Gun

Think GTA on horseback – or at least this has become the accepted reference point for Activision’s Gun, a true-grit action adventure set in the wild west... certificate 18!

Platform:
Xbox 360
Release Date:
2 December 2005
Publisher:
Activision
Genre:
Action

Gun is visually spruced up for Xbox 360, but otherwise the same game you’ll find on Xbox, PS2, and PC. Sharper detail and the ability to portray larger distances on screen increase the impact, however. If you’re a fan of the old western movies, you’ll appreciate how great cinematography is part of the deal – although you won’t have new gameplay features to exploit, Xbox 360 sure makes Gun feel more movie-like, more ‘epic’.

Just to recap: Gun is a free-roaming, mission-based action adventure set in America’s mid-west, circa 1880. Dodge City is in full swing, and Native Americans are – quite rightly – at their most peeved. You don’t have to look very far to start a fight; in fact it’s almost impossible to avoid violence, as hero Colton White recently found out. He started his day hunting for game alongside his father, and ended up witnessing his death at the hands of renegade US soldiers. Now Colton has become something of a lone ranger, stirring things up in the bars and brothels of Dodge City, riding his horse from town to town in search of his pappy’s killers. Through Colton you’ll live out all your vigilante-cowboy dreams: bar brawls, fighting on the roof of a stagecoach, and shooting outlaws from the back of a fast-moving horse. The guy even gets his heart broken by a whore!

Neversoft – best known for Tony Hawk series – has been working with scriptwriter Randall Jahnson (Mask of Zorro, The Doors) to keep Colton’s world coherent. Randall’s classy scripting has made it possible for Hollywood actors provide convincing dialogue for the game – among them Brad Dourif (LOTR’s Grima Wormtongue), Ron Perlman (Blade II) and Kris Kristofferson – who needs no introduction, but sadly isn’t in the running for long because he plays the voice of Colton’s doomed old Pa!

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SCREENSHOTS

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REVIEWS

If you were to gamble on anyone bringing the Wild West to life in a videogame, smart money would be on Neversoft. These guys have proven themselves with Tony Hawk and Spiderman, and the thrills and spills that befall an all-action hero have been enthusiastically worked into spectacular set pieces, thrilling to control. Although plot-driven, Gun feels open-ended with a decent amount of exploring to do. One of the better launch games for Xbox 360, and could be a classic.