Shotgun Cop Man

Genre: Action-Platformer / 2-Stick Shooter

Players: 1

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Review:

Shotgun Cop Man is an Action-Platformer and 2-Stick Shooter released in 2025 on PC and Nintendo Switch, and the gameplay of this game is all built upon one simple, elegant idea: what if you took the “rocket jump” move made famous in First-Person Shooters like Quake and Team Fortress 2, and applied its effect to every weapon in a side-scrolling 2D Platformer and 2-Stick Shooter, making attack tied directly to movement. Oh, and tie everything together in a minimalist bonkers story about a new recruit from the “Shotgun Cop Division” sent on a mission in hell to arrest Satan. The result, as it happens, is a visceral thrill ride that had me absolutely giddy the entire time I was playing it.

Even though it’s unquestionably a Platformer, Shotgun Cop Man can’t actually jump. Instead, all jumping and dashing is tied to his use of firearms. Fire your pistols down using ZR for a small hop, fire your shotgun down with ZL for a larger jump, and fire again in mid-air for double and triple-jumps, air-dashes, and so on. Likewise, blasting left or right with the shotgun while on the ground also acts as a dash in the opposite direction. Your ammo is unlimited, but you can only reload your weapons when your feet hit the ground, limiting your ability to endlessly propel yourself around the room with your weapons.

Of course, your guns are also, you know, guns. And as you head through hell you’ll be fighting off demons. You’ll quickly find that the longer range and limited kickback of the handgun tends to make this weapon more ideal for actual combat, though sometimes you’ll want to quickly take out a group of nearby enemies with a shotgun blast. Take out enough enemies and you’ll earn upgrades for your handgun to increase its clip size and fire rate, but taking a hit will see you losing these upgrades.

The game’s levels are set up as obstacle courses of sorts, and reminded me quite a bit of games like Super Meat Boy. In line with this, Shotgun Cop Man is absolutely brimming with speed running potential for players looking to challenge themselves, with every level having challenges to try to beat, including killing all enemies, getting to the exit without taking a hit, and completing the level in a speedy fashion.

Of course, players less concerned with this and just wanting to play through the levels will have that option, and the game is surprisingly forgiving, not only letting players take two hits before dying (with a hilarious brief cutscene where Shotgun Cop declares “I… die…”), but also sprinkling frequent hidden checkpoints throughout the game’s levels.

The presentation here is fairly minimal, but it works well for the busy action the game throws at players. The gameplay mainly uses simple 2D visuals with dark, simple 3D backgrounds. The characters are almost like stick figures in their simplicity, but menus and cutscenes like the aforementioned death scene zoom into Shotgun Cop Man himself to flesh out his bizarre proportions with a strange CG-like figure that seems to deliberately dive into the uncanny valley, complete with heavily-synthesized voice for the character just in case you were wondering if his off-putting appearance was deliberate. This is all backed by a pounding percussion-heavy metal soundtrack that perfectly fits the fast action-heavy gameplay.

While there’s a lot to like here, I do have one criticism of the Nintendo Switch version of the game specifically, as this version of the game lacks the PC version’s custom level editor, which is a real shame given the wealth of replay value that would have added to the game.

However, overall I thought Shotgun Cop Man was an absolute blast, if you’ll pardon the pun. Just moving and fighting in this game is a true delight, and the absurd story and characters just add to how delightful this is. While the Nintendo Switch release of the game lacks the level editor of the PC version, this is still a joy to play, and anyone who enjoys Action-Platformers should consider this a must-buy.

tl;dr – Shotgun Cop Man is an Action-Platformer and 2-Stick Shooter about the titular Shotgun Cop Man who has been sent on a mission to hell to arrest Satan, with this silly story joined by gameplay that has players using their firearms to propel themselves around the air as they fight demons. Movement and combat in this game is an absolute delight, and the absurdity of the story only adds to the joy of this game. The only thing lacking is the PC version’s level creator, but otherwise this is a must-have Action-Platformer on Nintendo Switch.

Grade: A-

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2025 Game Awards:

Winner:

Best Action Game – The old phrase goes “if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail”. In the case of Shotgun Cop Man, all he has are a pair of guns, so everything you do in this game comes from that, meaning that every jump and every dodge is also potentially an attack, making for some delightful action-packed multitasking as you take out enemies while using your guns to propel you around the room. This core gameplay concept is an absolute blast (ha) that makes Shotgun Cop Man a joy to play, with the best pure action I’ve experienced all year.

Funniest Game – When it came to laughs, Shotgun Cop Man’s absurd send-up of cop story tropes was a shiny bald head and giant chunky shoulders above the competition this year. Whether it was the overall premise of a cop assigned to head into hell to arrest Satan, or the way every death is signaled by zooming into Shotgun Cop Man’s face as he raises a finger to declare “I-eeee… die-eeeee…”, or just the basic silliness you get when you propel yourself around the environment by blasting your guns… everything about this game was delightfully funny in a way nothing else was this year.

Runner-Up: Game of the Year, Best Platformer

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