It's always surprised me how few games are set in the old west. You'd have thought that given the vast majority of games feature gun violence of one kind or another, late 19th century America would be the perfect environment for many more titles than it actually is.
In the very earliest days of gaming it was popular enough; way back in 1975 Taito's 'Gun Fight' was the first microprocessor powered video game, but for some reason the wild west has never really caught on to mass appeal.
Rockstar's two 'Red Dead' sequels, it should be noted, are an exception to this rule - but even that series' own opening episode 'Red Dead Revolver' was only a moderate success, and it and 'Gun' from Neversoft (taking a rare break from the Tony Hawk license), were the only western themed games to gain any sort of exposure in the 6th generation; a time when games popularity in general was soaring.
It needs to be made clear from the outset that 'Gun' is definitely not a 'progressive' western. The game has misogyny and racism to spare but, despite not being a particularly realistic game, this does mostly feel like it's in keeping with both the real-life wild west, and, even more so, the classic Hollywood depiction that the game is very keen to emulate.
But if there's anything 'Gun' hates more than women and Indigenous Americans, it's animals.
Before you've even started the game properly you'll have killed deer, quail, wolves, and a bear. Again, these are very 'theme' appropriate, but the game also has a very disposable approach to horses (where this reasoning cannot be used) that left a bad taste in my mouth. The relationship between a hero and their steed is a huge part of western folklore, and as 'Gun’ seems very keen to present the story of it's protagonist Colton White in these terms, this is a clear tonal misstep.
As you may have determined 'Gun' is very much a plot driven game. It follows the story of our hero as he crosses the old west in search of an evil priest and a full-on mcguffin referred to only as 'the item'.
The structure, however, is open-world, albeit on quite a small scale, and, personally, I'm of the mind that a heavy plot focus and open worlds don't really mix.
In this regard the small scale is both the game's saviour and its eventual downfall. It gives the player very little to see and even less to do outside of the main story. This means that the game never really falls foul of the 'Cousin Bellic' problem; whereby the plot demands urgency but the open-world demands bowling.
The downside, however, is that even without outside interruptions, the plot is weirdly paced, and even when the end of one cutscene has you curious to follow the story further, when you do it never really goes in a meaningful direction.
With all this talk of plot and story you'd think 'Gun' wasn't a game where you murdered outlaws and injuns by the dozen, but it absolutely is. There's pistol murder, shotgun murder, knife murder, tomahawk murder, and dynamite murder. There's even horse-trampling murder. None of this really matters because rifle murder is where the fun is really at as Colton's trusty .22 is by far the games most effective and gratuitously violent death dealer. It seems bizarre to come from recently playing 'House of the Dead 2' and have 'Gun' feel like the more graphic game, but the sound design includes for a sickening bony squelch every time you execute a headshot, and it's surprisingly effective given the PS2's quite rudimentary graphics.
In the end, 'Gun' does some things very well, but it's hard not to have issues with the tone and story when the game itself is so insistent that you focus on them. It's a game that left me with a strange sense of disappointment despite enjoying the missions linked to the story quite a lot, perhaps because this thin thread of entertainment is woven through quite a bland and uneventful tapestry.
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