•• Story ••
Hands-down, Gun has one of the best video game stories in recent memory. Written by Randall Jahnson, a professional Hollywood screenwriter, the tale is one of revenge, lost childhoods, and religious artifacts. You play Colton, a ranch hand who works with his father Ned. When a steamboat is destroyed that Ned has a very serious interest in, Colton is left alone, confused and with a coin from the Alhambra bar with instructions to see Jenny. It is this search for the meaning of the coin and his relationship to his father that this game revolves around. Along the way, you meet a crazy cast of characters, some good, some bad, some indifferent. The dialog is punchy, adult, and realistic. it never sinks to the level of camp, but certainly doesn't take itself too seriously. The story retains a level of fun while at the same time, perpetuating a feeling of danger. Good stuff.

•• Gameplay ••
The gameplay mechanics are pretty easy and yet enable the player to do lots of things. On foot, you can run, crouch and shoot. Basic things. You can also throw molotov cocktails and dynamite. Up close, you get a melee attack with a knife, sword or scalping blade. The Y button is the basic "use" button which initiates conversation, picks up objects or lets you mount your horse. You switch between 4 weapons: Sniper rifle, pistols, shotgun, or rifle by holding down the X button and using the D-pad to follow an on-screen prompt. The controls are all easy to use and anyone familiar with this kind of game should get comfortable with them quickly. If you have any booze on you (indicated in the HUD), you can hit the up on the D-pad to replenish your health. Nothing like good old moonshine for a quick pick-me-up.

Horse riding is prevalent in the game and necessary for crossing the large landscapes. Once on the horse, holding the left button will kick your horse into sprint mode for faster travel. Punching that same shoulder button will gouge your stirrup's into his side for a quick jolt of speed. But doing this too much will actually kill your horse, so it must be done infrequently. As well, you can shoot while on horseback or you can trample the bad guys to death. This is actually the most fun way to do away with them, because they go skittering across the ground in a smear of blood.

The game in general is pretty linear and it needs to be to effectively tell the story. If someone rabbits through the game without doing any of the side missions, the game can be completed in 6-8 hours. Most will scoff at that as being "short". But look at it this way: The average DVD movie costs $15 and lasts for 2 hours. If you were to buy $60 worth of movies, you'd get 4 of them totalling 8 hours. So if a game costs the same and give you the same length of play time, how is it a bad deal? The point though, is that if you are not playing many of the dozens and dozens of side missions, then you are missing much of the game. The main game's missions are interesting, but tremendously varied. Usually they involve hunting someone down, rescuing a key person in the story, blowing things up, etc. There are 4 or 5 basic types of side missions: Horse missions for the rancher, timed delivery missions, hunting animal missions, Poker, and a few others. Again, they are fun, but they tap the limits of interesting things to do. Nevertheless, I completed about 90% of the side missions and never got bored.

The AI is OK, but not great. The bad guys will hide and use cover, but they only take a few shots to drop them, especially after you upgrade your weapons. This means that much of the game is run and gun, which remains fun, but not tremendously challenging. Not until the end boss did I really feel like the game was hard.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing. The game should never be so hard that the player throws the controller. It should only be so hard that the player feels challenged and then satisfied in the end when the challenge is completed. It succeeds on this level. But for those looking for a really tough game will do well to set it on harder difficulties than normal.

As a side note, this game has a really bad Poker AI. In the game of basic Texas Hold'em, it is easy to beat the other players by simply bluffing and raising high. They will almost always fold. And the few times they do call or raise, they are usually bluffing. Plus, you have the option of cheating by being able swap out a card for one in your sleeve. Clever and dirty like I'd expect, but not exactly balanced.

The most interesting gameplay element is quickdraw. hit the right shoulder button and you'll go into slow-motion with auto-aim. You have a limited time to use quickdraw and it only works with pistols, but that time is recharged by shooting bad guys in non-quickdraw mode. It is especially helpful when you need to clear an area of bad guys before they kill you.

•• Graphics ••
This is really the main weakness in Gun, but it's not a weakness that is all that bad. The graphics are basically a port from the Xbox versions with a few improvements such as higher resolution textures, larger environment draws, and HDTV support. That said, the models look fantastic. They are suitably detailed and grizzled. Being in the old west, they are dirty and scummy and I could tell by looking at them that they needed a shower.

The animations were smooth and it's clear they did wonders with the motion capture equipment they employed. The animations were detailed and subtle and actually looked real. Simple movements like cocking a head or turning a leg really brought character to these people. And since all the cut-scenes were rendered in-engine, the sense of immersion never left.

The environment is huge with no loading screens. I had free run of the entire map thanks to the expanded power of the Xbox 360. In that regard, the landscapes were varied and detailed, but not overly so. There was no individual blades of grass, fancy lighting effects. Pretty basic stuff and nothing that isn't available on other platforms. A minor disappointment, but nothing huge.

•• Sound ••
The sound on all fronts was impeccable. The music score by Christopher Lennertz is fantastic. It employs a western motif, but doesn't drift into Spaghetti western territory. Instead it is very reminiscent of John Barry's score from Dances with Wolves. Melodic, haunting, exciting and dramatic. I loved the score and would buy it as a music CD if it were available. I wish all game music was as good.

And the same goes for the voice work. Using top name actors doesn't always work. Pierce Brosnan in 007 games is an example as is Michael Caine in Batman Begins. But Gun employed some b-level actors, though well known ones. Thomas Jane, Kris Kristofferon, Ron Perlman, Tom Skerrit, and Lance Henriksen all lend their voice talents to the game. But the key to their performance is that they were working with a good script and directed well by industry expert Margaret Tang. This is some of the best VO I've heard in a game and these actors made the characters really come alive. Kudos to Neversoft for spending the time and resources to make the voice quality top-notch,

•• Multiplayer ••
In a move that was no doubt to enable shipping with the launch of Xbox 360, there is no multiplayer in this game. A disappointment, but understandable.

•• Achievements ••
I was able to win almost all of the achievements. You get one for each level and one for completing each set of side missions which was great inspiration. While certainly not deep, the achievements are fun and challenging.

•• Parents Should Know ••
This game is rated M for Mature and rightly so. The cinematics contain torture, mutilation, beheadings, and foul language. It is all raw and contributes to the rough, uncensored view of the wild west. However it isn't for the kids.

Related reviews:

Xbox 360 Console - The Comprehensive Launch Review

Amped 3 - Developers Gone Wild!
Kameo: Elements of Power - The Best Xbox 360 Launch title
Condemned: Criminal Origins - I smell a franchise

Recommended:
Yes