[Video Games] GUN
Mar. 18th, 2006 08:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trooper6[It has occured to me that I haven't done one of these in a really long time...I've just finished GUN, so I thought I 'd put in a review of it...I also realize that I haven't done a review of Indigo Prophesy...so I'll do that too.]
An Xbox review:
GUN -- Activision
What the Game Is: 3rd Person action-adventure. It is a Western. But a western where you are a lone gunslinger...so a Good, Bad, Ugly sort of western, rather than a Big Valley or Bonanza Western.
Plot/Level Design: The plot is not high art, but it hits all the cliches of the Western genre well. Generally, the plot is linear--a tale of revenge--and there are lots of varied side missions. The side missions including being a bounty collector or a lawman...which is no surprise, but there are also pony express missions and ranching missions...and (for me) a really neat set of side missions where you play in Texas Hold'em Poker tournaments. Riding the horses is really fun. The towns look very much like old west towns...they seemed to have done research on that. The final boss battle is really tough, and in multiple stages...and I died a lot. Luckily, once I finished the first really hard stage and died, they restarted me at the beginning of the second stage...I love them for that.
Audio: The audio is good. Nothing super outstanding, but very good. The voice acting is good, the sound effects are good.
Graphics: The graphics are good. The look of the Southwest is gorgeous. Some of the gestures of the NPCs in the cut scenes are a bit repetitive.
Controls: The controls are well done. Nothing to complain about here.
Extras: No extras.
Replay: The game is sort of short, very fun...but I'm not sure i'd replay it. Since I've completed all of the side missions and the main story missions...I think I'm finished with the game. I suppose for people are interested and do that sort of thing, this would make a good rental (I've yet to rent a game myself).
Critical Reception: Looks like mixed reception. The big complaint was the length...people thought it too short. Some compared it to GTA unfavorably...usually due to the fact that GTA is a billion hours long and GUN is not. Some folks didn't like travelling from point a to point b...where the areas are all very brown...but I liked it. Some hard core gamers didn't find it challenging enough.
Deep Thoughts: The game is really violent. You have the opportunity to scalp still living people and you blow off limbs and heads...there's lots of gore--but the gore isn't very cartoony...a bit more brutal and disturbing. Also you kill lots of Native Americans. Then again, you kill lots of everybody. Nonetheless, I really, really had a lot of fun with this game. But I kept having this feeling that maybe I shouldn't be having fun with it. Do you every play a game and think...I bet some of my pals would judge me for liking this game...in the same way that some people will judge you if you tell them you like pornography? But you don't actually think there is anything wrong with pornography...but you know that not everyone feels the same way? I think that the violence is pornographic...but I do think there is a bit of nuance to the violence too...for example, you can scalp people...but it doesn't give you any in-game goodies...and generally the people you scalp are yelling at you to stop and there is the spray of blood...and it's sort of disconcerting...which I think is good. So...they were going for gritty...and I think they achieved that...but I can see how some people might be made uncomfortable by it or offended by it. So if you think that this might bug you...then don't play it. But I have to say, I liked the game so much that it pulled me out of my World of Warcraft obsession.
Grade: A-/B+
Summation: This game is violent and not for folks who don't want to deal with lots of violence that is done bloodily and a tad creepily. I'm not a Western fanatic, but I do like Westerns. Yet I'm not sure the game would pull in folks who aren't positively disposed to the genre. But I found it fun and exciting.
If You Liked...You'd Love...: Do you like gritty Western movies? Then maybe you should check it out.
What's next?
Quickie Game: Um...probably back into FIFA 2005...but I'm not sure.
Main Feature Game: Silent Hill 4: The Room...and World of Warcraft
On the Horizon: I'm really excited about The Godfather, which should be coming out soon. I'm also really looking forward to Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion...but I probably won't pick up an Xbox 360 for a while.
An Xbox review:
GUN -- Activision
What the Game Is: 3rd Person action-adventure. It is a Western. But a western where you are a lone gunslinger...so a Good, Bad, Ugly sort of western, rather than a Big Valley or Bonanza Western.
Plot/Level Design: The plot is not high art, but it hits all the cliches of the Western genre well. Generally, the plot is linear--a tale of revenge--and there are lots of varied side missions. The side missions including being a bounty collector or a lawman...which is no surprise, but there are also pony express missions and ranching missions...and (for me) a really neat set of side missions where you play in Texas Hold'em Poker tournaments. Riding the horses is really fun. The towns look very much like old west towns...they seemed to have done research on that. The final boss battle is really tough, and in multiple stages...and I died a lot. Luckily, once I finished the first really hard stage and died, they restarted me at the beginning of the second stage...I love them for that.
Audio: The audio is good. Nothing super outstanding, but very good. The voice acting is good, the sound effects are good.
Graphics: The graphics are good. The look of the Southwest is gorgeous. Some of the gestures of the NPCs in the cut scenes are a bit repetitive.
Controls: The controls are well done. Nothing to complain about here.
Extras: No extras.
Replay: The game is sort of short, very fun...but I'm not sure i'd replay it. Since I've completed all of the side missions and the main story missions...I think I'm finished with the game. I suppose for people are interested and do that sort of thing, this would make a good rental (I've yet to rent a game myself).
Critical Reception: Looks like mixed reception. The big complaint was the length...people thought it too short. Some compared it to GTA unfavorably...usually due to the fact that GTA is a billion hours long and GUN is not. Some folks didn't like travelling from point a to point b...where the areas are all very brown...but I liked it. Some hard core gamers didn't find it challenging enough.
Deep Thoughts: The game is really violent. You have the opportunity to scalp still living people and you blow off limbs and heads...there's lots of gore--but the gore isn't very cartoony...a bit more brutal and disturbing. Also you kill lots of Native Americans. Then again, you kill lots of everybody. Nonetheless, I really, really had a lot of fun with this game. But I kept having this feeling that maybe I shouldn't be having fun with it. Do you every play a game and think...I bet some of my pals would judge me for liking this game...in the same way that some people will judge you if you tell them you like pornography? But you don't actually think there is anything wrong with pornography...but you know that not everyone feels the same way? I think that the violence is pornographic...but I do think there is a bit of nuance to the violence too...for example, you can scalp people...but it doesn't give you any in-game goodies...and generally the people you scalp are yelling at you to stop and there is the spray of blood...and it's sort of disconcerting...which I think is good. So...they were going for gritty...and I think they achieved that...but I can see how some people might be made uncomfortable by it or offended by it. So if you think that this might bug you...then don't play it. But I have to say, I liked the game so much that it pulled me out of my World of Warcraft obsession.
Grade: A-/B+
Summation: This game is violent and not for folks who don't want to deal with lots of violence that is done bloodily and a tad creepily. I'm not a Western fanatic, but I do like Westerns. Yet I'm not sure the game would pull in folks who aren't positively disposed to the genre. But I found it fun and exciting.
If You Liked...You'd Love...: Do you like gritty Western movies? Then maybe you should check it out.
What's next?
Quickie Game: Um...probably back into FIFA 2005...but I'm not sure.
Main Feature Game: Silent Hill 4: The Room...and World of Warcraft
On the Horizon: I'm really excited about The Godfather, which should be coming out soon. I'm also really looking forward to Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion...but I probably won't pick up an Xbox 360 for a while.
