At first glance, Shotgun Cop Man might not seem like the bigger-and-better follow-up to indie hit My Friend Pedro that many would’ve expected. It’s got a stripped back aesthetic, and the gameplay has shifted from slow-motion chaos to more minimalist micro-movement platforming. It’s a surprising shift in scope and style, but after getting my hands on the debut demo for the game, I see the vision.
It’s not that this game is a smaller and simpler project. Instead, it skews so deftly into an efficient, minimalist approach to art-style and gameplay that it’s more like I’m playing the long-awaited sequel to N++. A sequel with shotguns and Satan in it.
There’s a narrative hook to Shotgun Cop Man, but it’s been written on a napkin and dangled from broken fishing-line and, honestly, that’s totally fine. You are Shotgun Cop Man, and your job is to go to Hell and arrest Satan. It’s so obnoxiously and hilariously barebones that it immediately accomplished two things for me. Firstly, it made me laugh a lot. Secondly,, it made it clear that the focus is all on the gameplay, and just the act of playing in itself.
It’s an act which is fun as Hell, by the way. This is a side-scrolling platformer where you have no jump button. Instead, you use your right-trigger to fire a pistol that shot propels you a little bit so you can hover in the air, or you use your left-trigger to fire a massive shotgun blast that propels you much further in your direction of choice. These weapons are also meant to be used as literal weapons, though, with demons scattered throughout each level trying to shoot you before you can make it to the exit.
So, the loop immediately reveals itself and it hooked me in an instant. Every bullet you fire isn’t just a potential hit on an enemy, but also a sudden force of momentum that flings you in the opposite direction. Thinking about gunfire and platforming not as parallel actions, but as a yin and yang that flow into each other is really fascinating. As I progressed through the demo, I got a hang of things and learned how a shotgun blast could kill an enemy while also propelling me closer to the next one, or how a pistol shot could cancel my momentum from a shotgun blast just before I hit a deadly obstacle. The flow is simple, but so satisfying.
What I also appreciate about Shotgun Cop Man is that it’s incredibly forgiving despite the twitch-precision platformer DNA that runs through it all. When you get hit by a bullet or obstacle, you lose your heart, but can keep playing and even grab your floating heart to return to normal. Getting hit with no heart triggers an immediate and hilarious death-screen, but when you continue from there, you’re placed at a very forgiving checkpoint right near where you died. Freaks who want the thrill of a no-death run can fully restart and chase that high, but being able to zone out a bit and comfortably clear a level with that much assistance is a nice change of pace from the usual difficulty present in these games.
There’s a clear, consistent, and super fun design goal behind Shotgun Cop Man, and I’m all for it. This demo is a short and sweet slice of a game that I can’t wait to continue playing.
Try Shotgun Cop Man for yourself now, with a PC demo available with Steam Next Fest. Shotgun Cop Man is coming to PC and Switch in 2025.