The thing Xbox Game Pass has done well is find balance between products.

Of course it needs the Persona 5’s, Plague Tales, and Scorn’s to draw people in, but it also needs games like Gunfire Reborn to keep them there.

Games you may not have heard of, that you end up taking a chance on and realise that you just can’t put them down. To be honest, it also suits a game like Gunfire Reborn which kinda feels like it should be free to play.

It’s Borderlands lite with its focus on an arsenal full of guns, loot and enemy ads from all angles. But it also has a really unique cast of characters that would feel right at home in the zany world.

From a Puss in Boots wannabe, to a wise old panda serving at the bar, a frog that trades in consumables, and a hedgehog wearing swimming goggles.

Nothing about this game screams ordinary. But the thing that it really captures well is the moment to moment movement and gunplay. For a game that looks quite rough around the edges, it continuously manages to surprise.

You start light, of course, fighting your beetles and spearmen but before long you’ve got elite enemies rampaging at you and waves of foes coming from all angles.

So it should be no surprise to hear that Gunfire Reborn plays best in co-op and with it being on Game Pass, finding a match shouldn’t be a problem, at least for the foreseeable. But unfortunately it is an online only experience, unlike Borderlands which is still miraculously able to pull off four player local on current gen. Hopefully that’s something they will look into eventually.

But unlike Borderlands, this is a rogue-lite where you start anew after a death and work your way through the tombs again to progress through the deserts and beyond. You still keep any levelling up you’ve done, as well as get easier access to weapons and collectable scrolls but it does mean you’ve got a start a run over everytime you fancy a play

That can be quite tedious, in all honesty. While the levels are procedurally generated, the environments soon become overly familiar and you’ll get sick of the same sights over and over. That said, I found Gunfire Reborn does a really good job of mixing things up. There’s secret levels you can find within levels and these can sometimes be as simple as small boss battles or tricky trial runs that lead you to a treasure chest with rare loot.

Playing solo, the game is entertaining enough and the loop is enough to grab you and keep you entertained for a time as you bounce between releases. But the magic is in playing together with others and that’s where I feel Gunfire Reborn is going to be a huge fan favourite on Game Pass.

You’ll need great teamwork to take on some of the tricky challenges, you’ll need to communicate in order to take down the bosses and decide who should take bullets and health in a pinch.

And frankly, because it plays and flows so nicely and easily, you’ll find yourself losing hours of time to the game without even realising it.

There’s a few odd issues here, like the game sometimes defaults the Chinese or even other languages when you’re reading up on scrolls or taking on player challenges. There’s a bit of slowdown at times and lag which can make the experience a bit disjointed, and as mentioned, while it’s serviceable enough solo, this is a game that needs multiplayer. As such, difficulty scaling can also be a bit unforgiving at times.

But the good news is the character variety is really noticeable and makes the experience all the more enjoyable for it. There’s an absolute boat ton of weapons to choose from and they all handle in their own distinct ways. The enemies mix up smartly and gradually to keep you on your toes and the different uses of occult scrolls through your playthrough also ensures that every run feels fresh compared to the previous.

Gunfire Reborn is shaping up to be your next addiction and the next big household name, even if for this month, it’s the one game no one’s really talking about.

Verdict

Gunfire Reborn is a game ready to take the world by storm. As long as Duoyi Games keep it updated and relevant, listening closely to the community, this is one you could be playing for years to come and clocking up ungodly hours to. Slight balance tweaks and UI issues aside, get some mates and get involved.

Pros

+ A lovely, free-flowing gameplay loop
+ Absolutely comes alive in multiplayer
+ Good variety of characters, weapons and scrolls to keep each run fresh