The story with Gun looks to be one of its strong points. You take the role of Colton White, whose just found out the his father, Ned White, is not actually your father. This, in the middle of a huge fire-fight on a steamboat. Well the boat goes under and Ned is obviously dead. You’re left with two clues, a “token” and a name. From there, you set off in order to find out what’s going on. The final game will involve a quest over an ancient religious artifact, a battle of power between American Indians and Railway Tycoons and a general host of scoundrelous characters and events.
One issue that needs to be noted is that Gun is violent to the extreme. This not your comedy Western or a semi-serious game like Red Dead Revolver. This is full blown dirty, gritty take on the Old West. There is very little here that’s romantic or done in jest. In the second level we played, we were already decapitating people and dismembering their bodies. Though it is extreme, it’s essentially nothing new. Now that we have the kid’s attention, let’s move on.
Didn't your mother tell you not to run with your gun sticking out like that?
Although we only played through a couple of levels, what we did play is looking very solid. The first was a training level where you were introduced to the basic shooting controls. After picking off some birds, we were introduced to “precision”. By the press of a button, you zoomed in slightly, slowed down time and were able to pick-off the birds with little trouble and fuss. The amazing part was the minimal effort required to change targets just by nudging the control stick. However, the rest of the 3rd-person shooting was quite conventional. The controls were solid and responsive, so we have nothing to complain about.
After hunting down a few Elk and staving off some wolves, we had ourselves an intense fight with a bear. It may sound simple but it was extremely intense. The bear would get up on its hind legs and that was the only opportunity to fire at its head. However, this window was narrow and the rifle we used had a slow fire rate. This made for a very intense moment - particularly when we were trying to fire off as many shots as possible before the bear came rampaging at us. Sure, the pattern was simple but getting out of the way and keeping your rear end safe was no mean feat. Beating the bear was extremely satisfying, it felt as though we'd actually achieved something.
We then took to a Steamboat. There were some very important story elements at play but at the time we were more concerned the amount of unashamed and incredibly gory violence that was in the game. This was our first taste of human opponents and they were very aggressive. Our task was to eliminate all that stood on the deck and though some charged and fired at us recklessly at us, others were more cautious, ducking behind crates and obstructions to reload or to evade fire. Once we took care of them, our next task was to mount a cannon and stave off enemy boats from sinking the steamer we were on. It was disturbingly satisfying to blow the smaller boats sky-high and watch dismembered limbs being splattered all over the place. Finally, we attempted to hold off some more attackers on the top deck.
The last level we played was held in one of Gun’s (numerous) brothels. We used it as an experiment to fiddle around with some of the game’s other weapons. These included a sword, shotguns, bows and of course, sticks of dynamite. However, by this stage, the shooting started to get a little stale. Maybe because we had invincibility and we didn’t need to fear dieing. However, enemies still looked to hide and evade, while unloading as much lead into us as possible.
Horseplay makes a major part of gameplay
We only got a brief taste of it, but the game will have a lot of horse riding involved. The horse controlled reasonably well. It felt more like controlling a person and less like a vehicle. Although the horse's main purpose is to take you from area to area, you can also simultaneously perform all your shooting off the horseback.
The final version promises an open-ended style of gameplay. That is, outside of the story, you’ll have plenty of things to do. These include various methods of gold collecting, such as going to a gold mine and digging, working on a farm by herding animals or winning card and gambling games. You’ve also got a number of trivial stats at your disposal, like how man people you “scalp” and how annoyed a town is with your behaviour. In all, the game is promising a huge world that can be explored at your leisure. We're still just a little bit wary that final game may seem too much like a GTA clone.
Presentation-wise, the game is excellent so far. The graphics for this game are close to being as good as it gets. Not only that, but Neversoft have hit a chord in terms of resemblance to what we would consider a realistic western setting. There were a lot of facets of the graphics that stood out, with the detail of character and animal models deserving a particular mention. Sound-wise, not much needs to be said other than it will most likely be excellent as well. The voicing that we heard was of the highest quality and sound effects were spot on. The control scheme is and felt a little different than you’re average 3rd-person shooter. But at least the learning curve isn’t really steep and they felt very responsive and comfortable.
As will trains
In all, there are two major issues that may hold Gun back from being brilliant. The first is that if the game tries to be too much like GTA: Western, it is bound to draw criticism. Our major concern, however, is with the “precision shooting”. Though it can only be used with certain weapons and it is limited, it made the game extremely easy. Sure, it may simulate a very talented cowboy but the slowdown mechanic has been done to death. As long as it doesn’t extensively govern the gameplay, things aren't looking too bad.
Gun is an exciting prospect for this upcoming holiday season. Presentation will undoubtedly be excellent and the controls felt exceptional, even at this early stage. As long as it can provide plenty intense and satisfying moments similar to the bear fight we experienced, Neversoft and Activision will have a winner on their hands.
For your chance to win one of seven copies of this game in our Gun Giveaway click here.
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