Spill. Your. GUTS.

When you think of a violent fighting game the first thing that comes to mind is usually Mortal Kombat, and for good reason. There’s been a few others, but MK is the king of gore when it comes to fighting games. Well, hold on to your seats because GUTS is here to attempt to be the goriest game out there, but is it a good fight game? Let’s find out.

Gory Ultimate Tournament Show (GUTS) is a fighting game revolving around a worldwide TV show that has contestants dismembering their opponents in the most brutal ways possible. Each fighter has a move set for each limb of their body. Players attack their opponent to fill up a GUTS meter. When that meter is full, they can unleash a GUTS move that is unblockable (with an exception) that will remove one of the opponent’s limbs. The goal is to remove the enemy’s limbs and essentially quarter them with only a torso and head remaining. Losing a limb means that that limbs attacks are slower and the special moves for them are disabled.

Platforms: PC, XB1, PS4
MSRP: $19.99
Price I’d pay: $10

There are a few other ways players can remove limbs. They can knock the enemy into level hazards that will cut off a limb or throw their own limbs at their enemy. The latter move requires U-points. U-points is another meter that is used to both throw limbs, heal limbs back onto the body, and to block GUTS moves. This adds more strategy to the actual fighting and meter conservation, and usage plays a large part in this game. Knowing when to use U-points to heal or possibly throw a limb at an opponent or holding off for the inevitable GUTS move can make or break a fight.

Each GUTS move has a different attack pattern, so learning the characters and how their moves react is essential as well. Starting off, I kept using the anti-air GUTS move and kept missing, so I went into a fight experimenting a bit more and was able to come up with some better combos. Hitting a nice combo with a GUTS move then knocking them into a hazard for a 2nd dismemberment was actually very satisfying.

Now, while the combat has some strategy involved, don’t get too excited for the character roster. Each character plays a lot alike and all the moves are done via quarter circle motions. Sure, each character has different attacks, but they don’t deviate much from each other. Granted, this isn’t trying to be a Street Fighter, but I was hoping for a bit more individuality when it came to character move sets. On top of that, the jump feels a bit floaty and some hit detection can feel off at times, especially when the GUTS moves are unblockable.

To mix things up as well as to keep the match from lasting forever, the rules of the game will change periodically. When this happens, it is called “Intervention.” Rules like no healing and faster GUTS meter recharge make the game move at a much faster pace so players can’t turtle their way to victory as easily as one would try.

The game features a story mode as well as a standard exhibition match. There is local and online play as well. Unfortunately, I can’t talk about the online play because every time I played the game, I would sit in the lobby waiting for a match and never found one. I don’t know if the online is not working properly or it is the fact that no one is actually playing the game, but I have no experience with the online play, so I can’t comment on it.

Visually, the game is colorful, but the backgrounds and models are rather bland. It’s not the best looking game out there by any means, but I was able to look past it for the most part. Performance wise, it is quite sound. I had no stuttering or framerate issues during my time with it. The voice acting is hokey, and I’m sure that’s what they were going for.

There are some unlockables to collect like character art and even a few special modes, but as far as single player content goes, most of it can be seen and done within a couple of hours. It’s unfortunate that the online is a barren wasteland. Players could get a bit more playtime out of it and I would have liked to have seen this wacky game play with some other players.

For 20 bucks, you get a halfway decent fighting game that does very well at trying something a bit different. It has some flaws with its combat, but I still found some combos and strategies to be fun to execute. If only there were some people playing the online, it would have made the game much more enjoyable, but until it gathers a following, solo players will finish its offerings within a few hours. It’s a hard sell currently, but for those looking for a different take on the fighting game genre, there’s much worse games out there to play.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.