Let a Talking Banana Guide Your Murderous Mayhem in My Friend Pedro

Bananas and bullets. Those were what littered the ground of the booth at PAX West where I had the opportunity to check out My Friend Pedro and its sole developer, Victor Agren. You play a man killing everyone in his path at the direction of a talking, sentient, magical? banana named Pedro. The game's embrace of chaos rises to match the absurdity of a transporting, talking banana.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaPBAKg3VT4

There's a lot of bullets, guns, and backbreaking movement in My Friend Pedro.  All of these come together to create a massive arsenal to destroy your enemies with. This action platformer has bullet time, dual wielding machine guns, and pirouettes in the air all in the name of destruction.

Using both guns wisely is important in the game. You have the option to lock onto one target and aim freely with the other, allowing you to double your cone of destruction. When you often find yourself getting into situations with enemies on all sides, this is both a lifeline and a spectacle. Combine that with bullets that ricochet and you can clear out a room in seconds.

Now add in the ability to twist and morph your body into all sorts of uncomfortable positions and you've got a man who can take on any situation. Spinning through the air will shoot at all directions, as well as let you dodge bullets. Then you've got bullet time, allowing you to create even more of a spectacle.

Movement was sluggish and not all that crisp, and you're encouraged to slow it all the more with the bullet time mechanic. As a platformer it was more of a chore, making the downtime not all that enjoyable as you went into the next room of mayhem. Fortunately, those times were brief, but in a game where you want to create the coolest looking display of destruction, movement should be responsive and easy to control. Sometimes I felt I wasn't going the way I wanted or moving as I intended. Though, I'd usually end up doing something cool anyway.

For a game that's being developed by one person, it's still impressive. Victor told me that My Friend Pedro actually started as a flash game he made about 10 years ago but never released. Eventually he did, and that led to what you see above.

My Friend Pedro will release sometime next year and is coming to PC and Nintendo Switch.