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Jan 23rd, 2008 at 17:23:49 - GUN (PC) |
GAMEPLAY:
The more I played GUN, I was compelled to increase my skills by completing side missions. These are scattered throughout the map and are played outside of the initial storyline. I had a great time exploring the landscapes on horseback and the combat sequences got more and more interesting as the game progressed. The game has a very genuine feel to it, it was more like a movie than a video game. By the time I finished it and had no more side missions, it really was lonely to roam around in such a desolate landscape! Thats really how emotionally engaging the game was!
DESIGN:
GUN is, in my opinion, a near perfect game. Describing it simply as a "Third Person Shooter" does not give its incredibly innovative design enough credit. It has the free-roaming environment of the Grand Theft Auto series and the level-up system of an RPG, all wrapped up in a gritty Western shooter. There is even a money system in which the player is rewarded for preforming such tasks as the hunting down of outlaws, delivering goods from town to town, and working as a rancher and herding cattle. In addition to a cash reward, each of these builds one of three player attributes: Gunhand, Horse, or Health. Its even possible to mine gold. The money is used to purchase weapon and ability upgrades from shopkeeps and traders posted throughout the map.
As the story progresses, the missions get more and more complex in their design. The developers made an attempt to implement nearly every aspect of the Old West into each mission - one level has the player defending Chinese railroad workers from a tribe of Apaches, another involves escaping from a prison before being hung at noon the next day. The cinematics between each mission allow for massive character development and the voice acting is very engaging. More than once I found myself rooting for the main character as he blew the smoke from the barrel of his Peacemaker after blowing a corrupted mayor out of the third story window of his office. Truly badass.
The combat sequences are amazing, but theres just one problem with gun, and I'm sad to say its a big one - it gets too easy! As the game progresses, you've completed so many tasks and side missions, your Gunhand and Health rating are soaring. At this point, every pull of the trigger is an instant kill and the badguys cant even touch you. If you're outnumbered, a simple usage of the Quickdraw picks off the highwaymen one by one, and in a matter of seconds you're the only man standing. If I could change any one thing, it would provide a balance between the AI and the increase of stats.
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Jan 14th, 2008 at 23:36:35 - GUN (PC) |
SUMMARY
Think Grand Theft Auto meets Max Payne meets The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly and you have GUN, a free-roaming third-person shooter taking place in the Old West. The storyline follows the bullet-ridden path of Colton White, a hunter-turned gunslinger with a gritty personality reminiscent of Clint Eastwood’s finest cowboy personas. After the murder of his father, he seeks to hunt down those responsible for his death, and in the process discovers the secrets behind his mysterious past, involving the true identity of his father and the location of a holy golden cross; a beacon to limitless fortune. The game was released in 2004 and was received with high acclaim, if little controversy for its depiction of Native Americans.
GAMEPLAY
The game is free-roaming and features authentically western locations for the player to explore, from Dodge City to the rolling plains of the old west. The gameplay is exceptionally violent, allowing the player to blow off heads, set enemies on fire, and even scalp them. However, one of the most compelling aspects of GUN is the immersive and movie-like cinematics which gives each shootout sequence a real sense of purpose. It's rather clear that the developers watched the dialogues of many Westerns closely when writing out the scripts for these intense and at times hilarious scenes.
Colton dishes out his definition of justice with weapons quite accurate to the time period – Peacemaker revolvers, Winchester rifles, dynamite, and even an Apache bow play a role in the carnage. A somewhat revolutionary feature of the game, the Quickdraw, allows the player to engage in slow-motion combat with the pistol. The Quickdraw has a time limit that is recharged by headshots, multiple kills, and other various demonstrations of marksmanship. Undoubtedly, it serves as a valuable tool when facing multiple enemies at once. Since its 1800s, medkits dont quite exist yet, so a good ol' swig of Whiskey replenishes Colton's health in the case of a bloody showdown. Like the GTA series, the player changes outfits throughout the game, and horses serve as the vehicle by which the player moves across the map on missions. And - you guessed it - there is a mission sequence where you even ride alongside a steam engine!
The developers did an excellent job of interweaving frontier history with Hollywood-inspired raw action sequences. I recommend GUN to every Western film fan, or just to anyone who just likes gritty action, intense showdowns, and shooting em' up frontier style.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Jan 14th, 2008 at 23:37:47.
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