A Rootin Hootin Shootin Good Ole' Tootin Time

I was not really up for this game when I saw it on a commercial. A game called GUN seemed like nothing but a brainless shoot em up game. Those games are seemingly pointless to me. But after watching a trailer I found myself picking up a copy from GameStop, and I was very pleased with it.

Story 7/10
Colton White is the name of your character and he is the son of war veteran Ned. While hunting with your dad you come across a steamboat n the river. There is nothing strange about a boat in water but on this steamboat bullets fly as a fake preacher kills a woman. This causes Colton to travel to Dodge City and to find out his true heritage.The story is engulfed with betrayal, lies and murder, like many Westerns usually are. Colton is motivated by revenge and embarks on a grand adventure. The cut scenes in this game are superb as they detail the story to a great extent. I enjoyed the cut scenes, but beware they are curse ridden.

Graphics
Its sucks how this game has moreover Playstation 2 graphics rather than Gamecube graphics. The graphics could have been easily so much better, but they are adequate enough to please you. The characters look real enough during gameplay and during cut scenes. I love the reaction of when someone gets shot, and the blood spewing out is very realistic. The areas and landscapes are massive and beautiful to behold, the colors changing from the dusty brown of Dodge City, vivid green for the alpine mountains, and dull grey for the rock quarries is just stunningly done. Also i love how this game has motion all around you. you can see lizards and birds fly around while tumbleweeds move across the screen while you reload your weapon, pretty nifty stuff.

Sounds
The music was nothing great, but it was nothing bad either. Most of the songs were Western themes, which definitely fit the style if the game. Every town and landscape has their own Western song. I also loved the voice acting in this game. All the characters are believable with their accents and what not. This especially made the cut scenes enjoyable. I also like the sound of the bullets piercing and killing the people. It might sound a bit sadistic but hearing the bullets hitting someone so crisp and realistic is pretty cool.

Gameplay
The main story missions advance the plot along and helps you unlocks new areas to enter on your map. The missions vary from protecting characters to shooting people. I am glad that each mission is challenging but can be easily done with some patience and with some finesse. By successfully completing the story missions you unlock weaponry which can be used to also you on your quest.

There are also side missions that are not necessary. But if you do them you get rewarded with money and other items that help boost Colton's stats. The money is used to upgrade your guns, buy more health slots, or you can gamble your money away. In this game money is very much a necessary part of the game for you to win it. Also the game is like Grand Theft Auto in that it is free form and you are able to go anywhere you want at anytime, well for most of the game anyway. To get from location to location you ride a horse, which is pretty cool.

The controls are hard to get used, but after first training mission, they get manageable. The L button makes you duck, the R button fires your current weapon, Z is your thrown weapon, Y is the action button, X makes you jump, B launches the quickdraw mode, where time slows down and you can take out enemies easier, the C stick makes you look about, the control stick moves you, and the control pad covers everything from changing weapons to refilling your health. I say the learning curve is about an hour since the buttons for some moves are very strange.

Replay Value
The story mode is rather short. But if you do go on side missions you will be spending a few more hours playing this game. And if you want to get one hundred percent you will be playing this game for weeks. A decent replay value for a shooter game.

Overall I liked this game a lot, even though I was skeptical of it at first. It really surpassed my expectations. I recommend buying this game since I am almost positive that no matter what type of gamer you are you will enjoy this game.