Gun is a good Western shooter that is well produced and features a wealth of voice talent. This game is an action-adventure game published by Activision for PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Microsoft Windows, and Xbox 360. Western shooters are a rare breed, and thankfully so. Considering how they saturated the movie and TV industry in the mid part of the last century the videogame industry is never safe from a similar flood. Fortunately, the few Western- themed games that have been released have been of relatively good quality.
A Storyline South of the Border
We’re headed south of the border for this tale. It’s a beautiful country, rivaling some of the most scenic in Canada. More than a hundred years ago it was part of the untamed West. Pioneers, ranchers, cowboys, miners, explorers and drifters made their way to and through this State on their way to seek their fortune – or face their fate. Colton White was just a young lad when his father threw him from a steamboat just moments before it mysteriously exploded. When he was revived a number of days later, Colton realized that his father had actually saved his life and may himself have been murdered. He was given a token to the Alhambra Saloon before his father died. As he searches for answers, the game begins.
Gun has Gameplay for Days
Gun has a great story and it’s presented with panache. Cutscenes forge the path, interrupting the gameplay to keep you abreast of developments. The gameplay is open. Players are not forced down a linear path. They can explore the region and take on missions in any order. If players prefer you can try your hand at ranching, mining and hunting. Eventually they’re going to have to defend themselves and that’s where the real fun comes in. After all this game is called Gun and not Amish Paradise.
Weapons are plentiful and run the gamut from pistols to rifles including Colts, Winchesters, sharpshooter rifles and machine guns. Other weapons include knives, tomahawks, bayonets, dynamite and cannons. When gamers play on the side of the Apache, they will use bow and arrows. The arrows can be flaming and can even be customized to shoot dynamite.
Shooting is the Name of the Game
Aiming accuracy is very forgiving. It’s very arcade-like. The targeting reticle is huge and unless players are full of the coffee jitters they are always going to be in the ballpark. Headshots require a little more skill and there are rewards for pulling them off. The first reward is in the visual itself. Blowing heads apart is a very gruesome prospect but players can’t deny that it looks really cool. Oh, I can just imagine some senator getting a hold of that last sentence to add fuel to his anti-violence campaign.
Quickdraw is the game’s form of bullet time. With each and every kill player will be rewarded with juice to fill the Quickdraw meter which they can activate at any time. It’s best to use them when they are surrounded as it’s not very effective against bosses. The bosses as you might expect are the most difficult enemies in the game. They require a lot of trial and error but eventually you’ll discover their patterns, and it will be game over…. for them.
Gun is an Open-Ended Adventure
The scope of the environments is vast, but empty in this free roam open ended adventure. The game manages to capture the essence of loneliness that was an unwelcome but constant companion to many travelers in those days. The animation is a little stiff, but the faces have a perfect weathered and grizzled look to them complete with appropriate expressions. Traveling on horseback while shooting is a bit of a challenge. That’s when players appreciate the forgiving targeting system. They can always crank up the difficulty if they’re looking for more of a challenge.
Any fan of the old West is sure to appreciate the effort that went into this game. Unraveling the mystery of the storyline is also certain to capture the imagination of a wide range of gamers.
Fun Features of Gun
Another nifty feature found in Gun is the Quick Draw mode. Quick Draw mode isn’t a feature that players can switch on and off on a whim, they will earn “points” with kills, such as head shots. When the Quick Draw meter has been built up enough, players exit the 3rd person view and enter 1st person, where time literally slows down. Players will enter some kind of Matrix like bullet time, they will be able to pick and choose your shots as enemies slowly react. Quick Draw mode also provides the freedom to mess with enemies. Players can shoot the gun out of enemy’s hands and then take the time to shoot the gun across the room. Characters can also go old school and shoot at the feet of the bad guy to make him “dance.”.
Final Words
Recent epic titles have touted the “good and/or evil” gameplay mechanic and Gun is no different, although its approach to morality isn’t exactly black and white, which is consistent with historical accounts of the way of life in the old west. Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind, sang pop crooner Rick Springfield and during the era where most people were uneducated and armed to the teeth, timeouts, indoor voices and respect weren’t on the social grace’s menu. While it suspends the realism of the game in the short term, it ramps up playability a thousandfold and makes gunfights inherently much more entertaining and interesting to say the least, especially when players take into consideration the realistic physics Neversoft hath bestowed.