An action pig-based platformer, Ammo Pigs: Armed and Delicious is a retro 8-bit style 2D side-scroller with only a jump and shoot button. It is a simple, pick-up-and-playable approach that is never overly difficulty but rather repetitive.
Playing as a pig version of Rambo, it is your job to destroy a few different robotic enemies while trying to save three captured pigs in each stage. It only takes a minute or two to clear most levels involve little more than a few hallways, uncooperative elevators, and hitting a bunch of switches to deactivate laser barriers. The quest starts simply and with a decent amount of mindless entertainment value, but it quickly becomes a slog at the fifteen-minute mark when you’ve blown up your hundredth robot, saved a couple dozen pigs, and ventured through the same tight hallways. Nothing new is given to the player. In fact, the game doesn’t even announce the name or listing of a stage; it just bleeds right into the next so players have no sense of progression. I also wish the shoot button was mapped to the face button instead of the trigger.
In addition to the repetitive gameplay, there are several other small issues that make the experience frustrating. For example, when you bust a pig out of pig jail, it follows you with mindless AI as they will stupidly walk directly into harm’s way, reducing your stage ending bonus. They often get caught and held back by the environment which is actually better because then they cannot kill themselves then. Elevators are also way more tedious than they should be. If you perform any movement while riding an elevator, it retreats to the opposite direction. No, I want to jump off it to make traversal faster, not go back from where it came! There are ladders but you don’t climb up them. Instead, you must jump up them as if they were stairs which is misleading.
If you like hitting numerous switches per stage, then Ammo Pigs is for you. Hitting each switch makes the camera pan ahead to the barrier that was just opened but the player needs to wait for it to pan back. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue but when it happens multiple times each stage, it gets annoying. Also, enemies drop coins that can be spent at stores in each stage. However, buying a limited supply of drop shots, missiles, or double shooting ammo doesn’t necessarily act as a reward. In fact, it can work against the player as you cannot switch back to your main unlimited ammo machine gum and stockpile the special weapons. I couldn’t get through a linear section, for example, because the drop shot gun was the worst weapon for that scenario. Also, without bosses or even stronger enemies, purchasing the new guns doesn’t really serve a purpose.
The soundtrack is also awful. In fact, it sounds like something is wrong with the Switch’s speaker as the buzzing noise is so grating. The same goes for the sound effects. Shooting the standard gun unleashes an unpleasant burning hum that makes you want to turn the sound off completely. At least the cartoony 8-bit visuals are colorful.
Even the name, Ammo Pigs: Armed and Delicious doesn’t really make sense as you don’t eat any pigs, pork, or bacon in this game. And if you did, it would be weird playing as a cannibal pig. Instead, the end result is a mindless action platformer that is nothing more than a lesson in repetition.
SCORE: 4.5/10
Not As Good As: C.A.R.L.
Also Play: Swords & Bones
Don’t Forget About: Super Sunny Island
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
Twitter: @ZackGaz
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