Twin-stick exploration shooter Smith and Winston is out now, some thoughts

Execution Unit have now officially released their fantastically styled exploration shooter Smith and Winston, with great Linux support. Note: Key provided by the developer, article may have spoilers.

Set in a hand-built world made out of tiny little voxel blocks, Smith and Winston has a huge amount of charm to it. Honestly, this might be one of the best uses of little voxels I've seen for a while.

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As gorgeous as it often looks, sometimes that urge to destroy got the better of me though, I've died numerous times by blowing up the floor and falling through—woops. It's just so stupidly satisfying, firing off a couple of grenades at some enemies and watch the blocks fly.

Their couch co-op implementation is interesting too, since Player 2 cannot be shot making it a fun game to play together with a slightly younger partner in destruction. The developers joked about playing "with your kids or your friend who sucks"—but what if it is I who sucks? I died a lot.

There's been times in Smith and Winston where I've just had to sit there for a moment, as the scenes presented just mesmerised me with their style and beauty. The first shot below for example, it gives off such an incredible atmosphere at times:

Great controls that feel really good with the Steam Controller, another twin-stick that isn't actually horrible with the smooth right-pad so I felt right at home with it.

Overall, an enjoyable twin-stick shooter that has a fantastically designed world to explore that has a number of fun secrets to find as you shoot through everything. The fights are nicely spaced out too, so that it never feels overwhelming and the combat isn't punishingly difficult but there's a few moments that will properly challenge you. Had a huge amount of fun zipping around enemy bullets with the boost ability and jetpack, while throwing grenades everywhere.

It's quite surprising how little attention Smith and Winston has seen, even on Steam it only has around ten user reviews. Shame considering how great it actually is when you really get into it. Would love to see what Execution Unit move onto after this.

You can pick it up from itch.io and Steam.