My Friend Pedro

 PC
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 30 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 30
  3. Negative: 0 out of 30
  1. Daily Star
    Jun 20, 2019
    100
    My Friend Pedro is an addictive experience and a mesmerising shoot-em-up that, though failing to deliver a good story, takes you on a violent ballet filled with blood, bullets and bananas…There is plenty of content packed into the game’s 5-hour playtime, with a huge opening for possible DLC and easy ways for players to compete with each other via leaderboards.
  2. GameCrate
    Jun 20, 2019
    95
    Highly entertaining, bombastic, and just plain weird.
  3. The Overpowered Noobs
    Sep 5, 2019
    90
    A dream come true for action fans of all types, My Friend Pedro adds a fresh coat of paint to its classic flash game predecessor by incorporating new mechanics and improved visual flair.
  5. Impulsegamer
    Jul 22, 2019
    90
    It’s a pretty decent price for the fun that is to be had. In the end… you are just one man and his banana… and maybe that’s all you really need.
  6. Digital Chumps
    Jun 20, 2019
    90
    Eventually, the subtle mechanics and stylish maneuverability of My Friend Pedro will become intrinsically linked in your brain. This game controls so well and so fluently. It even breaks up the action with small platforming puzzles. And eventually, you and your banana friend will become masters of death and frying pans.
  7. GameSpace
    Jun 20, 2019
    90
    A uniquely oddball mix of physics platforming and murder.
  8. Meristation
    Jun 20, 2019
    86
    My Friend Pedro excels at one thing: being a jaw-dropping action game that rewards creativity and thinking fast. Its world and story may fall a little bit short, but the beauty of its gameplay take the front seat in this experience and never disappoints.
  9. Hooked Gamers
    Jun 26, 2019
    85
    My Friend Pedro has mastered the art of doing one thing, and doing it well. There’s not an endless sea of content, and if chasing high scores isn’t your bag it doesn’t necessarily lend itself to replayability. Having said this, it is well worth the time spent. Minor presentation quibbles aside, it’s a game that looks, sounds and feels fantastic.
  10. IGN
    Jun 20, 2019
    85
    Excellent action leads the way with My Friend Pedro, though there is little reason to return after its short campaign.
  11. GameStar
    Jun 25, 2019
    82
    Because the core of My Friend Pedro is its aestheticized, cartoony action, complemented by amazingly well integrated into the game design puzzles and a wonderfully trashy story - and thus the banana ballet hits me completely on the bullseye.
  12. IGN Italia
    Jun 25, 2019
    82
    Put in a blender Matrix, Max Payne, kung fu movies, Shoot'em up, rag doll animations... and a lot of bananas. Then, freeze in a run & gun stencil. Serve chilled. It's not the perfect mix, but it tastes so good.
  13. IGN Japan
    Jul 8, 2019
    81
    When at its best, My Friend Pedro’s smooth and stylish gameplay is a dream come true for any shooting action fan. However, its design forces the player to go through a lot of trial and error, which makes the gameplay feel less catchy, and the often clunky controls don’t help its case.
  14. PC Gamer
    Jun 24, 2019
    81
    Breezy fun that also rewards combo-chasing mastery. Barrel through the story once for a laugh, then replay the best levels until you are John Wick on a skateboard.
  15. Games.cz
    Aug 19, 2019
    80
    A brilliant arcade game about a bloodthirsty ballet dancer with a deadly aim - could there be anything more awesome? But beware - if you don’t like your stuff very much over the top in the vein of Japanese videogames, you might not be able to tolerate Pedro.
  16. Guardian
    Jun 25, 2019
    80
    My Friend Pedro offers the syrupy concentrate of Hollywood’s most epic fighting movies, with you as the star stunt performer.
  17. Slant Magazine
    Jun 23, 2019
    80
    Every shootout is an opportunity to execute a thoroughly balletic performance of sorts.
  18. Washington Post
    Jun 21, 2019
    80
    Though My Friend Pedro will certainly not make anyone rethink their assumptions about video games, it induced in me a feeling of kinetic bliss. I enjoyed running through its paces because the levels, with their pulsating electronic music, encourage a sort of heedless flow. I never grew bored of the game’s hypnotic game play loops.
  19. Eurogamer Italy
    Jun 20, 2019
    80
    My Friend Pedro is a stylish, fun and silly (in the best way possible) shooter. This is a challenging and crazy shoot'em up created by a talented solo developer. Unfortunately it has to deal with some misstep gameplaywise and a plot extremely forgettable.
  20. PC Games
    Jun 20, 2019
    80
    A fun and fast-paced shooter that delights through its excessive presentation and well-timed humour. Even though the environments lack a little in diversity and the controls can be a little fidgety from time to time, My Friend Pedro delivers an entertaining package with addicting and motivating gameplay.
  21. Gameblog.fr
    Jun 20, 2019
    80
    My Friend Pedro is an enchanting action game, that lets you kill dozens and dozens of henchmen with a lot of style, and a huge smile on your face. That's all we asked for, and we surely would have loved some more, but it's totally fine like this - except if you like interesting stories that make sense, which is not the case here.
  22. PC Invasion
    Jun 20, 2019
    80
    Regardless of the issues, I still loved my time with My Friend Pedro. It didn’t take long to finish, but it’s still a great little game about a man, and his talking banana, solving his problems with wanton violence. If that’s not friendship, I don’t know what is.
  23. Cultured Vultures
    Jun 20, 2019
    80
    Even with an underwhelming final third and a paper-thin plot holding it back, My Friend Pedro is a fruity and exhilarating ride.
  24. Ragequit.gr
    Jul 1, 2019
    77
    My Friend Pedro is undoubtedly a remarkable title worth trying, as long as you know what you are buying. It is a game that you have to play over and over again, it is based a lot in style and it can offer several hours of pure, though repetitive, adrenaline action.
  25. 3DJuegos
    Jul 9, 2019
    75
    Bullet-time action with a big portion of classic shooting in short but satisfying levels. An indie you didn't expect but you must play.
This publication does not provide a score for their reviews.
This publication has not posted a final review score yet.
These unscored reviews do not factor into the Metascore calculation.

In Progress & Unscored

?
  1. Rock, Paper, Shotgun
    Jun 23, 2019
    My Friend Pedro does let you realise the fantasy of conducting a bullet symphony while hanging upside down from a zipline, but like most fantasies, it doesn’t survive past the initial rush of blood to the head.

Awards & Rankings

67
#67 Best PC Game of 2019
49
#49 Most Discussed PC Game of 2019
22
#22 Most Shared PC Game of 2019

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 321 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 203 out of 321
  2. Mixed: 99 out of 321
  3. Negative: 19 out of 321
  1. vaurne
    Dec 24, 2020
    6
    I really just cannot understand why people like this game so much.

    I enjoyed it a lot, and was very stunned by it, in the first five    I really just cannot understand why people like this game so much.

    I enjoyed it a lot, and was very stunned by it, in the first five minutes. It has good controls, good visuals, interesting narrative, decent gameplay, and very good level design. It keeps introducing new and fun mechanics, and it isn't difficult to the point it is frustrating, nor easy to the point it's really boring.

    It is fun and easy-going, but it is nothing more than that. It doesn't do perfectly with the things it focuses and strives on, and it's highlights are repeated endlessly throughout the game. It doesn't have a lot going for it at all, but what it does have, is pretty good.

    Definitely not deserving of such high critic and user score though in my personal opinion. I played it blindly, and had a good time. But if you go in expecting a 8/10 action-packed indie, this is probably going to disappoint you.

    It is - very basically - a mini-game that was expanded upon to create a more well-rounded and complete fun yet short bit of entertainment.    … Full Review »
  2. Certified
    Jun 21, 2019
    10
    Max Payne but 2d.
    I r8 10/10 goty nothing can top this
    But seriously the soundtrack is amazing and the gameplay was very enjoyable and unique.
  3. Chewi
    Jun 20, 2019
    8
    Forgive me for this really, really strained metaphor: My Friend Pedro is like eating a banana that's starting to rot as you're eating it. It'sForgive me for this really, really strained metaphor: My Friend Pedro is like eating a banana that's starting to rot as you're eating it. It's still a really good banana when you start, and the general core of the banana is still there but it starts to taste not as good. TLDR; I still recommend it, but it's not as good in the second half which focuses more on platforming than shooting and has a suddenly turn towards making jokes about gaming and the internet.

    The game's opening hour and a half (out of around three) are incredible. First, the game shows it understands how to introduce mechanics and then really play around with them. But unlike a game like Mario, where it's simply an obstacle to get around, it is instead another way to either kill your opponents or prevent them from killing you, expanding your arsenal against mobsters, hitmen, gamers and "Internet Service Protectors" (I'll get to that). Once you make your way through the first section of the game, you're then dropped into what is essentially a series of gauntlets that ask you to really go all out in pulling off some amazing feats.

    This is helped by the controls. They're simple, and while finicky at times, let you really move around the stage. Jumping through the air, pirouetting in order to avoid enemy fire, before firing at two enemies at the same time sounds like it should be complex, but it's quite the opposite. Kicking things, while tough to line up, is also easy to do. You have to really learn how to use everything to your advantage, but the rewards for doing so are wonderful.

    Then the game decides to start turning its hand towards platforming. Now, for maybe one area this would be fine (and the justification for the more gamey style platforming challenges is a fair one), but the developer seemed to forget that the reason I was playing this game was to kill enemies. It'd be fine if it was woven into the shooting, but it does not feel like it is. So levels from the middle section onwards have chunks where you're spending more time solving small disconnected platforming puzzles than actually fighting mooks.

    Speaking of mooks, while the game does have a silly streak (Pedro being the main source of it), the halfway point suddenly marks a drastic change in tone. You go from a world that seems like a stylised version of our reality to an outright absurd one where hardcore gamers are living in the sewers and The Internet is a physical place that appears to have control over the world. You go from fighting mobsters in tracksuits and hitmen attending their annual Christmas party to fighting gamers dressed as knights and what basically amount to internet police. It goes from a gleeful but still somewhat grounded action romp to a story that seems to have stopped taking itself seriously and was dangerously erring on the side of meta. I was obviously not expecting anything groundbreaking from the story, but what I got was very underwhelming even for the standards of this kind of game. (Of note is the ending which left a lot to be desired, although the boss fights before it are actually pretty good.)

    It still has its incredible highs though. And because of said highs I recommend playing it. But be wary that it'll start to lose steam once you reach the halfway point.    … Full Review »
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