Gun is truly the greatest Western game that brings ideas from many genres into one.
Gun, a game that can be summarized as Grand Theft Auto meets an A-rated Western Movie. Brought to you by the team who created the Tony Hawk franchise, Gun is a great start to a new franchise, guaranteeing some incredible sequels.
Graphics – The graphics in Gun are stunning. The characters in the cut scenes are very well done, but there are a few times when clipping is seen. The overall presentation of the Wild West is spot on. They created a great setting for this game, and the graphics are great for a PS2 title. The only portion with bad graphics is when you go to talk to someone to get a mission. The graphics of the character you are talking to are pretty badly done in comparison to the rest of the game, somewhat reminiscent of the Tony Hawk style mission vendors.
Score - 9
Story – Thanks to a Hollywood script writer, the story is nothing less then what you would expect from a top notch western film. There are twists and turns in the plot, and plenty of people to kill. After every cut scene you will understand more and more of the story and you truly want to find out more. The main character has a certain depth to him, about his background and how he was raised. The story was beautifully crafted, simple as that. Its briefness is the only thing holding it back from a perfect 10.
Score – 9
Gameplay – The controls in Gun are simple, you move with the left analog stick and move the camera with the right, just like every other third person shooter. You shoot with R1, change weapons with the circle button and the triangle button is used for actions. That said, the game play is solid. Shooting while on a horse is great; you almost never are upset by the controls. Nothing is all that original about the game play, but it takes some great ideas and puts them into one tightly knit package.
Score – 9
Innovation – As mentioned earlier, this game does not have very innovative controls, but instead stick with tried and true methods. The game itself could be recognized as innovative, because it is the better of only two Western games, the other being Red Dead Revolver. They have created a spark in the mind of developers that Western Shooters are fun, and shouldn’t be looked past because of the subject matter. Neversoft’s games are the best of their kinds, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater got the controls and gameplay right on the first try and revolutionized extreme sports games, and Gun has done it again with the Western genre.
Score - 8
Audio – Probably the best out of the six categories, the sound is phenomenal. This game could very well have the best voice acting to date. The characters sound like they were pulled right out of the 1880’s. Thomas Jane, the voice of the main character Colton White, has a deep, raspy voice that fits the protagonist role of Colton. The voice of the Preacher is sinister and blunt. How they assembled this acting talent is beyond me, but it saves this game from one pitfall, that being discussed in the next category.
Sound effects are also very well done. The gunshots sound realistic and give you the feeling that you are actually shooting the gun. The horses sound like real horses, and the ambient sounds match your surroundings well.
As for the music, it is of epic proportions. But, I would expect nothing less from such a great game. It could be comparable to that of Lord of the Rings or most other epic symphony pieces. It has a western taste to it that creates a truly immersive western experience.
Score – 10
Replay Value – And here is where the trouble starts. When looked at by afar you might think this game has the scope of Grand Theft Auto where you do anything you want at any time. The game world is not all that large, but still works great for the game. The missions are very few if you are hoping for as many as Grand Theft Auto, but it’s not necessarily bad. The story is somewhat rushed along, thanks to its script being made from a long time film script writer. It doesn’t match GTA’s story length, but the story itself is much better. You will probably be able to beat this game 100% in about 10 to 15 hours. That said, there is little to no replay value.
Score – 4
Buy or Rent? – For those with plenty of income, go ahead and buy it. But be ready to be disappointed in spending $50 dollars on a game that lasts for a weekend. For most people, you should definitely give this game a rent; it’s a very fun game that can be experienced in the time allotted by a rental.
Rent
Age Appropriateness – It’s rated M for a reason folks. Only mature audiences should play this game. Some profanity, sexual themes and graphic violence are most definitely present. The only portion of this game you should show to the younger audiences would be riding horses across the beautiful surroundings of the game.
Mature
Overall – The attempt of bringing the western ideology of Lawlessness and brutality was a smashing success for Neversoft and Activision. The only thing that brings this game down is the low replay value. Besides that this is an incredible genre defining game that no one mature enough should hesitate to play.
Overall Score (not an average) – 8
Scores are based on a 1 to 10 scale, 1 being the worst and 10 being the best.