Thankfully, the developers have included full control remapping. The problem here is that trying to do all of this while jumping with the B button leads to plenty of mistakes as you put your hand in positions that would make a contortionist blush. Pressing L will make Fred spin around, thus dodging incoming bullets.
When dual-wielding, you can target two enemies at once, which involves hitting the ZL button to lock on to the first enemy, freeing you up to free-aim at any others. Moving Fred with the left analogue stick, and aiming with the right feels responsive once you get used to the floaty-ness.
Right off the bat, I had a bit of a hard time in handheld I often struggled when trying to pull off a handful of inputs at the same time. Obviously, with shooting playing such an integral role in Pedro, it all comes down to the controls. I often struggled when trying to pull off a handful of inputs at the same time Being a mega-fan of gun-fu films like The Matrix or John Wick, I found myself constantly grinning as I explored new ways of dispatching my hapless enemies. Will you go in with dual Uzis in a spray and pray move or will you equip the powerful shotgun and spin around enemy bullets as you get in nice and close for a giblet producing blast to the face. I got used to the movement pretty quickly, but I can definitely see some being turned off by it from the get-go.įred uses his arsenal to deadly effect as you target multiple enemies at once and figure out the fastest way to clear the screen of baddies. This loose feeling to the character's movement feels odd at first, especially when combined with the downright ugly animation. Controlling your character is relatively straightforward with movement feeling strangely floaty. Playing on the Switch in handheld mode, it can get a bit much as you grapple with the equivalent of finger yoga in an attempt to press all the required buttons at the right time. The smart level design encourages you to stay on the move and figure out the best lines to take as you jump, roll and pirouette your way through the chaos. Going back and refining your run is where you'll start to understand the nuance of combat and movement. Going through a level for the first time, I often made silly mistakes leading to some less than smooth action and a handful of deaths. Pedro comes into its own when you start to focus on the art of the kill. Rushing through the game would be missing half the fun. From kicking a pan in the air and ricocheting bullets off of it into enemies out of your line of sight or dropping down between two unsuspecting foes and splitting your aim so you can eliminate both of them in one fell swoop before you even hit the ground, there's potential to experiment around every corner. Stringing together different kinds of kills is immensely gratifying throughout the four or so hours it'll take you to reach the end. Style is vital in Pedro as you'll be graded on your performance at the end of each level, with your time, kills, deaths and combos taken into account. Playing as a nameless protagonist (we'll call him Fred from now on to make things easier), you'll have to use all of the tools in your arsenal if you want to clear levels with any semblance of style. My Friend Pedro is a side-scrolling shooter that will test your reflexes and combat-creativity as it challenges you to find the smoothest path through any given level, all-the-while peppering unlucky bad guys with ungodly amounts of lead.