Swedish dev team DeadToast Entertainment wowed audiences with previews of this stylish looking thing. A ballet of violence, it offers a heady mix of wild entertainment that doesn’t quite maintain its best moments across the course of the game.

My Friend Pedro

Available on the Nintendo Switch and Steam as of 2019, this innovative shooty game turns extreme violence into a kind of artistic act.

There’s a huge focus on making outrageous action sequences you’d normally find in some Hollywood blockbuster.

At the behest of a sentient banana, one man goes on a rampage. He has the ability to slow down time, split aim, kick objects, and leap about with impressive gymnastic ability.

Such crazy antics ensured My Friend Pedro got major hype in the build-up to release. Gamers are suckers for such showy behaviour.

For sure, there are exhilerating moments to enjoy. The “set pieces”, if you will, are designed to promote jaw dropping physical feats.

And again we return to the same adjective: stylish. The title just oozes it, but some of that gooey stuff flops off the table awkwardly.

Whilst great fun, it’s also rather short. This is likely as the, initially spectacular, backflipping and slow motion shooting sequences soon get a bit repetitive.

There are only so many times you can create level design to promote the jaw dropping moments. The rest of the time it’s not quite as engaging.

It was wise to keep the title quite short so it can deliver on its promises. And My Friend Pedro doesn’t mess about. It does exactly what it shows to you in clips, it’s just this isn’t quite as thrilling as you’d expect it to be.

Despite its limitations, we had a lot of fun with this one. It’s a pick-up-and-play type of game, one that’ll impress your friends if you want to show them the latest clever indie romp.

But scratch away at the backflipping and double gun toting and it’s a strangely hollow experience at times. All style over substance.

The devs lift such moments with self-aware, aburdist humour. And it is all very knowingly ridiculous – and that brings quite a considerable chunk of charm along.

It’s one of those titles that a gamer will either want or not. If you do, go for it – there’s a lot of fun to be had here. Just be aware that it’s a flashy experience with little substance beneath it.