GUN
Added November 23rd, 2005 by Serenity Now
Introduction:
Ah yes, it’s that time of year again, the time of year when new franchises are developed and presented to the world for them to brutally assess. This year, GUN, along with a few others, is that game. It’s a western shooter that shows a great deal of potential, with an engaging story, crisp visuals, and some passionate violence. However, with a rookie developmental group in this particular genre, does GUN, as they say, hit the nail on the head despite the said fears? Could go either way, but I can tell you this much, it has a truckload of blood and gore. Maybe it actually did hit the nail on the head after all, eh?
Gameplay:
Set in the 1800s, you play as a young gunslinger named Colton White. The game bizarrely starts out with the Lord’s Prayer, followed by a brutal massacre. Colton was raised by an Indian chap by the name of Ned. One day, while you and Ned are making a trip to visit a ship consisting of some vital ‘’material,’’ hordes of maniacs hauling firepower extinguish your hopes of ‘’obtaining’’ it. The game’s story is violent, and at times maybe even a little too harsh, but all and all, it’s presented fairly well through exploding cut-scenes and wonderful voice-acting.
Ah yes, it’s that time of year again, the time of year when new franchises are developed and presented to the world for them to brutally assess. This year, GUN, along with a few others, is that game. It’s a western shooter that shows a great deal of potential, with an engaging story, crisp visuals, and some passionate violence. However, with a rookie developmental group in this particular genre, does GUN, as they say, hit the nail on the head despite the said fears? Could go either way, but I can tell you this much, it has a truckload of blood and gore. Maybe it actually did hit the nail on the head after all, eh?
Gameplay:
Set in the 1800s, you play as a young gunslinger named Colton White. The game bizarrely starts out with the Lord’s Prayer, followed by a brutal massacre. Colton was raised by an Indian chap by the name of Ned. One day, while you and Ned are making a trip to visit a ship consisting of some vital ‘’material,’’ hordes of maniacs hauling firepower extinguish your hopes of ‘’obtaining’’ it. The game’s story is violent, and at times maybe even a little too harsh, but all and all, it’s presented fairly well through exploding cut-scenes and wonderful voice-acting.
GUN brazenly mixes gameplay elements from titles such as Darkwatch and Advent Rising. It has Darkwatch’s theme and atmosphere and boasts Advent Rising’s targeting system with its quickdraw feature (‘’flick’’ targeting, anyone?). GUN certainly has a great deal going for it, but it doesn’t feel as if it’s its own game, rather a lackluster offshoot of other popular household names. However, that’s what GUN appears like on the outside, inside is a game with a compelling, original premise, and some extremely well executed facets.
The objectives in GUN are rather interesting. There are several side missions scattered throughout the environments in addition to the main quests you’ll have to complete. Here’s where things start to get interesting. In order to have a fighting chance in the main ordeals, you’ll need to build up your stats via these amusing side missions prior to attempting to tackle them. This is a very unique attribute, and it adds some much needed depth to GUN’s gameplay. You’ll be able to increase your gunhand, quickdraw, melee, horse, and health. Improving your gunhand skills will enable you to reload quicker, as well as making your shots more effective. Improving quickdraw, which is a feature you can enter by pressing Y, will give your bullets that extra ‘’oomph’’ they need to get the job done as well as giving your shot a greater distance in which you’ll be able to shoot an opponent. Strengthening your melee attributes will allow you to slice and dice enemies more efficiently. And just like cars in racing games, horses need care. You’ll be able to improve your horse’s speed, and how many slaps it can take before throwing in the towel. The last attribute, health, really doesn’t need any explanation -- amplify it and you’ll survive longer.
GUN is a ‘’shoot that,’’ ‘’slaughter that’’ kind of game, but it surprisingly has rather satisfying results. It couples tactical components with its fast-action style making it a fun-filled incident for almost every type of gamer. You’ll have to sneak around corners, use the environment to get clean shots at your foes, and ration your bullets and switch to your knife in the heat of combat.
GUN’s single-player campaign is a high-quality one, but I really, really wish Neversoft would have incorporated some sort of multiplayer aspect. GUN feels as if it would have made a superb multiplayer fixture, both online and off. I mean, with a name like ‘’GUN,’’ how could it not? Simply put, it’s inexcusable that they didn’t at least implement a Deathmatch or Capture the Flag mode. What makes this even more a shame is that the possibilities are endless for this game’s multiplayer modes due to the groundwork set by its unique campaign. How about a mini-game where you could race horses online? What about a little game where you could boost your single-player attributes by playing some type of ‘’shoot the most bottles down’’ game? Or better yet, how about some good old co-op? One can only dream. In return, GUN has a fantastic single-player experience, but it deeply suffers as a whole because of the absence of any sort of multiplayer whatsoever.
Graphics:
They say that atmosphere is everything, and, thankfully, GUN stays true to this. The expanse of the areas is mammoth. The entire western theme is captured in its entirety via its sultry visuals. And as mentioned, the environments are enormous. You’ll have to travel from location to location on your horse numerous times, and taking in some of the views present along the way is enough to take your breath away. GUN, unlike so many games, has style.
The objectives in GUN are rather interesting. There are several side missions scattered throughout the environments in addition to the main quests you’ll have to complete. Here’s where things start to get interesting. In order to have a fighting chance in the main ordeals, you’ll need to build up your stats via these amusing side missions prior to attempting to tackle them. This is a very unique attribute, and it adds some much needed depth to GUN’s gameplay. You’ll be able to increase your gunhand, quickdraw, melee, horse, and health. Improving your gunhand skills will enable you to reload quicker, as well as making your shots more effective. Improving quickdraw, which is a feature you can enter by pressing Y, will give your bullets that extra ‘’oomph’’ they need to get the job done as well as giving your shot a greater distance in which you’ll be able to shoot an opponent. Strengthening your melee attributes will allow you to slice and dice enemies more efficiently. And just like cars in racing games, horses need care. You’ll be able to improve your horse’s speed, and how many slaps it can take before throwing in the towel. The last attribute, health, really doesn’t need any explanation -- amplify it and you’ll survive longer.
GUN is a ‘’shoot that,’’ ‘’slaughter that’’ kind of game, but it surprisingly has rather satisfying results. It couples tactical components with its fast-action style making it a fun-filled incident for almost every type of gamer. You’ll have to sneak around corners, use the environment to get clean shots at your foes, and ration your bullets and switch to your knife in the heat of combat.
GUN’s single-player campaign is a high-quality one, but I really, really wish Neversoft would have incorporated some sort of multiplayer aspect. GUN feels as if it would have made a superb multiplayer fixture, both online and off. I mean, with a name like ‘’GUN,’’ how could it not? Simply put, it’s inexcusable that they didn’t at least implement a Deathmatch or Capture the Flag mode. What makes this even more a shame is that the possibilities are endless for this game’s multiplayer modes due to the groundwork set by its unique campaign. How about a mini-game where you could race horses online? What about a little game where you could boost your single-player attributes by playing some type of ‘’shoot the most bottles down’’ game? Or better yet, how about some good old co-op? One can only dream. In return, GUN has a fantastic single-player experience, but it deeply suffers as a whole because of the absence of any sort of multiplayer whatsoever.
Graphics:
They say that atmosphere is everything, and, thankfully, GUN stays true to this. The expanse of the areas is mammoth. The entire western theme is captured in its entirety via its sultry visuals. And as mentioned, the environments are enormous. You’ll have to travel from location to location on your horse numerous times, and taking in some of the views present along the way is enough to take your breath away. GUN, unlike so many games, has style.
The animations, textures, and character models follow suit. There is some insignificant slowdown that I noticed while traveling, but it honestly isn’t enough to affect the gameplay. The draw-distance could use some polishing, but once again, this is nothing major. The futile troubles with GUN’s graphics are profoundly overshadowed by its technique and fashion used to express its story and premise.
Audio:
Have minors in the house? Cover their ears and lock them in the closet because GUN has some exceedingly offensive language. However, if you frankly don’t care about the characters using obscenities every other word, you’ll most definitely enjoy GUN’s dialogue. The voice-acting is top-notch, and sounds exceptionally professional for a video game. Activision went all out, and boy does it show. However, some of the less-important characters featured could use a tad more attitude during the conversations. I really got to hand it to them though -- they have delivered some outstanding voice work on the whole. The music isn’t anything particularly special, but it gets the task done nonetheless. Sound effects are as first-class as they come, and really set the ‘’mood.’’ GUN’s audio is nothing short of a masterpiece.
Controls:
A mixed-bag. The combat, in action, including melee and weapon, is incredible, but the controls while on a horse feel a little awkward and unresponsive. Plus, while on foot, a player can become overwhelmed at times due to the vast amount of things to be carried out. Don’t get me wrong, GUN is a fairly easy game, it’s just its control layout can generally transfer into frustrating times for the gamer after a short period of playtime. Still, you shouldn’t have that many problems with the controls, it’s just I would have liked to have seen a more refined setup than the one relevant.
Replay:
I won’t beat around the bush; GUN’s replay value is abysmal. Sure, if paying fifty bones for a six to eight hour game without multiplayer is your thing, give GUN a purchase. If that’s you though, you’re one weird person, and you frighten me. There is absolutely no reason to play the single-player campaign more than once, and that’s a real shame. It’s very enjoyable while it lasts, but whether it’s enjoyable enough to justify its entrance fee is another story.
Audio:
Have minors in the house? Cover their ears and lock them in the closet because GUN has some exceedingly offensive language. However, if you frankly don’t care about the characters using obscenities every other word, you’ll most definitely enjoy GUN’s dialogue. The voice-acting is top-notch, and sounds exceptionally professional for a video game. Activision went all out, and boy does it show. However, some of the less-important characters featured could use a tad more attitude during the conversations. I really got to hand it to them though -- they have delivered some outstanding voice work on the whole. The music isn’t anything particularly special, but it gets the task done nonetheless. Sound effects are as first-class as they come, and really set the ‘’mood.’’ GUN’s audio is nothing short of a masterpiece.
Controls:
A mixed-bag. The combat, in action, including melee and weapon, is incredible, but the controls while on a horse feel a little awkward and unresponsive. Plus, while on foot, a player can become overwhelmed at times due to the vast amount of things to be carried out. Don’t get me wrong, GUN is a fairly easy game, it’s just its control layout can generally transfer into frustrating times for the gamer after a short period of playtime. Still, you shouldn’t have that many problems with the controls, it’s just I would have liked to have seen a more refined setup than the one relevant.
Replay:
I won’t beat around the bush; GUN’s replay value is abysmal. Sure, if paying fifty bones for a six to eight hour game without multiplayer is your thing, give GUN a purchase. If that’s you though, you’re one weird person, and you frighten me. There is absolutely no reason to play the single-player campaign more than once, and that’s a real shame. It’s very enjoyable while it lasts, but whether it’s enjoyable enough to justify its entrance fee is another story.
Summary:
Neversoft has delivered a game that will appeal to a great deal of gamers because of its great production values, but if you’re looking for a game that will last you some time, look elsewhere. The main problem with GUN is its lack of multiplayer. The campaign is a fun-filled occurrence, but after you finish it in a few hours you’ll be wishing you didn’t drop fifty down for it. On a positive note, the voice-acting and atmosphere is really something to experience. Production values alone have never cut it though, and that’s precisely why you should either rent or wait for a price drop. However, Neversoft should get kudos for a darn fine effort, and personally, I can’t wait to see what GUN II has in store. Maybe then they’ll include multiplayer.
Neversoft has delivered a game that will appeal to a great deal of gamers because of its great production values, but if you’re looking for a game that will last you some time, look elsewhere. The main problem with GUN is its lack of multiplayer. The campaign is a fun-filled occurrence, but after you finish it in a few hours you’ll be wishing you didn’t drop fifty down for it. On a positive note, the voice-acting and atmosphere is really something to experience. Production values alone have never cut it though, and that’s precisely why you should either rent or wait for a price drop. However, Neversoft should get kudos for a darn fine effort, and personally, I can’t wait to see what GUN II has in store. Maybe then they’ll include multiplayer.
