Gungun Online is no GunBound

Gungun Online
originality
addictiveness
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Android
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Variable
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ESRB

Welcome Time Wasters!

I was browsing through the Google Play Store this week when I ran across something that looked very familiar. It’s a game called Gungun Online that I initially mistook for GunBound.

For anyone who has never played it, GunBound is a turn-based strategy game that lets players choose  different vehicles, what it calls “mobiles”, and has them fight each other.

The combat in Gungun Online is almost an exact copy of GunBound. Players select the angle and power of their shot to hit opponents and drain their health. The terrain is also destructible, which can lead to players being dropped through the level for a kill. This is called a “Bungee” kill and that is another term lifted straight from GunBound.

gungun online
This is an image of Gungun Online.

There are a variety of different mobiles in Gungun Online and they are all basically ones from GunBound. Right down to the different types of shots that they can use. However, all but a couple of the mobiles need in-app purchases to be unlocked and they are dang expensive. Like, $4 per mobile. The item system in the game is also an exact rip of GunBoud’s, except that players have to buy more items once they run out via in-app purchases.

Players can also collect different outfits for their characters in Gungun Online. Just like in GunBound. The system works a little different with players having to collect fragments of the clothes before they can get even a single article of the outfit. I feel like this was done in an attempt to get players to spend more money trying to unlock outfits. However, they do offer buffs just like the outfits in GunBound.

There are some other things in Gungun Online that aren’t like GunBound. Mainly this is just added purchase and currency options, though. It’s an obvious attempt at getting more money from players with in-app purchases. GunBound already has a good bit of in-game purchases, which means that Gungun Online takes the idea way too far.

When it comes to the gameplay, Gungun Online is an exact rip of GunBound. It’s easy to excuse this by saying the two games just share a genre, but that just isn’t the case. GunBound and Worms share a genre, but are much different games. Gungun Online is just a copy. I mean, even the maps are the same!

gungun online
This is an image of GunBound.

Adding to the copied mess that is Gungun Online is the art. The game uses the exact same art style that GunBound does and even flat out copies its designs. The player avatar looks exactly like the one from GunBound and the mobiles are identical in appearance to their GunBound counterparts. Granted, the developers (I use that term lightly) of Gungun Online did have enough sense to change the names of the vehicles, but that’s it.

So where do I stand on Gungun Online? Well, it’s definitely a shameless clone of GunBound that upped the amount of in-app purchases to try and get players’ money. However, it does still play good, because it’s GunBound. The fact that it’s a smartphone game is also super appealing for the mobile aspect of it. It’s just that I can’t support the game when I know it is such a blatant ripoff of another game I used to play a lot in my youth.

In other words, I’ll be deleting this from my phone and advising people to stay away from it. However, I hope that GunBound creator Softnyx takes note of this game and makes their own mobile version of GunBound. That would be a treat. Until then, I’m going to look for another artillery game to play with friends on my phone.

Gungun Online gets no GiN Gems because it didn’t actually do anything for itself.

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6 thoughts on “Gungun Online is no GunBound”

  1. I agree with some points in the article. When I was younger, I was almost obsessed with GunBound for a while. That’s what led me to GunGun. I was looking for anything close to GunBound, and although this game is ok, it’s far from perfect. There are other clones on the playstore, but I like this one the most so far. I won’t be doing any in game purchases, but I will play it.

  2. Well, Gunbound has been there for ages, and still there’s no OSX version.

    This one is on Android, which means I can play it.

    If they wanted more users and less clones, they should have ported it to other platforms.

    1. Softnyx, the developer of Gunbound, is based in Korea, where the are pretty much no OSX applications. They don’t even have an official Apple store (last I checked).

      I agree that they should have come to.mobile faster, but can you imagine if someone put out an app called Super Madio Online and tried to pass it off as the same game? Nintendo would sue them out of existence.

      Unfortunately, copyright and trademark infringement are pretty common in Korea, so I can’t say I didn’t expect it.

  3. I think Gungun is amazing. I cant play GunBound anymore. Its not even the same game as it was in 02-06 when i was playing it. Gungun at least gives me something new to work for in a game. Not to mention i am the co-leader of a clan so that keeps me doing stuff all the time lol. I like the in game rank system too. Keeps me wanting to keep playing. I havent spent much money in the game at all. I bought some gems when i got a Google gift card for my birthday and i still have some left over from November. If you play the campaign, you earn everything you can buy, so there isnt much of a point to buy anything unless you want to get mobile. Other than that, you get gems as a daily bonus, so you do not need to keep buying gems. The higher rank you are, the more gems you get every day. I get 35 gems daily and 2 mobile soulstones everyday as well. So its not nearly as bad as you are making it out to be lol. The only issue i am concerned about, is the bugs, and how the lag is dealt with. Also, sometimes it takes 15 minutes to find one match lol. But the admin of the game are very interactive with the players, and they are open to all suggestions. They have held clan tournaments, they have updated the game based on my personal suggestions to them, and they send me gift codes for items for sending them advice and feedback for the game.

  4. Looks like the author of this article played the game for no longer than 10min. You don’t have to spend a dime because you earn everything through campaign. Also you get a free mobile just for doing the tutorial. You get so much gems daily as well that i find myself just using them up in the slots for mobile and equip fragments. So congrats maybe you should give the game a fair try before making up your mind on how you feel about it even before you pressed that download button.

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