I’ve had a close eye on My Friend Pedro since it was launched back at E3 2018. Having had the chance to play it at EGX Rezzed 2019, I’m even more excited to figure out how to artistically murder bad guys this June.
My Friend Pedro will feel very familiar for anyone who grew up on MTV (when it was actually music) and constant rewatches of The Matrix on VHS. It has the same kind of attitude as something from the late 90s/early 2000s, which is about the highest compliment I could give something.
Players pirouette and dance around while mowing down enemies with ease, the ability to shoot in different directions when dual wielding feeling like a simple joy. Combine this with a slow-motion leap of faith and it’s clear that My Friend Pedro rewards experimental violence, evidenced perfectly by a moment where you are able to kick a pan into the air and shoot it to deflect the bullets at baddies above you. It left me grinning like a teenager for almost the entirety of my playtime.
The demo I played only offered about ten minutes of gameplay, but it was certainly varied. The “meat” looks like it will take place indoors through side-scrolling corridors, but the demo also offered the chance to jump on a motorcycle and perform slow-motion backflips while raining down hell on you assailants. It is just about as silly and ultimately fun as it sounds, but competitive players can also try to get the best rank possible on an S scale, which I somehow managed to do.
From what I’ve played, My Friend Pedro doesn’t seem too difficult, which may be to imbue players with a sense of badassery — it certainly did for me. I didn’t die during the demo, but the boss (which I did not expect this game to have at all), took me pretty close. Based on my short time spent with the game, My Friend Pedro will strike a pretty fine balance between being fun and a challenge.
There is one small blot on My Friend Pedro, though: the banana doesn’t actually talk in a Mexican accent. I’ll see if I can get over this oversight when it launches in June 2019 for Switch and PC.
Check out all of our Rezzed 2019 coverage here.
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