'Receiver' Review: Play the Gun, not the Shooter (VIDEO)

“Receiver” is an interesting title by Wolfire Games that gives you direct manual control of several different firearms. Unlike other games that treat ammo and magazines like magic, in “Receiver” you have to deliberately eject and load your magazines, operate the safety and rack the slide — separately — in order to use your guns.

“Guns are complicated, tricky things. That complexity is manageable once you’ve spent some time learning to shoot, just as the insides of a computer or the engine of a car begins to make sense once you know what you’re doing, but most games assume your character is a master of every weapon they lay their hands on. It’s a proficiency with guns that we take for granted in our protagonists and never earn as players.

“Which is why Receiver is such an interesting experiment: The game forces you to understand your gun, and apply that knowledge in the thick of battle.

“Receiver isn’t a great game [it was developed as part of a competition where developers had seven days to bring their games from start to finish], but it’s a wonderful way to get a small sense of using a gun as a mechanical object. Even aiming and firing feels good in the game, rarely have I played a game where the central mechanic feels so satisfying and unique. Game designers spend so much time dealing with what guns can do that they usually ignore what they are, and Receiver is a great example of going in the other direction.”

You can read the rest of the review here.

If you’re into indie gaming or want to play the game yourself, head over to the “Receiver” website. For $5 you could do a lot worse.