Welcome to our review of The Gunk, where you are nearly stranded on a strange planet filled with gunk and you embark on an adventure!
The Gunk stars Rani, part of our duo of gritty space haulers, struggling to make a buck as they chance upon an untouched planet brimming with life. They came in search of valuable resources, and it looks like they’ve hit the jackpot…
As they uncover the dormant secrets of a shattered civilization, they must battle the curse of a toxic gunk parasite, all while getting caught in a spiral of festering mistrust.
Use your trusty Power Glove to reverse the corruption, uncover secrets of old and heal the planet! Experience the evolving relationship of the crew, as you explore this unique planet. Use your ingenuity as well as your quick reactions to overcome the challenges that await. What stories lay hidden in this mysterious abandoned world?
What does it all mean? What role can Rani play in the fate of this evocative, moody planet? Sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith. Uncover the mystery. Cleanse the Gunk. Save the planet.
In The Gunk, your trusty Power Glove is used to basically suck up the Gunk and it is all about that. In short, when you clear an area, the original fauna and flora are being restored and before you know it, you are running around, solving environmental puzzles, and cleaning up Gunk all ’round.
From taking a bomb, sucking it up to your power glove, and then shooting it at some rubble that prevents you from advancing, it is just one of many ways to play the game. Paying close attention to narration for the actual guidance of what to do, well, just looking at your surroundings can often help.
I would like to mention here that I own a high-end OLED TV and I had a lot of trouble with how “dark” the Gunk really is. I had to take up my brightness and really change it a lot. I once had a part where I was just stuck, but it really just turned out to be Gunk that I could not see. After changing my brightness, I no longer had this issue.
The Gunk is a really good game, but it may be a little short. I finished the game well before writing this review and I just wonder if I got addicted to clearing out enemy areas or to sucking up that Gunk. Enemies are never really very hard and “fighting” is a smaller part of the game compared to the exploration and its puzzles.
Oh, and it is available on Game Pass day 1! How awesome is that, right?
In conclusion, The Gunk is a smart approach to the action genre, though it is more or of a puzzle meets exploration game. I loved it a lot and once I got my color settings worked out, I just kept enjoying the game. My only dislike with the game is that I finished it already and I just want more, more, more…
