Alright, so I fired up Gang Beasts on my Xbox the other day, and let me tell you, those first few rounds? Pure chaos. I was pretty much a flailing idiot, mashing buttons and hoping for the best. My little dude spent more time face-planting than fighting. It was hilarious, but also, I kinda wanted to, you know, actually do something on purpose.
Figuring Out the Basics
So, I decided to actually sit down and learn the ropes. Like, properly. First off, moving around. That was easy enough, Left Stick does the job, just like any other game. No surprises there. The camera, that’s the Right Stick, also pretty standard stuff for looking around, though aiming your punches with it felt a bit like trying to thread a needle wearing oven mitts.
Then came the actual “fighting” part. This is where things got interesting. I initially thought, okay, punch buttons, right? Like X or B. And yeah, they do stuff, but not in the way I expected. It wasn’t just tap-tap-combo.
The Arms Race: Triggers and Grabbing
The real game-changer for me was figuring out the triggers. LT and RT. Each one controls an arm! Like, your left trigger for your left arm, right trigger for your right. You press them to throw a punch with that arm. But the big thing is holding them down – that’s how you grab onto stuff. Other players, ledges, anything really. This took a bit of practice. I spent a good while just grabbing air or accidentally latching onto a wall when I meant to grab an opponent.
Once I got the hang of grabbing with LT and RT, the game opened up. Suddenly, I wasn’t just randomly punching. I was grabbing folks and trying to drag them around. Still mostly failing, but with intention this time!
Getting a Lift and Other Moves
Then I saw people lifting opponents clean over their heads. I was like, “How?!” After a lot of trial and error, mostly error, I stumbled upon it. You gotta be grabbing someone with both LT and RT, then hit Y. And up they go! Well, sometimes. Other times I’d just stumble and we’d both fall over. Timing is key, and so is not being too wobbly.
What about the other face buttons?
- A is jump. Simple. You can also hold it to try and climb up stuff if you’re grabbing a ledge. It’s more of a desperate scramble, but hey, it works sometimes.
- X is kick. A good quick attack, or for when you want to punt someone who’s down. Satisfying.
- B is headbutt. Short range, but effective if you’re in a real tussle. I used this a lot by accident at first, just mashing buttons.
And running! For a while, I was just slow-plodding everywhere. Then I realized if you hold down LB (or maybe it was RB? I think it’s LB), you actually run. Or, well, “run” in Gang Beasts terms, which is more like a determined waddle. The other bumper, RB, I think it does a taunt or something? Honestly, I was usually too busy trying not to get thrown into a meat grinder to pay much attention to taunting.
Putting It All Together (Sort Of)
So, after a bit of focused practice, just messing around in an empty level, I started to get a feel for it. It’s not about complex combos. It’s about using those individual arm controls with LT/RT to grab, punch, and then mixing in jumps with A, kicks with X, headbutts with B, and the crucial lift with Y.
To sum up my Xbox control journey:
- Left Stick: Move.
- Right Stick: Look/Aim (kinda).
- LT: Left Punch / Hold to Grab with Left Hand.
- RT: Right Punch / Hold to Grab with Right Hand.
- A: Jump / Hold to Climb (while grabbing a ledge).
- X: Kick.
- B: Headbutt.
- Y: Lift (while holding someone with LT+RT).
- LB: Run (hold).
- RB: Taunt, I think. Still not 100% on that one, lol.
It’s still clumsy, it’s still ridiculous, but now it’s controlled clumsiness. And that, my friends, is where the real fun of Gang Beasts on Xbox lies. It’s a learning curve, for sure, but a funny one. Definitely worth the initial fumbling to get to a point where you can actually, sort of, play the game as intended. Or at least, try to.
