Games I Beat: Gun

Gun
Mostly Open World Western
1 Player
System: Playstation 2
Developer: Neversoft
Year of Release: 2005
Beaten: July 5th, 2015

With Red Dead Redemption being one of my favorite games of all time, and Red Dead Revolver not quite living up to it's sequel, it's a damn shame I've waited so long to play Gun. While limited in scope due to the year it came out, the game still manages to feel mostly like an accurate depiction of the Old West. There are many tropes in the genre, and many of them show up here. Vengeance, corrupt lawmen, working alongside "savages" to take them down, storming a fort with cannons, a past that reflects the heroes eventual destiny, it's all here. I understand many don't enjoy the genre, and for those people I highly doubt this will win them over, but for fans, this game is a special treat well worth hunting down.

The game opens with a tutorial dressed up as hunting lessons from your father. The controls are intuitive, and the shooting seems to be fairly forgiving. Originally the game seems to be pretty linear, but after a couple story missions the world opens up. Disappointingly the map is small, but this just means less empty space to traverse between missions. Aside from the main story, which sees you take down an evil rail road tycoon for both the good of the land and sweet sweet revenge, there is a decent selection of side quests. All of them fit the game very well, wanted posters, being a ranch hand, temporary deputy work, poker, and the pony express being a handful of the options available.

Combat feels mostly good, maybe a bit too forgiving at times. Most enemies, especially towards the late game, don't really require you to aim much if at all. There's a slow down effect, called Quick Draw, which further simplifies matters. The worst part of combat was probably the hunting mini-games, they require multiple head shots with a bow, and after one hit they bolt and vanish for a bit. Nothing too difficult, but still a little irritating. The only other major detractor here is the final boss, it utilized a not very intuitive, and out of left field, system of igniting sulfur geysers as the baddie walks over them. I had no idea why I was sometimes hurting him until I looked it up online. Aside from that every encounter was fair, if a little silly seeing as how many men just walked into my line of fire.

Aside from an overall short run time, Gun's biggest problem was just being overambitious for its time I think. A few common features found in most later games could have really helped smooth over the game's rough patches. The only fast travel in the game is only available if you choose to start the next story mission, everything else requires riding or walking. As mentioned, the map isn't very large at least, but it can still get tiresome going to and fro. A few places in the environment look a little lazily assembled too, but nothing serious, plus this is on the 360 as well, which might look better. After beating the game 100% you unlock a new incredibly powerful weapon and horse, but getting 100% means there is nothing left to do, which is rather irritating. I took to one of the towns and just started rampaging, but that was underwhelming as well. Honestly though, I have no major gripes with this game aside from wishing the ride took a while longer.

Red Dead Redemption owes a lot to this game. Open world western, with pretty much every single mission type, if simplified, and the plot has a lot of the same beats. I don't mean this as a complaint, as I fucking LOVE Redemption, and having more of it, even in a seemingly prototype format, fills me with joy. The story might not be revolutionary, but it does have quite a few memorable moments, including an almost gruesome death scene! If you are a fan of Red Dead, or spaghetti Westerns, you owe it to yourself to check out Gun.