I will admit I have had a friendly and forgiving relationship with the folks at Activision. I have always had faith in them for making genuine, high-quality products that tend to take up too much space on my memory card. When I see that Activision is releasing a new title, I am confident enough in their company to rent or purchase without much debate. Until “Gun”, Neversoft had never developed a title that wasn’t a Tony Hawk game. The long and short of all this: I look forward to Neversoft making more games, Tony Hawk and otherwise.

I’m not going to say this game was perfect. It really wasn’t, but it really takes an excellent game for me to devote the time to it and play it all the way through, side-missions and all. Games do not have to be perfect for me. They can have graphical problems, or issues with a camera, or small flaws, I just want it to be fun. Gun rhymes with fun. Gun is fun. Period.

In Gun, you are Colton White, a certified, tried and true, Grade-A badass (not to mention, you are voiced by Thomas Jane who has played the likes of The Punisher and Mickey Mantle). The game begins in a hunting expedition with Colton and his father Ned. After only a few minutes of gameplay you’re in the thick of things, witnessing a double-crossing preacher, the murder of an accomplice, the sabotage of a steamboat and the murder of your father (played by the one and only Kris Kristofferson). This is just the first twenty minutes. After being pushed off the steamboat by Ned, who revealed he is not Colton’s real father, and awaking three days later with a token in his hand to the Alhambra Saloon, Colton embarks on his journey, discovering the reasons behind the attack, who the preacher was, and how everything is connected.

Save the prostitute!

Without a doubt, for the “big Hollywood” generation of games, this is a step in the right direction. With some of the best talent lending their voices to the game, including Tom Skerritt, Lance Henriksen, Brad Dourif (of Lord of the Rings and HBO’s “Deadwood”), and Ron Perlman, Gun has finally made way for games to be played because of being a game, not because of big name stars giving their voices or famous music groups putting their songs on the soundtrack.

The plot of Gun flows quickly and with enough story and interest to keep you playing. It’s not an epic, such as Grand Theft Auto, which takes forever to complete, but is built in the same free-roaming, mission style progression, much like GTA or True Crime. By comparison, the environment is smaller than GTA but larger than True Crime, it’s just a shame there isn’t much in Montana other than some rocks and a lot of brown and orange color. I can’t stress enough, though, playing this game seriously was like playing your favorite shoot-out from an episode of Deadwood (or whichever western you preferred).

Graphically, Gun is typical for where the systems are in their respective generations. Character models from afar looked good, but closer in the animations and affect display was greatly lacking. The environments, though simple, were very pretty. I did find myself from time to time just roaming the land to admire it and relax some. It was pretty, especially at sunset. The framerate was solid and constant without any dips, which was a pleasant surprise, especially considering how much would be going on at times. I wish I could say that the appearance of the game was something out of this world, but it really wasn’t. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t bad, but it certainly wasn’t very good.

Shoot the baddies!

The overall layout of Gun made for an exceptionally fun game. Missions weren’t difficult to decipher, in fact, most told you exactly where to go and what to do, but after the completion of a mission, new side-quests would become available. Side missions included the likes of The Pony Express, where something or someone would have to be delivered safely to a certain location or person. Another side mission was being a deputy in one of the towns and having to stop bandits, stop invading bandits, move barrels of gunpowder…more things with bandits. They liked using bandits. If you were lucky enough to stumble into the saloon, you could belly-up to the card table and enter the Texas Hold ‘em tournament against four others. Want to know the best part about it, even if you’re someone like me who doesn’t care for Hold ‘em? You have the option to cheat. You can pull a card from your sleeve. Granted, your hand doesn’t always end like the climactic game in the Mel Gibson film “Maverick,” but it really gave you an edge. I did enjoy that after the defeat of a boss, that character’s signature gun would then become yours, and by doing the side missions, which also included mining for gold, gave you money to buy upgrades for your weapons and expansions on your flask, which is used to regain health.

The audio was full…of…sound. Seriously, there wasn’t too much of it. The voice acting was absolutely phenomenal and, to give credit, was mixed beautifully. Unlike most games of recent, I can’t complain about the sound. I didn’t have to adjust the music to almost nothing to hear the voices and the gunfire wasn’t this obnoxious sound that made my guinea pigs want to die. That’s the GCC difference: If my Guinea Pigs don’t jump and squeak at the sounds being made by the game, the audio is a-ok. The music and sound effects were fitting. It had that typical twang in every beat of the subdued soundtrack, but when the action picked up, the music was sure to follow. Kudos to the folks at Neversoft on their casting choices, too, as Gun features one of the best casting jobs I’ve seen in years, in film, television and gaming alike. Furthermore, their people did an amazing job of making the character models look and act like their voice counterparts. There is a mild humor in life seeing Kris Kristofferson get blown up with the steamboat.

I had a few issues with the controls, but nothing that made the game unplayable. I admit, the controls for switching guns and holstering was a gamble, and it looks like they came up snake eyes. It took me a long time to learn that only the pistol can be holstered, not anything else. Factual as it may be, I just wanted to put my frickin’ rifle away with the same button I used for the pistol. I can’t fault Neversoft for this, but due to the GCN’s d-pad being diminutive, I ended up hitting the wrong direction and doing something I didn’t want to, then I’d get confused and try hitting B…and that would send me into quick draw mode (think Bullet Tim in the Old West), which would then lead to a string of profanities, possibly getting killed, and then the all-too-familiar controller toss. Remember the old days of the NES when you would die from the controller not jumping? Don’t lie, it happened to every single one of us at least once in Castlevania. We died because the controller screwed up? Yeah, we got to revisit those days

Ride the horsies!

You know what? I think I can best sum up my thoughts on the controls with a link to a video. Some of you may have seen this, for those of you who haven’t, I provide this disclaimer: GCC does not support, condone or endorse the abuse of controllers, extreme and excessive use of profanity, playing Halo 2, playing Halo 2 on live, or assault on an Axe deodorant stick. With that being said, enjoy. This is not for young audiences. Seriously, this guy is crazy and we don’t support his actions or what he says…but the controls in Gun made me feel like this a few times.

I wish I could say that there was a grand scale or replayability, especially for a game so insanely fun, but there really isn’t. The story doesn’t change, and once you know how it all plays out it looses a little something. The four difficulty settings, I will admit, was a pleasant change from the typical fare for games, especially “insane” difficulty, which has that name for a reason. If nothing else, you will want to play a little more after you’re finished to see just how crazy the other difficulties can get.

Above all else, Gun was fun. I know I said that before, but I want to stress it again. It wasn’t the prettiest game or the most original, but it worked and it was bloody fun. Could I honestly suggest it as a fifty-dollar purchase? No, but it makes an excellent rental or a discount buy. Considering the already established character that is Colton, and setting, as well as relative success of Gun, I think we can all look forward to a next-generation sequel, or at least more western games that aren’t horrible. Gun, I salute you.

Kevin McGinnis