Video games have this incredible ability to offer experiences you may not get in real life. Iāll probably never own a 1988 Lamborghini Countach, but with a good driving game and maybe a racing wheel, itās as close as Iāll probably get, and thatās good enough for me. Sometimes, video games offer simulated experiences we are already familiar with and allow us to compare and contrast to the real thing. While I have personally played ice hockey, I could never do even half of the things depicted in the latest EA Sports NHL game. Itās simply out of the realm of my ability.
Sometimes, games offer simulations that, for one reason or another, you probably shouldnāt engage with in real life. Iām not your dad, but you probably shouldnāt play Russian Roulette. You could play Russian Roulette, but I donāt think there is enough beginner’s luck in the world to stop that good olā college try from turning deadly and tragic. But if, for any reason, you have been itching to give Russian Roulette a shot (pun intended), I have good news for you! With the release of Buckshot Roulette, you can safely take turns risking a chance to blow your brains out from the comfort of your computer desk with no risk of permanent death or disfigurement.
Buckshot Roulette is a first-person turn-based roguelike horror gambling game in which you face a mysterious opponent in a game of Russian Roulette using a shotgun. I know many ideas have been ideally suited to the roguelike genre of games, but Russian Roulette fits nicely into the run-based experience that roguelikes tend to offer.
The premise is that you wake up in a grimy nightclub bathroom, facing off against an equally grotesque and mysterious figure known as The Dealer in a game of Russian Roulette with a shotgun. Usually, mysterious figures known as The Dealer are how I end up in gross nightclub bathrooms in the first place, so it was comforting to know I could relate to Buckshot Roulette even if I have never played Russian Roulette before. Each run consists of three games where you and The Dealer take turns with a random selection of shotgun shells and lives.
The shotgun shells and health selection are random in each game. There are two different types of shotgun shells, blank and live, that allow you to engage in risk versus reward because in Buckshot Roulette, every turn enables you to aim the gun at yourself or The Dealer, and the same goes for your opponent. You gain an extra turn if you aim the gun at yourself and successfully shoot a blank, which is never a harrowing experience.
Each live shell does one damage, and due to the random nature of dealing out the shells and health, one game may have you facing off with three live shells and four blanks, with you and the dealer having three health each or two blanks and one live shell. Each game ends when one player’s health reaches zero, and if all ammo is used, the shotgun is reloaded with another assortment of shells, and the game continues.
The game is not a one-hit kill, which, while it may detract from the realistic nature of Russian Roulette, actually helps add to the twisted and mysterious nature of the game when you see the Dealer get shot into the darkest corners of the room only to emerge from the shadows ready to take the next turn. There is a dark, brooding layer of comedy and absurdity that works well due to how seriously the game takes itself.
With Buckshot Roulette being a roguelike, if you lose a run, you are back to that same gross bathroom armed with only a better understanding of how to play the game. To keep each run fresh and exciting, a handful of items are given at the start of each shotgun load that can provide you or The Dealer an advantage for one turn. Items such as a saw for the barrel that doubles the damage for one turn or a broken magnifying glass that allows you to see what shell is currently loaded into the gun.
One of my favourite items is a burner cell phone with a mysterious voice that tells you the future with wisdom like āFifth shellā¦ live roundā. The items are all balanced, even if some, like the beer can that allows you to eject the current shell, arenāt as helpful on their own as you may be doing a disservice to yourself by getting rid of a perfectly good shell.
The action is always punchy and brutal, with a thick layer of grime oozing from every stylistic choice in the game. The graphics are perfectly rendered in a limited colour palette with a deliberately low polygon count, pairing wonderfully with the simple pulsating yet appropriately muffled club music as you engage in the biggest gamble of your life.
Buckshot Roulette is a pretty short game. You can experience one run in 15-20 minutes, and if successful, it offers a Double or Nothing mode along with some unlocked secrets. Buckshot Roulette is one of the most striking and evocative games I have played this year. Even when you factor in the potentially short run time, the game is reasonably priced and offers one of the tightest and most unique roguelike experiences in games today.
