GUTS is gory, messy, bloody, violent, and... did I say gory yet? Well, it's gory enough to say it twice. Beyond that, GUTS is an approachable yet mildly complex fighting game that will appeal to people just trying out a fighting game for the first time, or experienced fighters looking for a change of pace.

GUTS is a strange beat'em up, fun but with a lot of flaws at the same time.

GUTS is weird, but weird good. Also weird bad, if the player isn’t into this kind of games: singular and strange ones. It has some great concepts and, even though it lacks dense single player content, it might be recommendable for those who like unique works.

The satire of GUTS would be so much better if the gameplay stuck its landing. Sketchy and numb gameplay simply doesn’t cut it. As it is, GUTS is a mere curiosity. A quirky look at a gory game show with some genuinely good ideas, like a combat log after a fight (I would love it in Tekken!) and fighting not measured in habitual health and time. Even though GUTS doesn’t take it seriously, it’s done seriously. I can only hope that Flux Game Studio continues to develop their obvious labor of love further. Maybe by the time the game makes its way to the consoles next year, its gameplay will have evolved further.

For 20 bucks, you get a halfway decent fighting game that does very well at trying something a bit different. It has some flaws with its combat, but I still found some combos and strategies to be fun to execute. If only there were some people playing the online, it would have made the game much more enjoyable, but until it gathers a following, solo players will finish its offerings within a few hours. It’s a hard sell currently, but for those looking for a different take on the fighting game genre, there’s much worse games out there to play.

Fun, bloody and simple. That's the GUTS proposal. A game to fight with different methods than we are used to, very focused on the multiplayer experience.