The story campaign is the reason most people buy Gunman Contracts - Stand Alone, but the challenge modes are what keep the game installed. They are also the fastest way to learn the shooting without a narrative fail state hanging over you. Here is what the developer has confirmed about both of them.
The two challenge modes at launch
Early Access ships with two named challenge modes across 5 maps:
| Mode | What you do | Confirmed parameters |
|---|---|---|
| Takedown Mode | Face off against enemies in a closed area and clear it | You can select the enemy types and the enemy count before starting; the description references facing up to 30 enemies to kill |
| Last Stand | Survive an endless wave of hostiles and disarm bombs | Endless waves, bomb disarming, survive as long as you can |
Both are selectable from the Hive, your home base, and both are separate from the three story contracts.
Takedown Mode: the one you should learn on
Takedown Mode is a closed-area clear with two settings you control before you start: enemy types and enemy count. That gives you something the story missions do not — a repeatable, adjustable scenario.
Why that matters:
- You can dial difficulty to your own level. A low enemy count with one type is a warm-up; the mode is described as supporting up to 30 enemies to kill.
- You can practise a specific problem. If you struggle with a particular enemy type, Takedown lets you isolate it instead of meeting it once in a mission and hoping.
- It is the right place to try a new weapon. No story fail state, no checkpoint to re-earn.
Last Stand: the endurance test
Last Stand is the endless mode. You fight waves of enemies, disarm bombs, and survive as long as possible. The bomb-disarming element is what separates it from a plain survival mode: you are not only managing incoming fire, you are managing a second, positional objective at the same time.
That combination is where the mode gets its difficulty. Waves alone are a shooting test; waves plus bombs to disarm means you cannot simply hold one safe angle for twenty minutes.
Leaderboards
Steam leaderboards are confirmed for every contract, skill game and challenge — not only for the challenge modes. In practice that means:
- Story contract runs can be compared, not just survived
- The Hive's gun range skill games have their own boards
- Takedown and Last Stand runs are ranked
This is worth knowing before you decide how to spend a session. A completionist run and a speed-oriented run are both scored, so there is a reason to replay missions you have already cleared.
The 5 maps
The launch content list confirms 5 maps available for the challenge modes. The developer has not published the map names, layouts, or which mode each map supports.
待确认 — map names, mode availability per map, enemy type roster, and whether all five unlock immediately or progressively.
Practical advice for your first session in the challenge modes
- Warm up in Takedown before a story contract. It teaches weapon handling with adjustable pressure.
- Treat Last Stand as a bomb-disarming drill first. Survival is the byproduct; if you can reliably reach the bombs, the long runs follow.
- Use the gun range skill games between attempts. They are separately tracked on the leaderboards, so they double as a low-stakes accuracy check.
- Do not judge a weapon on one Last Stand run. Endless modes punish unfamiliar handling far more than Takedown does.
Related guides
- The Hive — where the challenge modes are launched from, plus the shooting range and skill games
- Weapons & Attachments — what to take into each mode
- Story Contracts — the campaign the challenge modes run alongside