Centipedes don’t get enough love, what with important games being pretty much vintage, or mispresented with human stitching and shoddy diets (movie reference in case you don’t follow). That’s about to change as the little critters are now armed with guns, but also cuteness in Centipede Gun. Here’s another little reason to continue playing with the Nintendo Switch 2.
Published by QUBytes Interactive and developed by Mateusk2m, you start with a barebones caterpillar and effectively install modular parts to get through the 15 waves of enemies, ideally maxing out the guns, or balancing with buffs/debuffs and healing options. Each time you install a new part, a grid opens up where you can attach adjacent items to perhaps heal or add additional damage.
That’s the setup, now what? There are 15 stages made up of three rounds. Enemies that resemble Dr Mario capsules will spawn and rush your Centipede Gun, or there will be stationary ones that will blast from a distance. After killing an enemy, money is dropped where you can spend it on new parts or stack the same ones on top of each other for devastating effects. You’re limited to how many you purchase, so it doesn’t take long until you have a lot of cash available, or if that’s not the case, you can sell them.
The thing is, the centipede moves with the finesse of a bus. Using two sticks – left to move back and forward, right to spin around – you move the centipede within proximity of the enemy, as a bubble will encircle their range. The distance is quite short, though with repeated runs, you can unlock a skill tree with permanent upgrades such as damage and, of course, better distance.
On my first couple of plays, I couldn’t go the distance. This wasn’t so much the strategy of guns being equipped, more to do with the manouverabuility as I would typically have a large turning circle, meaning I’d end up getting clipped by something or another. These guns take damage (hence the healing options), and you can potentially lose them during the round. Once they’re gone, they don’t respawn until the end of the wave, so if you’re all out of guns, expect a premature end.
After finally getting used to the movement aspect, I was able to experiment with a good range of guns and found that this can change up Centipede Gun quite a bit, though it is very much a micro experience. When finishing the 15 waves, NG+ unlock, offering more difficulty, waves, and also an endless mode. And, if you’re really enjoying all this cuteness, there are also cosmetic customisations that can be purchased with stars. Aww.. so lovely. Overall, Centipede Gun is a quick and cheerful rogue-lite that is quite a brief play, but with the addition of NG+ and endless modes, it adds that little bit more of replay value for anyone short on time/fancies a quick pick-up-and-play that doesn’t demand the blood of your firstborn.
