In the side-scrolling shoot 'em up, My Friend Pedro, players must fight through wave after wave of enemies using guns and a frying pan of all things. But such is the premise of a game that has you carrying out murderous acts under the instructions of a sentient banana.
Developed by DeadToast Entertainment and published by Devolver Digital, the game boasts some smooth, stylized action that looks ripped straight out of a John Woo movie. And while its gameplay might feel unwieldy or complicated the first time you pick up the controller to give it a try, anyone can master its physics-based combat given the time and patience. Soon you too can chain together cool-looking kills and awesome combos and here are a few beginner tips and tricks to help you get there.
5 You Need To Get Accustomed To The Controls
The first thing you'll notice about My Friend Pedro is that it doesn't play like your typical side-scrolling shoot 'em up. You control the main character's movements using the left stick, which is straightforward enough. But things start to get complicated when you realize that this only affects the direction he is moving in, not where he is looking or aiming.
To aim, you must use the right stick to point the on-screen reticule, which also affects what direction you're facing. In this regard, the control scheme is more like the one you find in a top-down, twin-stick shooter, or even an FPS like Halo, except you are viewing things from a fixed 2D plane. This is can be especially confusing for those players playing on PC with a keyboard and mouse, so you'll definitely want to take some time out to master the art of movement and aiming.
4 Know When To Use Your Focus Ability
Once you've gotten a hang of the controls, the next thing you'll want to master is when to use focus ability. The game grants players the ability to momentarily slow down time. This allows you to attain greater control of your character while performing mid-air dodges and the like, all while retaining the ability to aim in real-time.
This can be especially useful when you start to face off against multiple enemies at once. Your health bar can get completely drained in just a matter of seconds during such encounters, so why not give yourself some room to breathe and strategize by going into slow-mo. The sooner you get into the habit of triggering your focus before big enemy encounters, the sooner you raise your chance of actually surviving those encounters and getting creative with your kills.
3 You Earn More Points For Creative Kills
Speaking of getting creative, the gameplay in My Friend Pedro is all about precision and style. You will earn points for every kill made, but the more stylishly elaborate you make those kills, the more points get awarded. Thankfully, there are several ways for you to achieve that.
One technique you'll want to use is the backflip. The player is able to backflip off walls and even other enemies, and if you manage to score a kill before you hit the ground, you'll get a nice multiplier applied to the points you get. You can also make use of split-aiming to kill more than one enemy at the same time, although this only works with weapons you can dual wield. So if you are after that much-coveted S rank on each level you play, you'll want to incorporate both moves into the flow of combat to start racking up some points.
2 You Can Use The Environment To Your Advantage
One thing you'll want to do the first time you enter a new location or room in My Friend Pedro is can it for any usable objects. This is because each environment contains several objects you can use to your advantage in the heat of battle.
For example, you might encounter a room with a table you can interact with. Flip this over to gain some much-needed cover while you plan your next move, or knock it into a group of enemies to send them flying. They'll be situations where enemies will be out of your direct line of sight, but a well-aimed bullet at a nearby signpost might provide the opening you need. The same goes for frying pans, which can be thrown into the air and shot at to create a ricochet effect that can hit otherwise hard-to-reach enemies.
1 Don't Underestimate The Importance Of Dodging
For all of its fancy parkour moves and visual flourishes, My Friend Pedro is still a shoot-'em-up at its core. This means it is basically you and a bunch of enemies trying to outgun each other, with the person who comes out at the end of it being the one who took the least amount of hits. One way players can drastically reduce the damage they take is by frequently using the dodge move.
The game presents players with increasingly greater challenges, meaning that you'll really want to avoid taking unnecessary hits if your goal is to reach the end of the level in one piece. A well-timed dodge would help you skip past enemy bullets without taking any damage. Plus it just looks cool watching your character twirl through the air in slow-mo under a barrage of flying bullets and sparks.