by Chris Fletcher

Created on: July 01, 2008

This review is based on the Xbox 360 release.

GUN, from the outset, tries to do two things emulate the old westerns from the days of John Wayne and James Stewart, and utilize the increasingly popular sandbox' style of gameplay that we all know, love and thank Grand Theft Auto for. And to its credit, the game does try very hard on both those counts.

Regrettably, it only really succeeds in the first regard.

The concept of a conspiracy / murder mystery / action game set to a sandbox old west America is a seldom used one (Red Dead Revolver and Dead Man's Hand come to mind, although I sincerely wish I could forget the latter), and so there is potential there for exploration and originality. And the atmosphere of GUN uses this to its advantage, handing out mostly authentic weaponry, environments of nothing but grass and rocks, and encapsulating the testosterone drenched attitude of the time. You almost get the feeling, while walking through one of the towns, that if you look at one of the pedestrians the wrong way you'll have a gunfight on your hands.

Playing through the campaign reveals the plot of the story in chapters, each pre- and suffixed with long, cinematic cut-scenes filled to bursting point with excellent vocal work. I have always been a fan of Brad Dourif (who voices the preacher Reed, but you'll recognize him as the voice of Chucky, everyone's favorite homicidal doll) and Lance Henriksson (the big, bad Macgruder), and both of them perform nicely. Thomas Jane, known for his turn as The Punisher is good in the lead of Colton, if a little flat. Ron Perlman (Hellboy for some, Vincent from the eighties television version of Beauty and the Beast for others) as Hoodoo, a crooked town mayor is great as always. Two other standouts are Kris Kristofferson and Tom Skerritt, although their roles, alongside Perlman's, are underused in almost every regard.

The story is compelling when it begins, as it seems to throw a lot at you in a small amount of time, leaving you thinking that there will be many hours after the introduction in which to solve the mysteries presented to you. There's a lot that seems to need explaining, you see your father turns out to not be your father seconds before he's murdered after arranging a rendezvous on a steamboat to acquire a mysterious artifact. From there, you will eventually be deputized as Sheriff, become a mailman, bounty hunter, peace keeper, frequent shopper, game hunter, animal herder and others, most all of which are side missions

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