Gaming Signal: REVIEW: Gun (PC Version) by Activision and Neversoft

REVIEW: Gun (PC Version) by Activision and Neversoft

My Rating
BRIEF SYNOPSIS:You play as Colton White, a hunter working near Dodge City with your father supplying food and goods to the railroads and riverboats. All is fine and well until an attack occurs and your life is turned upside down. This puts Colton on the path of revenge against the men behind the attack.
PROS: Excellent story and fun gameplay - Quickdraw mode is a blast.
CONS: Some strange graphic glitches on the PC, and I know for a fact the XBox 360 is not native. Invisible walls to restrict the map instead of convienent mountain or valley placement.
BOTTOM LINE: If you like westerns and GTA, this game is a must have. It is not without its quirks, but overall it has a great story and some very fun game play.

MY REVIEW:
Before I get into the details of the review, I want to reiterate that the rating is a strong one. This is done in accordance with our GamingSignal Review Criteria. This game is classified as a Grand Theft Auto type adventure with some excellent story elements. This game really did a good job nailing what I want in a single player game. It tells a compelling story that has the correct mix of cut scenes and action play to keep the game from being repetative.

The gameplay is pretty straightforward using the WASD keys for movement and the mouse for aiming. Rifles have a zoom mode for sniper type shooting that brings the gun into a first person mode, but all the weapons have a targetting reticle that is sized according to the weapon in use (Shotguns are quite large and pistols are pretty small). There are upgrades for damage done and and ammo. The game really does a fine job of offering unlockables for all the weapon classes. Through the completion of side missions (which include everything from being a deputy to a pony express rider) , you can obtain cash that is used for upgrades that improve damage and reload times for the weapons. Ammo is tracked but not difficult to find which was nice for me since I liked the fact that I could rearm after each mission. One great thing is quickdraw mode which works like bullet time in many other games, but is done well here. There are puzzles and situations that require you to have quickdraw time to complete and they are loads of fun. Nothing feels better than to go into quickdraw mode and gun down some bad guys

The game is not without some negative elements. I did play this on the PC and my machine is pretty powerful, but I did suffer some laggy moments and some graphical strangeness. Now I am willing to forgive these elements if they do not detract from the game or don't get me killed in the process of completing a mission - and they did not interfere on that level. Another negative element is the point the game makes about expansive open ended blah blah blah (we all know marketing speak when we read it), but in Dodge City there is an invisible wall at one end of the town. Now I know that developers are limited on resources and other things, but would it have not been better to put some buildings or something that would block it off in a more realistic fashion versus the invisible wall? Finally, I found that I really did not need to complete all the side missions to obtain all the potential upgrades for my character and his skills. I did complete them since they were fun and nice little segways in the story, but are not wholly necessary.

Overall, if you like westerns and want an excellent story to play through, get this game. The console version had a price cut after Christmas and I think its well worth the price of admission. The postives outweigh the negative elements I describe above and the game delivers a fun experience for older kids and adults (It is rated M and has some mature language and situations).