Gun [PS2]

After seven years of solely making Tony Hawk games, Neversoft, the Southern California developer that's made a mint on perfecting the best skateboarding games on the planet, has branched into new territory with a rowdy, spirited action game based on the Wild West. The subject matter of Old West shooters is hugely popular with gamers, who anxiously awaited Rockstar's Red Dead Revolver last year and have shown substantial interest in more Western goodness.

Why is there a dearth of Western videogames? Why has the Western been neglected so much in the videogame realm? Nailing the right control and camera system has something to do with it, but riding, shooting and generally interacting on horseback is also a concern. It's the same reason that motorcycle and bike games are so hard to develop -- the character and bike must physically react independently of one another but also work in synchronization. Camera angles have also been an issue. Neversoft hits those subjects head on and with general success.

Gun, however, is not the Western to beat all Westerns. Remove it from the genre, take it purely as a shooter, and it's less impressive. The vast landscape is too often vacant of action. The side missions are easy, even simplistic. And while the shooting aspects of Gun comprise an excellent set of weapons and the fun, arcade mechanism of QuickDraw, the lack of precision and wily controls will leave many gamers scratching their heads. What's the dealio? Step up to the bar, cowboy.

The Story of the Cross Working closely with movie writer Randall Jahnson (Sunset Strip, The Doors, Mask of Zorro, Dude), Neversoft has crafted an excellent narrative. In the 1880s of Montana, Ned White rears a son that's not his own. Colton White learns this all too late as his father (superbly voice acted by Kris Kristofferson) pushes him over the railing of a steam boat before dying in an explosion. Colton awakes three days later with a token in his hand to the Alhambra saloon and finds that the mystery behind the steamboat attack, his father's death, and the token itself is all about to unwind through his actions.

As videogame stories go, Neversoft nailed this one good and hard. While several aspects of Gun might distract or frustrate you, the narrative won't. There is suspense, betrayal, surprise, and a good old-fashioned Western motive -- raw greed -- that drives it all. The character cast -- ranging from Ron Perlman as Hoodoo Brown, Thomas Jane as Colton White, Lance Hendrickson as Thomas McGruder -- is top-notch. Each performance is raw, gritty, and full of color. You won't get a bunch of campy jokes, excessive chatter, or any modern lingo slip-ups either. You'll hear great Western vernacular perfectly delivered throughout the game in a way that grabs and pulls you into the narrative and makes you want to finish the story.

Adding to the presentation is an excellent movie-like score, and decent but not great graphics. While some of the wrinkly, leathered skin on the faces of many characters looks right on the money, the weak animations and motion capture detract from the characters' believability. Given the strengths of each system, Gun ironically looks very good on PS2 compared to other titles on the platform, and is less impressive on more powerful systems like the PC and Xbox where we're used to superior graphics.