20 years ago, before the gaming world was introduced to Red Dead Redemption, developer Neversoft (God rest their souls) graced us with the rootin-tootin, pulpy Western-themed game simply titled GUN. Released in 2005 as an Xbox-360 launch title, and being the first game I owned for the system, GUN was a cowboy-fantasy I would be drawn to over and over again. At the time, the market was scarce in games that explored the gritty, lawless frontier of the Wild West. While we did have Red Dead Revolver, which I personally think is a dusty pile of coyote vomit, GUN was the first of its kind to fully embrace the scope of its setting and allow you to live out your western fantasies.
The biggest standout feature of this game is its story. It goes hard. Playing out just like classic western cinema, the narrative follows grizzled and morally complex protagonist, Colton White, on a mission to avenge the murder of his father while also uncovering a conspiracy of corrupt politicians, land control disputes and an ancient lost city of gold. There’s a really impressive lineup of voice-over cast (Thomas Jane, Lance Henrikson, Brad Dourif, Kris Kristofferson, Ron Pearlman, Tom Skerritt) whose stellar performances enhance this rough riding tale. There is moral ambiguity within our cast of characters that isn’t just about shooting bad guys and writing wrongs; it’s about seeking truths. I love the simplicity of the game’s plot that is held together through solid pacing, many twists, betrayals and shocking revelations that keeps the player engaged from start to finish.
Let’s talk about the gameplay. By today’s standards, it’s essentially nerfed Red Dead Redemption. Played in a first-person perspective that allows you to switch to aiming down sights in first-person whenever you please. You have a quickdraw meter that fills up during combat and can be used for slow-mo firing which allows unlimited ammo and taking on many enemies for a short duration. You’re going to use this regularly. There are a lot of guns to collect in GUN (yeehaw). You build up a nice arsenal as the story unfolds. Almost every boss battle rewards you with a new rifle, shotgun, pistol, bow or even a cavalry saber to turn your opponents into chopped liver. Speaking of damaged livers, your health-bar is replenished by taking a swig of your whiskey flask and are scattered like candy throughout every battleground. A very fun combat advantage you have is being able to melee one of the dumb inbreds that are trying to waste you and then using them as a human shield before ruthlessly executing them after the room is cleared. You can savagely scalp individuals alive, which earns you zero monetary bonuses or unlockables and serves just to scratch your sadistic tendencies. You can shoot while on horseback and trample over enemies as well; just make sure not to beat on your horse too hard or they’ll topple over into a massive bloody slip-n-slide.
There are side objectives within these badlands but if Texas-Hold ‘em, mining gold ingots or wrangling a flock of sheep doesn’t make you feel like a exciting badass gunslinger then get fucked. I remember it being much more exciting to role-play a fearless outlaw by provoking shootouts with bandits in one of the two towns that exist within the sandbox map. Once finished with the main story, you can prolong your desire to be a desperado with your large variety of GUNs through bounty hunting but the game offers little beyond this. Back in 2005, galloping around Dodge City, pretending you’re in a Clint Eastwood flick and causing mayhem, provided hours of rough-riding exhilaration.
GUN was the game that trotted so Red Dead Redemption could sprint. I would even say the gameplay was the blueprint. By today’s scale, the sandbox map is small and limited but felt large and dynamic back in 2005. Unfortunately, Neversoft Entertainment was swallowed up by Infinity Ward and any dream we had of a sequel is dust in the wind. I would recommend fans of the genre add this game to their steam library as the story holds up strong and is worth the ride.
your huckleberry,
Mikhail
Verdict: 7.5/10