This week, I have found myself frequently opening the Gunfire Hero app to play. This traditional side-scroll shooter-type game has challenged me as I’ve struggled to progress through it. Though difficult, I have found it rewarding and addicting. That being said, let’s get into some of the details of the game.
Gunfire Hero is the second game in the Step Hero multiverse, the first being Step Hero itself. STEP and HERO Tokens are shared between games, but at this point, it doesn’t look like NFTs are. The tokens are built on Binance Smart Chain with plans to become multi-chain in the future. Currently, Gunfire Hero is only available on Android devices.
Gameplay
The good news for those of you who are hesitant to commit to Blockchain games is that this one is completely free to play. You can jump right into the action and try it out for yourself, with no entry cost.
In Gunfire Hero, you take the role of the hero as you fight to clear different rooms and progress through different worlds. To pass each room you must dodge bullets, rockets, and even turtles with shotguns while your hero autofires back. When you have successfully cleared the room, you will auto collect any loot that you’ve earned (gear, STEP tokens, and crafting materials). Gear and material drops are pretty rare, but I find myself collecting a few STEP tokens at the end of each life.
On completion of each room, you will also gain experience that will periodically level up your hero. On each level, you will be given the chance to select one of three different perks offered to you. Choose wisely! All perks are good, but some are better than others. My personal favorites are double bullets and bouncing bullets. You will also come across Angel levels every so often that will grant you a free perk.
Within each world are a number of boss levels as well. These bosses are more difficult to beat, but also often reward you with better drops and health when defeated. If you are unable to beat any level, then your progress will be reset for that world, including any perks chosen, and you will start back at the first room of that world the next time you play.
If you manage to beat the eight worlds that are currently in the game, there is an endless world that will pull random levels from each of the previous eight for you to fight.
To encourage your progress, each world also has three milestones, and once reached, reward you with STEP tokens, gear, and energy.
If you are having difficulty progressing past a world, you can spend your HERO tokens on leveling up talents on the “Talent” page. There are twelve different talents that can be permanently upgraded (randomly). These range from extra damage, to better shields, to more health, etc. Remember that these do not get reset, so don’t worry about losing them if you don’t get past a level.
You can also equip gear and level up your hero on the “Loadout” page. Gear can greatly help you in battle. The four gear slots available are weapons, armor, glasses, and bullets. Each piece of gear will boost your stats in different ways to help you beat your enemies easier. If you acquire three of the same type of gear, you can merge them to upgrade the rarity. You can also level up your gear using STEP tokens and gear materials dropped in-game. Your hero is leveled up using hero materials and STEP tokens.
Hero materials currently only drop from the “Weekly Events”. These events rotate each day. Monday through Thursday events drop different hero materials, while Friday through Sunday events drop STEP coins. You can choose between easy, normal, hard, and nightmare difficulty each day, with the more challenging difficulties granting better prizes.
Play to Earn
While this game is Play-to-Earn (P2E), there currently are two roadblocks.
- The first roadblock is that you must pass world seven before being able to cash out both your STEP tokens, as well as any gear you have acquired (NFTs).
- The second roadblock is that you can only cash out during select times the developers allow, which are announced on their social channels.
While the world seven roadblock is challenging to get by, it does prevent easy farming of STEP tokens which would deflate the value of the token. Ultimately this seems like a good way to encourage committed players and discourage farming. I am also hopeful that as the game progresses, withdrawal windows will be more frequent or all the time. I think this is also an important step for the lasting health of the game.
Marketplace
Gunfire Hero does have an online marketplace if you are looking to buy some gear, heroes, or crafting materials. The marketplace uses the HERO token, and requires you to log in using either Metamask or Wallet Connect. You can also list the NFTs that you have earned in-game for sale in the marketplace for other players to buy. Remember that you will need to withdraw them from the game first, which is currently only available during certain times.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I think Gunfire Hero is worth a shot. It is surprisingly addicting and challenging, and will keep your hero on their toes as they dodge everything the enemy has to throw at them. I have really enjoyed trying to master the game and learning the strategy behind each perk you can choose. I am also hopeful that the Play-to-Earn aspect will be worth it for the time spent in-game.
Now that you have read the basics of Gunfire Hero, make sure to check it out, and let us know what you think of it in our Discord channel. Have fun!
