  Gun's environments are gorgeously rendered but the gameplay is frenzied and brief. |
'Gun' has the production value of a major Hollywood blockbuster. You've got actors Thomas Jane (Frank Castle in the last 'Punisher' film), Kris Kristofferson, Tom Skerritt, Brad Dourif, Ron Perlman and Lance Hendrikson providing the voice talent. You've got screenwriter Randall Jahnson ('Mask of Zorro', 'The Doors') supplying the storyline and the soundtrack was recorded by an 80-piece orchestra. It sure is a very impressive gathering of talent for just a video game.
As you would expect, 'Gun' has all the recognizable trappings of the Western film genre. There's the hero on a quest to exact revenge for past misdeeds. There's the prostitute with a heart of gold. There's the sinister preacher man who should be wearing a pentagram and not a cross. As grizzled gunslinger Colton White - think 'Sully' from 'Doctor Quinn, Medicine Woman' if he had a mean streak and could kick butt - you travel the world like Caine from 'Kung Fu' searching for the missing pieces of the puzzle that is your life while remaining on the lookout for the varmints who done you wrong. Along the way, you defend the weak and powerless, do some good deeds and pocket some cash and new weapons.
Gun's main missions are a frenzied and diverse collection. The side missions though are as frail as your Grandma Mabel. You can play delivery boy ('Pony Express'), do some bounty hunting, enter a poker tournament, go mining for gold or even try your hand at ranching. Still, none of these options will test you, as you so want to be. Mining for gold equates to digging up unambiguous yellow patches of rock that might as well have a "Dig here, dummy!" sign posted in front of them. While acting as a bounty hunter, you obviously are not considered a worthy investigator because you are led by the hand to the outlaw's location by a marker. From there, you either fill him full of lead or apprehend him for some coin. What about the poker tournaments? It's like grave robbing if you are patient and are familiar with the rules.
The environments are just as feeble too. Don't think for a minute that this is 'Grand Theft Unforgiven'. It ain't. As you travel through the gorgeously rendered untamed wildernesses and seedy towns, you cannot help but to feel you are visiting a movie set. It is all just elegant set dressing with nothing of substance behind the facades. Many of the buildings are just empty shells or totally inaccessible. There is really nothing happening in the deserts and wilderness settings either. Travel far enough in any direction that doesn't correspond to a goal or mission and you'll just run into those familiar invisible force fields that prevent you from advancing any further.
With a name like 'Gun' you would guess there would be ample opportunity to ace varmints in all sorts of grisly and grotesque ways. You would be right. Besides the standard issue gaming firearms like shotguns and sniper rifles, you can throw dynamite and Molotov cocktails, use a bow and arrow or skewer foes with your trusty bowie knife and then...scalp them. Yeah, you read right. You can scalp defeated opponents in 'Gun'. Is taking a bit off the top going over the top? Assuredly. Bullet time gunfights where people's skulls get blown to bits are cool, if you can hack the violence and the gore. Scalping downed foes just isn't especially when you are supposed to be playing the role of hero.
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If you are demented like me, and love testing out the limits of a game, the good news is you can go "rogue" and slaughter innocent townsfolk just for the heck of it. If the "town patience" metre drops too low, the church bell tolls (a neat effect) and a posse gathers to take you down although they are not hard to deal with. If worse comes to worse, just gallop out of town and the "showdown" phase will end. No harm. No foul. If you happen to eradicate the posse, the game continues on as it did before you volunteered to be suited up for a straight-jacket.
'Gun' is the best Wild West game to date but it is a low-down dirty shame that developers 'Neversoft' didn't apply the same comprehensive approach to the design work as they did to the soundtrack, voice casting and the plot. The main tasks present some diverse scenarios, however, everything seems rushed as you are shoved along from one predicament to another. One minute, you are under attack on a huge gambling boat while it floats lazily down a river. The next, you are fending off irate Apaches as they attempt to light TNT barrels on fire to blow a bridge sky high. Everything kind of blends together and before you know it, the game is over. 'Gun' is fleeting fun and not much else.
WHAM! Rating: |
7 out of 10 |
ESRB Rating: |
M (Mature) |
Official Web Site: |
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