The game shoots itself in the foot with some of its changes but still, gun showdown remains a good game...
What i must point out first is that this game has great graphics and detail and the environment/scenery is gorgeous. From waterfalls to meadows it's all lush and a pleasure to look at!
It has a very distinct western theme and exploring it all is a joy!
You can ride horses and use all sorts of weapons (not just guns as the title suggests) including bows, well of course guns and scalping knives, swords and several other things can be bought and unlocked.
The story of the game is fantastic! It is passionate, exciting and very original. The game isn't very long. You can complete it fairy quickly but will run into a few challenges here and there and there are extra missions exclusive to the psp!
As the game is free roaming you can ride around either on horse or by foot anywhere and everywhere across the large beautiful world.
Sound effects are as good as they should be, nothing exciting in this aspect except for the voice acting which is superb and the music is just beautiful!!
The extra missions help prolong the games life but after completion of such a heart wrenching and fantastic storyline, the fetch or shoot out missions can hardly compare.
By the age certificate, you can imagine that the game is full of gore, blood and guts. In actual fact, the violence level is significantly lower than that of the ps2 version but is still adequate.
Gun Showdown is full of surprises and can be very enjoyable! There's even an extra multiplayer for the psp but because of these gains, there are some losses which are noted below.
The PSP version has a rather annoying camera view; Your playable character is positioned up close on the left of the screen. The view is similar to the psp games Infected and Gangs of London but is more irritating because Colton gets in the way of anything what you would like to see on the left.
And because of this change, there comes other problems such as the cumbersome controls and movement difficulties.
It makes you wonder why they would make such an irritating change when the ps2 one would have worked fine.
Another loss is that despite a few cattle, vultures and traders here and there, there is almost no one around so you feel quite lonely and if that wasn't bad enough, you also cannot kill the ones that are there, which was one of the highlights of the home platform version!
These are the only main problems but there are some tiny disappointments such as you must stick to one horse and cannot change horses and when your horse gets badly injured, you are left horseless until it's healed and you can whistle for it back.
So if you are considering getting a psp game, you should definately consider getting this game because it offers a good range of things to do and there is a great storyline but be prepared for a few disappointments.