Gish
Gish isn’t your average hero. In fact, he’s not your average anything…you see, Gish is a ball of tar. A Sunday stroll with his lady friend, Brea, goes awry when a shadowy figure emerges from an open manhole and pulls Brea below ground. Following Brea’s calls for help, Gish suddenly finds himself in the subterranean sewers of Dross, a long forgotten city filled with twisting corridors, evil traps, and some of the most demented creatures imaginable.
With his gelatinous structure as his only means of defense, Gish must follow the echoing cries of his damsel in distress deep within the earth below. What freakish creatures dwell in this subterranean land? Who is Brea’s captor? And just how far down does the rabbit hole go?
Life isn’t easy when you’re a 12 pound ball of tar…
- Dynamic physics and lighting
- Destructible environments
- 34+ story levels
- 20+ collection levels
- 80+ player-made levels available for download
- Six unique VS. modes
- Unlockable game modes
- Over 15 animated enemies
- Six deranged bosses
- Five "super secret" levels
- Level editor
15 year ani. update features:
- The Lost Levels
- Updated Physics engine
- Widescreen supported
- Updated menus
- Updated levels
Steam User 171
Edit: Ignore the update. I think it removes multiple keyboard players, instead, go to the game in the library, go to properties, go to betas, and choose 1.7.
Most reviews have been voted down to about 60% helpfulness. This is largly because of the game's unique mechanics. People who "get" them downvote negative reviews, and those who "don't get it" downvote the positive reviews.
I've been playing this game with many people starting with the demo around 2004-5, specifically in sumo mode. I have not played the campaign, as I rarely play without friends. I have played 1000s of matches, and learned how to play.
Jumping is hard for some people. If you're a hater, you'll probably hate this game and give up, but if you learn how to jump, you'll admire the jump mechanic. If you play against serious players who've rocked this game 100s of times, you'll have a blast. It's a fun balance of creativity, reflexes and strategy that never gets old.
This is a great party game. Hooked up to a TV with 4 wireless xbox controllers, this game was a staple at a burger night. Everybody played, and even new players had a blast. The quick game resets and no load times make restarts a snap. It's also fun to watch.
If you don't have a TV and wireless controllers, use a projector 4 keyboards, or game controllers - they're $10 on ebay, or mix and match.
It's old, but it's good. This game was created in 2004, so the textures are a bit low res. The controls may seem alien at first, but once you learn, you can use crazy combo wall jump moves and squish the competition.
Steam User 26
The first time I came across Gish was on one of those CD's that you'd find stuck on the front cover of computer magazines, that included loads of free software, plus games and demo's. What I got was a demo of Gish that became one of my all-time favourite platform games.
After playing it for a while I decided to buy it directly from Cryptic Sea's (the developer) web site and was hooked immediately. I wrote to Cryptic Sea via their forum and said I would create a help booklet for the level editor; which, at the time didn't include any help apart from details of key bindings, but nothing about what was available or how to create levels with the editor; unfortunately I only ever got around to creating a plan of action, introduction and screen captures of various static objects used in creating levels to that promise.
So, what was Gish all about? That ball of tar that you could make stick to walls, which in this game is essential as Gish needs to be able to navigate up ledges and along ceilings to get to where he needs to be. Then, morphing into a solid ball after bouncing several times to get some height he can then crush his enemies that are trying to stop him or knock down walls and other objects that obstruct his way. He can also become a soft ball of tar and then slither through tiny cracks and small pipes in the hope of finding his beloved Brea, who as the story goes was kidnapped by a cloaked figure while they were out for a walk in the park That abductor then took her down into the murky depths of the underworld, where most of Gish's story will unfold if you ever buy this game.
Apart from the controls being a little awkward, I found Gish to be an entertaining and original take on platforming, with lots of weird enemies to either kill or avoid in his quest to find Brea. There are loads of short levels to navigate, collecting amber on the way in the main campaign (to help repair any damage he takes from his enemies, who when attacking nip small amounts of his tar, making him smaller) , plus there are other modes including community made campaigns (thanks to the included level editor). Sadly there is no help menu with the level editor, though it's not that hard to figure out. Other modes include the collection mode where you have to collect as much amber as you can in a certain amount of time, and a play room where you can play beat em up with various opponents using Gish's skills, plus there's even a local multiplayer campaign for up to four players.
If you still don't have this 16 year old game, its about time you picked it up. It's only £5.99 when not on sale. Despite its age, it looks like it was only made yesterday. I originally paid $19.99 for this game back in 2004 when arcade games were much more expensive than they are now thanks to the 2008 financial crisis. I'd still pay $19.99 for it today. go ahead and spoil yourself.
Final Notes (extraneous info). Generally I hate platformers as I suck at them, and rarely buy them. Of all the platformers I've ever played only a couple come anywhere near having as much playability and fun as Gish; they are Wik & the Fable of Souls (sadly no longer available via Steam) and Super Meat Boy, which incidentally was also created by one of the Gish team. Other original games by these developers include The Binding of Isaac and its sequel Rebirth, The End is Nigh, Fingered and the recently released The Legend of Bum-Bo. If you like gish, then you'll also probably like Gumboy - Crazy Adventures.
I'm still hoping that we will see Gish 2 one day. If you search the net, you should be able to find community made levels to add to the game. There used to be a dedicated site, but I've not been able to find it for a few years.
Steam User 16
BEFORE YOU PLAY!!!
Please do yourself a favor and revert the version to 1.7.0. by rightclicking the game in your library and going "properties->betas" and selecting "version 170"
The anniversary update cuts out indefinite amount of content out of the game in favor of a couple of generally insignificant improvements. (saying indefinite because it removes the level editor and therefore, the ability to play custom levels/campaigns)
I finished the game on the anniversary update twice before googling "why gish on steam sucks" and learning about the update being so terrible.
Once you revert the version, the game is awesome, 10/10, teenager me loved it and me in my twenties still loves it.
Steam User 40
I am writing this review primarily for those who have also reviewed it and have claimed that the controls are somehow bad.
The simple fact is that if you are finding the controls difficult, you are trying to play the game wrong. Trying to play this game like a normal platformer, staying on the ground, trying to time your jumps, and ignoring many of Gish's abilties will result in abysmal failure. Instead, your main focus needs to be on your momentum. Knowing the levels is key, so that you can plan out a route before hand which is fluid and smooth. Even a tiny change in your path can drastically change how you move across the terrain and can be the difference between leaping across a huge gap or flopping and losing all your speed. Jumping is everything. Setting yourself up properly for a good jump, even if that requires you to go out of your way or backtrack, can often lead to significantly improved times due to the extra speed you will carry out of it.
That being said, this isn't easy. Even beyond the ~15 hours I have clocked on Steam I had played the demo extensively many years ago. One of the great things you can do when you do get good at it is speedrunning it for fun, as I stated before the gameplay revolves around keeping your speed, and there are also a number of shortcuts, alternate routes, or even somewhat abusable physics bugs which you can use to your advantage.
As for other things, the Edmund McMillen style is nice, though the graphics and interface are clearly dated. There are a number of minor bugs in the physics which can be frustrating until you learn to work around them. Overall I think the uniquness of the gameplay outweighs the flaws.
I'll end with a couple tips for those who want to become better:
-tapping sticky while climbing allows you to climb much faster, it also helps while moving across the ground
-being at high speed and then pressing sticky will cause you to compress down, allowing you to get a good jump in
-holding slippery+heavy while in the tiny tubes will make you go faster through them, and sometimes you can launch out of the exit
-slippery+heavy is optimal for pushing blocks around without getting caught up on them
-while climbing, you can swing around 90 degree corners by tap-releasing sticky and using the arrow keys to shift your weight
Steam User 26
"Sluggish controls/physics. Kind of disappointment." was my initial impression a few years ago when I first got it. I gave the game another shot recently and for some reason it clicked with me more. The game is absurdly frustrating at times, but it can be pretty compelling if you keep at it. The controls take quite a lot getting used to, and you should most definitely swallow your pride and play on easy mode! (the game is still plenty hard on easy mode, especially later)
I do want to say that this is a CAUTIOUS thumbs up. The game is really a 6/10.
Steam User 9
2018 Review!
I can see the old reviews saying the game is not working, the controls being bad and things like that. It seems, these things got patched, beacuse my the game runs like a charm on my Win10. I have experienced some minor graphic glitches, but nothing really disturbing.
About the game: I have played it a lot back in the days, not just the few hours I have on log. It is my favorite platformer without question and worths every cent of the 9.99 Euro price. It has an enjoyable, fun campaign but it has an even better local versus mode which is (imho) one of the best fighting games ever. The whole game is based around the unique mechanism/physics of the goo-ball, Gish, who can be sticky, heavy, slippery and can jump and move. That is all - if you liked messing around with the physics model of any game, well, this game is for you, because the whole game does just that. One thing though: you can indeed die annoyingly lots of times unintentionally (and in a very silly manner) in the campaign, so it is the best to set the difficulty on easy, because that way you don't have to start over the whole chapter when you run out of lives, only the level.
Steam User 11
Advised to go with v1.7 instead of the 15-Year Anniversary update — tried 1 chapter of it though — I must say I don't regret it at all! Super Meat Boy vs. Human: Fall Flat, but I can't say I had much trouble with the opposite of following (as mentioned in linked review as a + for the 15YAE): "No longer will you randomly go inside-out or die when trying to jump or land lightly on a surface. Gish feels much better to control. This is the only thing this update is good for."; mostly considered Gish's tar 'squishing/compression max.' fair, and taking into account you have the ability to harden (Gish's tar), nothing to complain here! The tar physics are really interesting to experiment with; e.g. when you build traction in certain areas and try to perform a ;burnout or in case of block throwing (reminded me of physics-challenges in H:FF).
8.5/10 — v1.7 it is if you're into physics-based Platformer games.