To start off with, I can safely say that GUN is the best western shooting games out or that has ever come out... but that’s not saying much because I can only really think of one other western game.
GUN is available on the Xbox 360, Xbox, GameCube, PC, PSP and PlayStation 2. This review was conducted off the 360, although I have played and finished the game to the same extent on the PS2.
I think there is one word to describe this game really. Ambitious. What GUN delivers is a very fun western free roam game which will thoroughly entertain you, at least while the game lasts. What it doesn’t deliver is a game which would keep people playing. Despite the storyline being quite above average, full story game play clocks in at a measly 9 hours, and that’s including doing about 70% of side missions. While this could be extended a few hours by playing on a harder difficulty (I played on Normal at first), it never really offers a huge branch out.
The game is set in the 1880's and the story starts simple enough; your name is Colton White, you and your father are hunting for deer to sell to a steamboat travelling down the river. When you come aboard it seems your father has something hidden in a safe inside it. After a brief conversation with a mysterious priest the ship is attacked, after defended it you are thrown overboard and it explodes, with a piece of debris knocking you unconscious. From there the game really begins, as you set off trying to find what was hidden in that safe and who attacked and killed your father.
Graphics aren’t really a high point, at least not compared to today’s standards, but for 2005 it is passable. Now, I first played this on PS2 when it first came out and quite enjoyed it, having recently bought it for the 360 I was disappointed that there was no improvement to the graphics, something which could have really extended on the PS2 version, even despite it being released in 2005.
GUN is a decent game, but it offers next to no replayability once completed. Although I will be completing this game for all the achievement points, I don’t see any reason beyond that to really continue playing this game. That said, this game is quite cheap now, I bought it for $25 AUD in shops, and I’m sure pre owned or eBay could offer you it even cheaper.
If it appeals enough to you, as it did to me, then why not buy/rent it. The play games is actually very entertaining and fun, and the story is very well done, with excellent voice acting. As I said before, GUN is a decent game, and at its price, everyone should at least have a look into it.
