GUN (Xbox 360)

It may not push the Xbox 360 to its limits graphically, but for anybody who wants to be a cowboy, this game is essential.

The game is mostly free roaming, GTA style, but in the Old West. You can ride on horseback, explore little wooden towns, Indian villages, steam trains, it's all there and all feels authentic. I love the bars, with their poker tables and bar brawls. It's the fact that you really feel like you're in a Western, with all the cliches intact, that makes this game a winner.

However, you will find yourself with little time to roam and explore because the main missions and the storyline are just so good and riveting that you'll just keep playing to see how the story ends.

And what a story, it's riveting in all it's cinematic glory - kind of a cross between all those classic Westerns and Indiana Jones as your character searches for a mystical cross. The voice acting is superb, the best I've heard, with A-list hollywood actors like Thomas Jane, Ron Perlman and Kris Kristofferson all supplying their voices.

The story missions were quite easy, however, and on the easiest setting can easily be blast through in a couple of days. But try it out on Insane difficulty setting and it's like a proper Western with all the danger intact.

Aside from the main mission you get side missions involving such tasks like captruing bounties, gold digging, playing poker and being a ranch hand. All are quite interesting, but it depends how involved with the game you are if you will complete all of them.

The graphics on the 360 version may be poor - the console is capable of far better - and the gameplay doesn't exactly stress the machine out, but in terms of playability and interest then this game is a five starrer. It is so much fun being in this Western.

Wow, a game that is right up my street. I've always enjoyed spaghetti westerns, especially those of the Clint Eastwood variety, plus as someone who was brought up around horses, the idea of game where you travel on horseback between small hostile towns in the desert, mine for gold, try your hand at poker and cattle-ranching, escorting stagecoaches and soaking up the atmosphere in the saloon is gold itself.

The xbox 360 version is quite pretty, if a little bland at times. It definitely doesn't push the new xbox by any stretch of the imagination in graphical terms, but after seeing a "making of" I know that the sound is pretty authentic.

The control system is reasonably intuitive and not that far removed from the GTA series.

Other than the main missions, which focusses on revenge and tracking down an evil preacher, there are a multitude of side missions and ways to make money and increase your stats (a-la GTA San Andreas), such as ranching, bounty hunting, odd-jobs for the sheriff like rescuing stagecoaches and silencing gang members. There are also other small missions like pony express (courier), mining and playing poker. Most of these missions earn money which can be spent on weapon upgrades etc.

By far the most interesting feature is quickdraw. For anyone who has played Red Dead Revolver this concept should be familiar. There is a bar in the HUD which is your quickdraw meter. When you press the RB button time slows down and you zoom in on your target. If you have more than one target, arrows will appear on the sides of the screen. Pressing left or right will switch targets and allow you to nail them all swiftly and without having to aim manually.

It does have its problems though. Your character seems to have an invisible forcefield around him and amazing powers of telekinesis. If you walk over to barrel of gunpowder, the invisible forcefield will push it away from you even before you character has reached it. Yet, pressing the Y button to pick it up, it will zoom into your hands from two feet away. Its a glitch but its not really enough to ruin this western adventure.

Unlike Red dead revolver, you can pretty much go where you want to, letting you choose to continue with the story or pursue some side-missions.

A great western romp, although it is very bloody and adult in theme.

Let me say this to begin with, this is almost a straight port of the PS2/Xbox game with slightly upgraded graphics, certainly not high definition. However, since most of the game is set against a barren landscape this doesn't really matter.

The story moves along at a fair old pace. The story missions are varied in theme but all involve shooting either Indians (Native Americans for all you politically correct people out there), Outlaws and in the early missions, animals. This has upset a few people but it does carry an 18 certificate so you know it isn't suitable for kiddies anyway.

The story missions get slowly more difficult as you progress so it is important that you increase your stats by completing side missions. This is where the true feeling of being in the Wild West comes into play. You will have to be the Sheriff's deputy and keep law and order in town; carry messages and equipment on the Pony Express; hunt the dangerous animals of the area and then try your hand at some Texas Hold 'Em. If you are successful you will be rewarded with increased stats and cash to upgrade your weapons and horse riding ability.

When you first get to the main part of the environment it will feel huge, with miles between the two major towns. Once you have been back and forth a few times it will start to feel small, especially on horseback. The game was billed by the press as Grand Theft Auto on horses, however there is much less freedom to do what you choose in Gun. In GTA there are loads of types of car to get to grips with, adding to the fun. In Gun there are either brown horses, grey horses or brown and grey horses, all of which are identical to ride.

The gunfights are where Gun excels. You can either slug it out with a rifle, throw in a whisky bomb or enter "Quickdraw" mode. This slows down the action and zooms in the camera so you can get a clear shot. Pressing the directional stick moves you on to the next target, but you have to be quick as your "Quickdraw" time will run out fast if you don't get the kill. This is by far the easiest way to get out of a tight spot when surrounded by mounted enemies.

The sound is what you would expect from a Western styled game, lots of harmonicas and epic orchestral scores with a bit of banjo thrown in for good measure. Most of the characters have accents from the deep south of America and the voices really fit the characters.

The Achievements are mostly story based but you can also unlock them by completing side missions and buying weapon upgrades.

No Xbox Live capabilities but it is a single player game, I'm not sure how you could make it multiplayer and keep the feel of the original game, perhaps a deathmatch mode would work (if it's in the inevitable sequel I want my name in the credits please Activision!).

Overall it's a good game and certainly a brave move from the developers. The market for Wild West films has all but disappeared so the market for a Wild West game can't have been too big when the idea was first penned. It's big enough to keep you entertained for a few weeks.