Exit the Gungeon (Apple Arcade) Review

If there’s one area of gaming that I’ve avoided more than anything it’s mobile games, mostly because they are often filled with complicated loot boxes and various forms of currency. Ever since the rise of Candy Crush, mobile games have been littered with skeevy monetization practices and empty gameplay loops that left me exhausted at every turn. Granted not every mobile game is like this; I’m sure there are gems out there. Yet, I completely neglected to search for them in favor of exciting games on consoles and PC. For the past few weeks though, I’ve been spending more and more time with Apple Arcade games and Exit the Gungeon by far is my favorite game on the service so far.

Exit the Gungeon is a follow-up to the incredible Enter the Gungeon. For this title, development studio Dodge Roll teamed up with Singlecore Games with publishing by Devolver Digital. It was explained in an overview of the game shared on Reddit, that Dodge Roll worked in tandem with Singlecore to the point that they consider them a part of the family. While the events of the game do happen after that of Enter the Gungeon, Exit the Gungeon is more a spin-off. Spin-off or no, the personality and immediate familiarity for Gungeon players makes the title a worthy download for anyone remotely interested in playing an actual game on their iPhone.

For context, I am playing on an iPhone 11 Pro Max, although I also played some on my iPhone 6 Plus and it also ran well enough.

Players are able to slow down time to help manage the chaos.

Exit the Gungeon is a wave-based gauntlet of sorts. Each level takes place in an elevator that is skyrocketing out of the Gungeon, though there are a few special levels like one where players have to outrun a massive drill. The main difference in gameplay (at least when using touch controls, more on that later) is that weapons fire automatically, prioritizing targets based on a few parameters. This puts much of the moment-to-moment action into carefully maneuvering away from bullets, dodge rolling with slow-down for some extra breathing room, and generally staying mobile.

There are two options of play that I discovered, touch controls or a traditional controller which in my case was a DualShock 4.

Some levels can really shake up the gameplay.

Touch controls are actually intuitive and work well enough that I almost prefer it. One thumb rests on the left and is used for player movement, the other on the right is used for flicking the direction of a dodge or holding for slowing down time and directing where a jump will land. As a fan of Enter the Gungeon, the idea of slowing down time felt weird. I was used to rolling all about, which is an option, but I found much more success in using the slowdown powers.

Letting the game shoot enemies automatically is tough to get used to. I did find that in higher levels of play my character would target things that didn’t make much sense or over-under-correct trajectory, resulting in a lot of misses. That said, I made it to the Dragun on four different occasions, though I would still consider this system a point of criticism that could be improved. I’m also not a huge fan of how the game randomly cycles through various weapons. There are some that are straight duds and getting several in a row can ruin a run. The baseball bat weapon in particular always got me killed. I’m still not exactly sure what it is supposed to do and I refuse to pour through wikis to find out.

Again, I prefer touch controls, but I have been experimenting a lot with using my DualShock4 on my phone. A recent update made connecting the controller super easy and the Remote Play app also got an update. It’s pretty wild that I’m able to play Monster Hunter World on my phone, even if it is a novelty since I only tried this while in my own home. Playing Exit the Gungeon feels completely different when using a controller. Players are able to deliberately aim with the right stick, so targeting is tighter. I may be missing it but it seems like slowdown is completely removed when using a controller, so try this style of play for a more frantic experience.

While not nearly as engaging, there is an Angry Birds parody mini-game that can show up on runs.

Performance was near spotless on both my iPhone 11 and my iPhone 6. Finally, I’ve found a game that I can quickly drop a few minutes into while on a coffee break at work and actually feel engaged. Action is quick, fairly precise and most of the time I feel like mistakes are on me. The iconic pixel-art style carries over from Enter the Gungeon and many of the characters look right at home. Much like Enter the Gungeon, this mobile title has lots and lots of replay value. Players can unlock new characters, shops, cosmetics, levels, weapons, and more. I’m excited to see what sort of secrets lie in wait as there is much of Enter the Gungeon that I missed out on.

Boss battles are frantic and ones like the Dragun pictured here push reflexes to the limits.

To put it simply, Exit the Gungeon is the most worthwhile mobile game I’ve played in years and makes the Apple Arcade stand out. From here on out, I’ll be keeping the Apple Arcade around as I’ve also enjoyed my time with Shinsekai: Into the Depths, Sayonara Wild Hearts, and Spidersaurs. I really hope that services like Apple Arcade and even the Xbox Game Pass continue to evolve. It’s a super appealing model.

I also hope to see Exit the Gungeon ported over to consoles and PC one day. It would make for an awesome extra game for their next big release. Either way, Dodge Roll is a development team to watch as clearly they have something special to share.

More information about the release of Exit the Gungeon can be found on the previously mentioned Reddit post. The game was played on Apple Arcade and the subscription was paid for by the reviewer.

SCORES

GAMEPLAY - 8/10

VISUALS - 8/10

SOUND - 7/10

CONTROLS - 7/10

REPLAY VALUE - 10/10

OVERALL - 8/10