With a name like The Gunk, I really didn’t know what to expect. Upon first hearing the name, my eyebrow cocked and my head turned; what on earth could this game be about? As a primarily PlayStation gamer, it is rare I keep super up-to-date with the happenings on Xbox and PC. However, with 2021 being an absolute banger of a year in the Microsoft space, I am glad I found time to spend with titles such as this. The Gunk is a comfy, cosy, weirdly whimsical little jaunt on an alien planet that takes cues from mid-2000s era platformers, modern survival games, and simple puzzlers, bundling it into a tidy package that’s a joy to experience.

The Gunk is bought to us by Image & Form Games, the studio behind the Steamworld series. It’s the studio’s first foray into a 3D-based title, and for the most part, they have done a bangin’ job of it. Competent platforming, a sense of discovery and wonder in each new environment, and giving in-engine cutscenes a red-hot go, the studio has proven that they are more than just a stellar 2D house.

Indeed, the backstory to The Gunk is very simple and given to the player in bite-sized chunks of conversation between Rani and Becks. The duo is a pair of space junkers on the search for their big haul to finally pull themselves out of poverty and into the life of luxury they dream of. The planet they’ve landed on seems untouched by modern society, and as such provides the opportunity for Rani and Becks to get first dibs on the bounty and potential riches to be found. Adding to this sense of tranquillity and nature-in-preservation is the calm and soothing score, which dances gently through your ears as you wander about the world of The Gunk. The ambient sounds of the environments only add to the serenity, with trickling rivers and the gentle breezes brushing through the leaves decorating the sonic soundscape.

Of course, nothing is perfect, and The Gunk has a couple of minor flaws that stood out enough for note. First and foremost, the cutscene animations are fairly low-standard; facial animations and movement of the character models is janky and unpolished, and in my opinion, should have been cut completely. Think Dark Souls and Bloodborne – plenty of character interactions, but the designers opted against facial animations and mouth movements and it is all the better for it. A similar approach in The Gunk would have been ideal.

Secondly, I encountered several instances of falling through the environment and platforms not loading in properly. This became especially frustrating when completing puzzles that require creating new platforms, but those platforms glitch out and are unable to be climbed. A hard reset of the game was the only solution I found to this particularly annoying issue.