players looking for something less intimidating as a gateway into the tactical RPG space. It might not have enough meat on the bone to become your next obsession, but if you want to see meat carved from the bone in tactical bloodbaths, Showgunners is absolutely worth experiencing.

Final Verdict: 4/5

Available On: PC (reviewed); Publisher: Good Shepherd Entertainment; Developer: Artificer; Released: 2 May, 2023; Players: 1; ESRB: M for Mature; MSRP: $29.99

Full Disclosure: A Showgunners review code was provided by the publisher.