A rough dusty ride through the adventurous wild west.
written by: Chris Moody on 4/13/2006 10:49:49 AM
In Gun you take on the identity of Colton White to learn his identity through adventure after adventure. One big bonus is you don't get all dusty and dirty in the process. the game starts out by sending you on various adventures to learn the tools of the trade such as gun fighting and horse riding. Each task builds upon the other until you have all the necessary skills to conquer the West.
You start out on various missions with your 'father' right there by your side. You learn how to handle various types of guns and the different modes of gun-fighting, such as the quick-draw and long range shooting. during one of the missions when you are left to fend for yourself you learn that you are not the son of the man you thought was your father. You also learn he is/was in possession of a very valuable treasure that many people are after. The overall storyline is good and flows very nicely through the game. It is easy to follow and understand why you are currently trying to complete the various missions. You get to fight Indians, outlaws, animals, and many others.
I found the graphics very easy to watch and pleasing to the eye. The environments were wide open and easy to maneuver through. Bodies moved in a realistic fashion and were not choppy. The biggest issue I found was that some of the tasks were in areas that were very tough to maneuver around simply because they were very dark. Many of the objects blended together in the darkness and made it tough to move around. That also made aiming a little tough when it was hard to see the target.
The game-play and controls were good. The manual has very sparse information which works just fine. There are only a few key controls to learn in order to get around in the game. The various tasks at the beginning force you to learn them in order to complete the mission. One aspect I liked was that if you failed a particular task within a mission, you were not forced to restart the entire mission. You only had to keep retrying the task until you completed it. I did find the controls hard to use at times. I am going to blame that on my lack of multiple joystick/button controllability. I know I am dating myself but I still find one joystick, directional buttons, and one or two fire buttons more than enough to play a game. I know with the more complicated body movements they try to simulate, they are forced to increase the number of controls. Unfortunately I am one that does not have the finger dexterity to do it all.
The sounds are very good throughout the game. The sound effects are very realistic and help get you into the Wild West. The voices are clear and easy to understand. Be sure to listen to what they have to say since they are important in finding out what you need to know now and later in the game. Remember you are trying to find out who Colton White really is and where he came from.
Overall I found Gun to be a satisfying and fun game to play. The environments are wide open enough that you can venture around a bit and also fire plenty of lead. So go ride some horses, shoot some guns, shoot some arrows and tame the wild west. Oh yeah, and figure out who the hell you are.
