The Gunk

But Why ThoMick Abrahamson

70/10

While not perfect, The Gunk is a fun game that carries a great and important message. We need to save our environment. A compelling story, relaxing yet sometimes boring gameplay, and stunning visuals.

WellPlayedKieron Verbrugge

8/10

A short, sharp 3D action-adventure that keeps things simple in a gorgeous world and makes a great case for Game Pass as a delivery vehicle for bingeable and low-investment experiences.

GamingTrendRichard Allen

75/100

The Gunk is a creative, witty, and charming adventure game, albeit a bit on the short side at only five or six hours in length. Still, the writing, world, and exploration more than make up for the short campaign as players will find themselves immediately immersed in the world and Rani and Becks’ friendship. Unfortunately, a few technical problems plague the game, the most blatant of which – getting stuck on various items – becomes frustrating in later platforming sections. Still, The Gunk is an adventure well worth partaking in.

Worth PlayingCody Medellin

7.5/10

Embark on an all-new adventure in a vast and exotic world where you’ll encounter terrifying enemies and challenging puzzles on your quest to unravel the mystery of a forgotten planet, while saving it in the process.

Game InformerJill Grodt

7/10

I began The Gunk with eager anticipation, blasting across the swirling clouds of the cosmos. The opening cinematic is beautiful and full of promise. Unfortunately, it is also the apex of the short game’s trajectory. In a game filled with alien worlds splashed with color and populated with extraterrestrial mysteries, The Gunk falls surprisingly flat. Fortunately, this spacecraft manages to stay afloat with likable characters, solid gameplay, and a serviceable story.

COGConnectedMark Steighner

69/100

The Gunk is a difficult game to talk about. It’s not hard to describe, and it isn’t shocking or disturbing. It won’t make you rethink your life choices. It’s not even a particularly bad game. But it’s also not a particularly good game, either. It’s like one of those totally nondescript, pretty ok days when you think, I’ll never remember today even happened. What was I talking about? Oh, right. The Gunk. See, that’s the problem.

WCCFtechUle Lopez

6.2/10

Here’s the deal right away. I don’t believe that The Gunk is an experience that will fit everyone. It’s an action-adventure game that, in my opinion, prioritizes the “Adventure” aspect over the “Action.” No, it’s not a walking simulator, as people will inevitably infer from reading this first paragraph, but it’s also not going to give you a run for your money in terms of mechanical skill.

TechRaptorLee Mehr

6/10

Image & Form's first 3D title doesn't have any obscene messes to clean, but it never excels beyond a conventional distraction.

Game RantDalton Cooper

6/10

The Gunk players may also find themselves frustrated with the game's restrictive linearity. The Gunk wants players to complete its platforming challenges in a very specific way with no real room for experimentation, and this is best illustrated by its ledges. Throughout The Gunk, Rani will come across many ledges that she should clearly be able to grab on to, but arbitrarily can't. The only ledges Rani will grab are ones with yellow marks on them, and so it seems that the other ledges should've been made higher to be out of her reach because there's no real reason why she shouldn't be able to ...

GameSpotRichard Wakeling

6/10

Cleaning up the titular Gunk is satisfying, but the rest of the game surrounding it is routine and overly familiar.

DestructoidCJ Andriessen

6/10

There is nothing fundamentally wrong with The Gunk. It works from a technical standpoint and it isn’t the worst way you can spend about five hours of your time. But I just can’t muster up any sort of authentic excitement about it. If it were funnier or cleverer or more challenging, I could maybe start to see it as a title I could recommend. But as it is, the best I can do is pay it that slightly backhanded compliment of saying it’s perfect for Game Pass.

Analog Stick GamingJeff Young

Unscored

As you travel this strange world in the hopes of a big payday, vacuum arm’d Rani, will encounter a long-lost secret that will cause her to dive deep into the planet’s mystery. While The Gunk certainly sounds exciting, and can often be enjoyable, the execution of its mechanics and upgrade systems are