Gun also owes a great deal to the Grand Theft Auto series, as its mission-based gameplay is taken straight from those games. While some of the game's story sequences trigger automatically, a great deal of the game is open-ended. In between most missions Colt is left pretty much to his own devices. He can wander about Dodge City and, later, the large expanse of land between Dodge and the larger Empire City, as he sees feet. (Sees FEET. Get it?!) [Oh good lord. I think this is his worst one yet! - ed.] While Gun's maps in no way compare to the scope of the massive Vice City or San Andreas, they are large enough that the player can wander around quite a bit and continuously discover new things. This is keenly encouraged, and in fact between many of the story missions a message will pop up suggesting the player do exactly that. The reason for this is that Gun also has a bit of RPG in its pedigree.

   When you open the menu you will probably notice (if you are not blind or heavily intoxicated, or blind from drinking rubbing alcohol in order to become heavily intoxicated) that there is a Stats section in which you can examine Colt's ability to fight with guns, ride horses, sustain damage, look cool, chew through hard metal objects, etc. At the beginning of the game these stats are all rock bottom, and the only way to increase them is to complete missions. However, story missions don't tend to give many bonuses, so in order to stay in top fighting form you are required to take on many of the game's side missions to quickly increase your stats. These missions also serve another vital function of providing you with the funds necessary to purchase upgrades for your weapons, radically increasing their speed and damage dealing potential. [Not to mention the vital function of providing you with a little loose change for the saloon. A cowboy needs a little loose change for the saloon, don't he?! - ed.] Thankfully, these side missions are incredibly diverse and are generally as enjoyable as the game's story missions. Sometimes you'll be hunting bounties, other times you'll be defending a city from marauders, racing across the countryside to deliver medical supplies to men wounded in Indian attacks, or even herding cattle (okay, maybe the cattle herding ones aren't that exciting) [But if you think they ARE, you should check out our Harvest Moon review! - ed.]. By the time you've reached the end of the game, providing you've been a good little doo-bee and kept up with the side missions, Colt will be a badass capable of leveling a whole room full of enemies with a few crack rifle shots.

Sixty men enter, one man leaves.

   Many shooters nowadays have gone for the Halo manner of combat, encouraging the use of strategy and tactics to out-think and out-maneuver clever enemies. Gun opts instead for a more quick-or-dead style of combat. Most of the time Colt will be radically outnumbered with only the player's rapid shooting keeping him from getting riddled full of more holes than a wiffle ball. At the beginning of the game this can come as a bit of surprise (though getting shot full of lead doesn't really ever feel very natural), and chances are you'll get brutally gunned down a number of times before you finally fall into the rhythm of combat. Once you do, though, you'll likely thrill at the prospect of thirty-to-one odds so you can blast away longer. Unfortunately, once you've got a few side missions under your belt you'll likely be so quick on the draw that only the end of the game will present any serious challenge to you. On Normal mode the game did have a bit of an easy feel to it, so if you're a shooter pro you might want to bump it up to Hard.

   Speaking of massive amounts of violence, though, I feel it's important that I mention this game is not, I repeat NOT, for children, tots, babies, or fetuses. While the game does not revel in blood and gore, it doesn't downplay the brutal effects more archaic firearms have on the human body. Shoot a man in the stomach with a pistol and a gout of blood sprays out, he falls to the ground, clutches the wound and bellows in pain. Shoot a man in the head with a rifle and his brain-box explodes like a ripe cantaloupe, raining blood and gore everywhere. And don't even ask what happens if you let someone have it with a shotgun at close range. Mortally wounded enemies also have a tendency to crawl around for a while crying frantically in a way that clearly indicates they are not happy campers. Story scenes have their share of bloodletting as well. Fingers are shot off, throats are slit, and teeth are yanked out by people who lack adequate dental schooling. Plus, there's plenty of good ol' western cussin' and frank talk about the interaction of people's naughty bits. So no matter how much that little bastard bugs you, your eleven-year-old son or little brother has no business playing this game. If he's really so intent on being involved with violence and profanity, try beating the living crap out of him while cursing at the top of your lungs the next time he forgets to take out the garbage.

A good kind of ugly

   As far as graphics are concerned, this game does a pretty solid job of capturing the look of the old west, at least as it's depicted in movies and television. Character models look good, with the right amount of hard-living grittiness depicted on their faces and clothing. The more filthy scoundrels are done particularly well, with their dirty mugs and clothing really seeming to capture the ugliness of someone who spent a lifetime drinking, sleeping with prostitutes, and murdering (my apologies to all my alcoholic, whore-mongering, murderous readers). Occasionally there is some awkward movement, and up close certain hair and skin textures sometimes look a little bland, but that's a minor complaint. Most environments have a lush feel to them (despite essentially all being deserts), and the various birds, deer, and foxes you see wandering about really help to give the impression you're traversing a fully alive, virtually untamed wilderness. The game's two central cities sometimes seem a little sparse and flat, but considering how much action is sometimes taking place inside them (all without any slowdown, I should add) it's certainly tolerable.

   The music is made up predominantly of sweeping orchestral pieces, all of which serve to add a fittingly epic feel to the goings-on. While not necessarily the stuff one would sit and listen to on its own, it all serves to support the game as a whole. The sound effects are crisp and appropriate, lending a tactile sense to each shot fired and each hoof striking the ground. Once or twice I did feel there was a bit too much spur jangling, as it sounded like someone was running around with little bells on his feet. Again, though, a very minor issue.

   The voice acting is all excellent, especially that done by the actor who plays Colt. His soft, gravelly voice really helps to connect him with the player and draw the player into the game's world. On a side note, it's great to finally see that, overall, developers are taking character voices seriously and getting people slightly more qualified than their brother-in-law or the office janitor to do the voice acting. We've come a long way since the original Resident Evil, my friends.

Short and sweet

   The only complaint that I really have with the game is that it's over too soon. Even doing most of the side missions, it still only took me about seven or eight hours to finish. It's a great couple of hours, but after it was all over I couldn't help but wish there had been a little more. Hopefully the game will sell well and we'll get a solid sequel, as this is definitely a game that leaves room for one.

   All in all,if you like shooters and you're in the mood for a little wild west action, you could do no better than Gun.

       ... Mike Zeller