My Friend Pedro
By: John Cano
Reviewed on: Xbox One
Are you up for a fast-paced edge of your seat experience that combines Gun-Fu, good ol’ fashion 2D side scrolling, and platforming all mashed into a ballet of gore and violence? Then look no further than “My Friend Pedro”.
My Friend Pedro was developed by DeadToast Entertainment and published by Devolver Digital. The game was released for PC and Switch on June 20, 2019 and for Xbox One on December 5, 2019. The game was based on a flash game named MFP: My Friend Pedro that was released by Adult Swim Games back in 2014.
My time that I spent with MFP was unforgettable, it had everything you could want in a shoot em’ up game, it’s nothing really extravagant but it has enough going for it to keep it fresh and different. A little bit short but I think that’s the point, you don’t want it to go for that long for the gameplay to get stale and boring.
Really story wise its quite simple. You were wronged by some shady underworld bosses and it’s up to you and your sentient banana pal Pedro to eliminate your enemies all in the most stylish way you can think of.
Length wise its rather short roughly about 4-5 hours, which isn’t always a bad thing. Some games suffer from the problem where more game is less quality, as in it feels like it drags. However, with this odd ball game, less is way more which keeps it fresh and not stale.
As I like to say, “all the Zorg’s oldies with goldies”, MFP uses game mechanics that were previously used by other popular titles such as Max Payne, F.E.A.R etc. and some how manages to improve on them. The game is absurdly smooth and its rare to find a game that is so finely tuned. MFP is immediately responsive and most of all addictive. Case in point, on one level I had just swung in from a rope, crashed threw a window, obliterated a henchman with a shotgun, kicked one of his body parts at another henchmen, made my escape on a skateboard and shortly kicked it into another henchman killing him. It’s mechanics like this that can make or break a game, and in this case, it MADE the game.
The sounds of the game are great, the guns sound realistic and not overly loud that sounds like a giant slamming his car door each time I shoot something. However, the one gripe that I do have is the soundtrack, the mix of techno and rock just doesn’t sit well with me. Don’t get me wrong it fits the game quite well but its just not my style and it doesn’t compromise the game what so ever.
I will say that visually its quite pleasing very colorful but at times can be dark and one particular stage was just down right trippy. Another unique aspect of the game is that each stage has its own theme its not just copy and paste stages with copy and paste henchmen, when developers show that kind of love towards their creation, it speaks miles.
My Friend Pedro was an awesome experience a ballet of bullets, a symphony of violence, take your pick. Being a silent killing machine has never been more fun, the speed, the sick trick shots, the unique, limitless ways to try and eliminate your enemies. If you’re up for playing a fast-paced edge of your seat, white knuckle action game that puts you in the shoes of a badass killer with his invisible banana friend then this game is right up your alley.
Rating: 10/10
