Gunman Contracts - Stand Alone Review Summary

Excellent gameplay and stunning visuals create an immersive VR world, but poor optimization, laggy hand tracking, and unsatisfying gunplay hold it back.

Excellent gameplay and fun: The game is widely regarded as fun, satisfying, and amazing, with players highlighting the overall gameplay experience. This is a common theme across several clusters, showing high satisfaction with the core mechanics.

Stunning visuals and graphics: Players consistently praise the game's visual presentation, describing it as beautiful, realistic, and stunning. This feedback appears across multiple clusters, indicating a strong positive impression of the graphics.

Immersive VR experience: VR users report an amazing and immersive experience, with some calling it the best VR game they've played. The game's VR mode is a major selling point, offering unmatched immersion and fun.

John Wick power fantasy: Players feel like John Wick while playing, which is a highly praised aspect of the game. This specific fantasy is a key draw, making the gameplay feel empowering and cinematic.

Works well in VR and flat screen: The game is enjoyable both in VR and non-VR modes, offering flexibility for players. This dual-mode support is appreciated, making the game accessible to a wider audience.

Performance and optimization are poor: Many players report significant performance issues, including low FPS, instability, and choppiness even on systems above recommended specs. The game runs poorly at all settings, and optimization is a common request.

Hand tracking is laggy and inaccurate: Hands often lag behind controllers, feel floaty, and are not tracked properly, even with controller smoothing disabled. Hands can also vanish or get stuck in random places, and object grabbing is janky, especially for slides and magazines.

Combat and gunplay are unsatisfying: Players consistently report that combat mechanics, especially melee and gunplay, feel half-baked and lack impact. The gunplay is described as arcadey and unsatisfying, while melee combat is considered below standard and the worst aspect of the game.

Weapons feel janky and awkward: Weapon handling is frequently criticized for being janky, with guns interacting poorly, being fumbled often, and requiring awkward grips. Holding a gun with both hands is particularly problematic, as the off-hand grip releases during quick movements.

Enemy AI is predictable and buggy: Enemy AI is criticized for being stupid and predictable, often running straight at the player instead of flanking. Enemies also spawn out of thin air, sometimes behind the player, and enemy physics are glitchy.

VR shooter with gunplay: The game is primarily a VR shooter with a strong focus on gunplay, including weapons handling and combat. This is the core gameplay loop mentioned by many reviewers.

Supports VR and flatscreen modes: The game is playable in both VR and non-VR (flatscreen) modes, offering flexibility for different players. This is a key feature highlighted across multiple reviews.

NPC interaction and world interaction: Players can interact with NPCs and the world, including picking up objects and grabbing enemies. This adds to the immersive experience.

Has missions and extra modes: The game includes missions and additional modes, such as contracts and training courses, providing structured content. This is highlighted as a core part of the gameplay.

Features dual wielding and two-handed grips: Players can dual wield weapons and use two-handed grips, enhancing the combat experience. This mechanic is specifically noted as a feature.

General optimization lacking: Many reviewers describe the game as poorly optimized, with rough performance, choppiness, and instability across various hardware configurations. This is a common theme even among those with high-end systems.

Severe low FPS issues: Multiple reviewers report frame rates below 30 FPS even on the lowest graphics settings, with some experiencing as low as 15 FPS. This occurs on systems meeting or exceeding recommended specs, indicating serious performance problems.

Poor VR performance: VR mode suffers from constant stuttering, freezing, and FPS dips regardless of settings, making the experience unplayable for many. Some users report performance is worse in VR than in flatscreen mode.

Performance varies by hardware: While some users with high-end GPUs like RTX 4080 or 5090 report smooth performance, others with similar or lower specs experience significant issues. This suggests inconsistent optimization across different hardware setups.

Frequent stuttering and freezes: Numerous reviewers mention stuttering, freezing, and frame drops during gameplay, sometimes occurring every few minutes. These issues are distracting and can lead to crashes or system instability.

Recommended for VR enthusiasts: Many reviewers recommend the game specifically for VR shooter enthusiasts, especially those with high-end PCs. They praise the VR experience and consider it a must-buy for VR fans.

Mixed recommendations due to jank: Several reviewers cannot recommend the game in its current janky state, citing performance issues and bugs. They suggest waiting for updates or the full release before purchasing.

Performance issues require high-end PC: Several reviewers note that the game demands a high-end PC to run well, and those without such hardware should wait. Performance optimization is a common concern, with some suggesting waiting for fixes.

VR mode preferred over flatscreen: Reviewers emphasize that the game should be played in VR, as the non-VR mode is not recommended. The VR experience is highlighted as the main draw, while flatscreen play is seen as inferior.

Comparisons to other VR games: Reviewers compare the game to Half-Life: Alyx and Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades, suggesting alternatives for better visuals or gunplay. Some recommend playing the original mod instead.

Story completion: 1.5h.

Session length: 0.5h.

The game has significant early friction (tutorial confusion, FPS issues, boring conversations, weak AI/combat), but at least one player reports loving it after completing the tutorial and first contract, suggesting the fun begins after that point.

Friction: tutorial navigation confusion; item-finding difficulty; FPS performance issues; boring long conversations; dumb AI; boring combat.

VR Enthusiast: Methodical, slow-paced exploration, appreciates comfort features. Motivation: Immersive VR experience and presence. Stance: buy.

Gunplay/Action Fan: Engages in PvE gunfights, experiments with different weapons, seeks physics interactions. Motivation: Satisfying gunplay and action-movie fantasy. Stance: sale.

Solo Dev Supporter: Early adopter, explores features, likely to follow dev updates. Motivation: Supporting an indie developer and seeing potential. Stance: no buy.

Performance is predominantly negative across most VRAM cohorts, with widespread reports of unstable frame rates, stuttering, and poor optimization. Only the sub-8GB VRAM cohort shows a mostly positive experience, though with some caveats.

Windows 12-15GB VRAM: negative. Performance is widely reported as unstable and poor, with many users unable to maintain a stable frame rate even on low settings, and some experiencing freezes.

Windows 8-11GB VRAM: negative. Most users report severe performance problems, including low FPS, stuttering, and unplayable latency, with only a few having smooth experiences.

Windows <8GB VRAM: positive. Most users report playable performance, though some mention stuttering and optimization issues.

Steam Deck: The game is playable on Steam Deck but suffers from performance issues such as low FPS and frame drops, and the English UI text is tiring to read. These factors require some tinkering to achieve a satisfactory experience.

Linux and Proton: The game is reported playable on Steam Deck, indicating good Proton compatibility. No Linux-specific issues were mentioned. The only performance complaint is generic and not tied to Linux.

Frequent Half-Life Alyx comparisons: Many reviewers compare the game to Half-Life: Alyx and its mods, noting similarities in visuals, gun handling, and interaction code. Some feel the mods offer a better shooting experience, while others appreciate the standalone evolution.

Early access with limited content: The game is in Early Access with a small number of missions, leading to mixed feelings about its current value. Reviewers note that more content is planned, but some find the current offering lacking.

Solo developer praised: Reviewers acknowledge the effort of the solo developer, ANB_Seth, and express respect for their work. The game's development by one person is seen as both a limitation and a point of admiration.

John Wick style comparisons: The game is frequently compared to the John Wick franchise, which it is marketed as, and is described as a John Wick simulator. This comparison is central to the game's identity and appeal.

Comparisons to other shooters: The game is compared to various shooters like Ready or Not, Max Payne, and After the Fall, with mixed results. Some find the gunplay similar but less stable, while others appreciate the style over realism.