Gun (XBOX)

(Activision)

It’s a strange thing that there aren’t more cowboy games. When you think about it, it’s a genre begging for video games: ready-made goodies and baddies (all equipped with various exotic weapons), rolling plains and dusty townships, buxom wenches and swarthy menfolk. It cries out for a free-roaming gaming epic where a man can prove his mettle in the rugged landscapes, but is Gun the game finally to deliver on the potential?

There has, of course, been another recent attempt at the genre, Red Dead Revolver, an atmospheric shoot ‘em up delivered with the trademark Rockstar Games (Grand Theft Auto) panache. Its strengths were in its presentation (all cigar-chewing and Morricone-esque soundtrack) but it was let down by the repetitiveness of its gameplay. This is in fact a problem that could be blamed on the genre – after all, cowboys primarily shoot things, right? And you can’t very well flesh out the rest of a game with drinkin’, gamblin’ and whorin’.

Actually, to an extent you can, and Activision has done a good job mixing up the environments from level to level. You’ve got your bar brawls, your low-down conmen and of course, lots and lots of fearsum injuns. The range of weapons at your disposal adds further variety, from close range shooting irons like pistols and shotguns to sniper rifles and bows & arrows. Add to this the undeniable thrill of being able to shoot from the saddle of your trusty steed and the even more dubious pleasure of trampling your foes under its thundering hooves and you have yourselves the recipe for a rootin’ tootin’ good time.

Unfortunately this time is rather abruptly curtailed by the shortness of the story and the linearity of the gameplay. While it aspires to the open-endedness of a GTA on horseback with its various side missions and voluntary distractions, in reality it whips you along at a fair old clip so that you’ve come to the end within a matter of a few hours.

Graphically the game is very pretty and the sound is also excellent. Kris Kristofferson voices one of the characters, for instance, giving the game a nice cinematic authenticity. It’s also pretty darn violent, it has to be said. While the subject matter obviously calls for a busy local coffin maker, the manner that your foes die in is fairly robust stuff. The scream and bleed with the best of them, so pay heed to the MA15+ rating if you’re thinking of giving this to your young brother. You may also feel a little uncomfortable with the relentless portrayal of Red Indians as bloodthirsty savages. But all that aside, Gun is good old-fashioned gaming fun and well worth looking at if you’ve been a-yearnin’ for a solid Western shooter. It’s a little overpriced considering its brevity, so I would recommend it as a rental or be prepared to have it up on eBay within a couple of weeks of buying it.

Rating: 3.5/5

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