Unlike the Xbox 360 version, Gun Showdown is not a straight port. Obviously, there have been some necessary technical downgrades. However, the developers have put in a bit of effort to add some extras and goodies for the PSP. The good news is that these extras are more than substantial and transcend gimmickry. The bad news is that the game has fallen into the category of most ports that end up on the PSP. That is, you’re better off sticking to the console game.
If there is one part of Gun: Showdown that hasn’t suffered it is the story, which happens to be pretty good. You reprise the role Colton White, as he sets off to uncover the mysteries behind the death of his adopted father and the chase behind an ancient religious artifact. It’s quite a riveting story that gives you the chance to make contact with all sorts of colourful and well-characterized peeps from the Wild West. If there is one complaint, is that given the relatively short nature of the game, the story will seem like its jumping a bit.
Attack of the fuzzy texture
So what does Gun: Showdown add over the previous versions? On top of the story mode, it adds a number of Quick Play and Multiplayer modes. The Quick Play modes are basically a series of challenges that get you to hunt a certain amount of an animal and you’re given a score at the end. The hunting challenges will start with quails and you will eventually end up hunting bears. Of course, you’ll need to pass the earlier challenges before you can graduate to the more demanding ones. Another addition to the Quick Play is Poker – Texas Hold’em of course. It’s isn’t too bad either, with a simple but intuitive setup, solid AI and it’s good way to kill a few minutes.
The multiplayer modes total to two, well, three if you include the Poker. In terms of competitive multiplayer, you can go against four of your mates in Deathmatch and a mode called Golden Cross. Deathmatch is self-explanatory while Golden Cross is a mode that is a mix between capture the flag and king-of-the-hill. Basically, one player holds a cross and earns points as they’re holding it. The best part about these modes, is that players can jump in and out as they please. However, Poker again happens to be the mode to make the most impression. It’s just simple, intuitive and manages to be fun.
These modes are decent distractions if you’ve got a couple of minutes or so to spare. Otherwise, the main portion of time spent with the game will be spent playing the story. Essentially, Gun is an open-ended game with a Western setting. Apart from five new missions that have been added, the experience is pretty much the same as it was on the consoles. You will follow the same story that drove the original and you’ll have a number of side quests that you really ought complete. This is because they will give you incremental boosts to your stats and inventory.
No shortage of action.
There is a great variety of activities that you can part take in. The story will take you across a great deal of the different settings. These range from showdowns in townships to duels across the desert. The extra missions are given a variety of forms. These range from “Wanted” criminals to hunting missions that are given to you by native Indians. While the variety does suffice, there isn’t quite enough, nor does the game cater for it in terms of design. It will become tiresome after a while.
Regrettably, Gun Showdown suffers from the same issues that have plagued most 3rd person games that have not been optimized for the PSP. The main one being the fact that there aren’t enough buttons on the PSP to cater for these games. This problem is especially evident in shooters. Still, games such as Syphon Filter have managed to overcome the problems with smart design options that had the system in mind. Rather than optimizing for the system, the developers have instead gone for recreating the game on the PSP. It’s disappointing, given the fact that the system has been available for two years now and developers have still not realised the best way to go about things.
The problem comes two fold. Even though you have two options, one where the analog nub controls movement and one where the analog nub controls aiming, neither feel comfortable. Furthermore, neither will get comfortable through out the entire duration of the game. When on the easy difficulty, the game is already a handful, as aiming is so cumbersome, that it’s extremely difficult to keep up with the enemies. Maybe it would’ve been an idea to add some obstacles to the environment and turn the game into a bit more of a “tactical” shooter, because a traditional 3rd person setup simply doesn’t work. This and a few too many functions have been mapped into the buttons, meaning that you lose a degree of intuition and becomes more cumbersome.
This is what Colton thinks of the controls.
There are a few other issues that arise in the game. Movement also becomes more cumbersome than it ought to. You’re never comfortable on the horse and just walking around can lead to run-ins with walls and other structures. Even though you have an open desert to explore, it’s been virtually emptied in the conversion. It feels very sparse and lifeless, or even more so that it should. The AI seems to have been lobotomized; they’ll often wait around and stand motionless, while you pick them off. Finally, the game still isn’t the longest of adventures, with the gametime likely to clock in at around eight hours. It was more enjoyable on the consoles, as the game controlled quite well.
Graphically, the conversion has been solid, without doing anything spectacular. There manages to be a unique sense of style and technically, the game is more than passable. However, cut scenes have been preserved from the original very well, which means that there is greater gap in quality between cut scenes and real time. The game looked very good on console but instead, it only looks decent here, especially since it feels a lot more lifeless then before when in the desert. Sound wise, the game has been completely pulled over from the consoles to the PSP, which is a good thing. The voicing is high class and the musical score is excellent. If anything has suffered, the sound effects seem sometimes a little muted.
Gun Showdown is a disappointment, because it falls into the same pitfalls that plague console-to-PSP ports. The beefed up content is certainly welcome but it counts for little when the game is not as enjoyable as it was on the consoles. It's not broken but it is awfully cumbersome and it sucks a lot of enjoyment out of it. Developers are still trying to recreate the experience, rather than optimizing with the systems features in mind. The poker good but not enough to justify a purchase. If you are after a Western gaming experience, get the console version, its much cheaper now.
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