Introduction: Ever seen a really gritty Wild West movie, not like the good old cowboys saving the day from the vile Indians, I’m talking Treachery, Cowardice, Hoar-houses and violent madmen, torturing and killing like they own the place, because they DO. Well this game throws you right into the middle of that lawless, violent and bloody world as a young sharpshooter unknowingly already in the thick of it. Are you ready for all the grisly details of my action packed but slightly brief encounter with the true Wild West?
 The Story: You’re Colton White, a vengeful gunslinger in the untamed west of the late 1800’s. Your in a free roaming world were your constantly balanced on the line between good and evil, having to combat a murderous preacher, renegade armies of psychopaths, merciless outlaws, and warring tribes of Indians. Along the way you’ll wage war on horseback, collect bounties and protect hoars. All set in the stunning landscapes of the untamed wild, mountain mines and bustling towns full of betrayal, treachery and greed.  Game play: You start of the game being introduced to your current lifestyle; you’re a hunter in the dense wilderness on a river side as a provider for the great steamboats that come through. You start in a training kind of mission were your out hunting with your father, allowing you to get the hang of shooting and moving about which is easy enough anyway, after a bit of this you get onto a steamboat, and this is were things turn ugly. There’s something very important on the boat that some crazies really want, anyway I won’t spoil it for you, least to say all of a sudden women are getting axed in the head, people are getting shot and all of a sudden your life has been turned upside down, then you’re alone on a river bank and wake up to find someone trying to steal something from you. Anyway soon enough your in the first town, and this is were you feel like your really inside one of those classic movies, the first missions being fighting of Indians so Chinese workers can build a bridge, protecting hoars from a gang of men, and finding out that the town really could use your help.  The missions in this game are well varied, the storyline is quite well done and you always know were you’re going next, as I’ve already mentioned you can roam around between missions doing some of the many side missions that are available, including getting bounty from wanted posters, which there are many of around the place, usually it’s a matter of finding a culprit and killing or capturing them, while also killing all of the guys mates, naturally you get more money for capturing them than killing them as its more difficult. Also there’s the pony express missions, think ‘crazy taxi’ but with guns and horses, you basically have to go from one person to the next within a very strict time limit usually while being shot at, finally you can also get missions from the marshals in each town, basically consisting of numerous tasks that involve protecting the town and maintaining the peace by shooting loads of people. Completing missions gets improves your stats which include better accuracy, health, speed on the horse etc, which means you really do need to do at least some of these if you want to take down the progressively bigger and harder bad guys. You also earn cash from doing this which you can spend on getting gun upgrades, horse upgrades, and equipment, including a pick which allows you to mine for gold that’s around the land too, oh yeah and there are also gambling, ranching and hunting missions to be found if you look around a bit more. As I mentioned before, the main missions are quite impressive and well varied, from capturing a gatling gun on a moving train, to defending your settlement from an enemy attack with cannons, even doing things like a full scale attack on an enemy held town, one of my favourite parts is where you get captured chucked in prison to be hanged at dawn, of course you escape and have to covertly kill people with a bow and knife and steal three horses for your mates and hide them under a bridge, before blowing the wall of a prison of and riding of into the sunset etc. One other thing that has to be mentioned is of course Guns! Being the title of the game it has not be left out, as you progress through the game you get increasingly good weapons, having sniper rifles, rifles, shotguns, and bows. Originally starting of with your basic six shooter and rifle, but ending up with twin powerful quick loading shooters, a beast of a rifle, and if you complete it [Spoiler alert] you get a giant seven barrelled mortar for a shotgun, very fun. Of course you can also upgrade these guns by spending money on them, for quicker reloading and more damage. You also get better close combat weapons, starting with a knife and eventually getting a nice big sword, lovely for taking out people who get to close in a nice gory spray of blood. See screenshot…  Sounds: Exhilarating, and inspiring wild west music, but with also a sad quality to it, to let you experience the danger and horror of the West, but also getting the sheer fun and power of being able to ride horseback across open plains with the buffalo. Also the gun sounds are effective and realistic, and the screams of pain and anger are very pleasing, sorry did I say pleasing? I meant horrifying.  Graphics: The graphics are pretty good, although they are play station 2 graphics level it’s all done pretty well and the landscapes and effects have been used to good effect to create a large and impressive landscape of trees, mountains and the great open plains. Also pretty good looking cut scenes are put in to good affect. There was some slowdown though on the open plains, although this was on a pc, so I’m not sure if it would still do that on the Cube.  Overall: A definite must have for any gritty Wild West movie lover; it really does put you right into the middle of a movie. Also a good buy for anyone who loves violent or shooty games, this has a lot of that for certain, and the shooting is easy to control and done well so the people move sickeningly realistically when shot, like the nice little touch of someone having there leg blown of and slowly trying to crawl to safety before dying. My only real annoyance with the game is the fact it didn’t last long enough, I completed it in roughly 8 or 9 hours on normal difficulty although admittedly I did rush it a bit and this was all in one day, if you complete all the side missions and maybe put it on hard or higher difficulty I’m sure you could get a few more hours on it, also ounce you’ve completed it you can still go around afterwards and finish up any stuff you didn’t get done before hand. 9/10 just! If it was longer an easy 9 An extremely entertaining, very violent game, with gritty realism and a good plot, although it is a little short. A good buy for a shooter fan and a must buy for a Wild West fan.  |
