Lead and Gold has a lot going for it and can generally look past it's problems for a fun and addictive multiplayer.
Lead and Gold has many flaws that diminish its beauty. The practice, if even called that, isn't really tutorial material and leaves a few things to be thought up by other gamers. The practice allows you to know how to move, how to shoot, how to pick up objects, basically it teaches just simple things that gamers can usually figure out. It doesn't tell you important aspects such as abilities that each class has or as the game calls it, synergy. Synergy is different between each class and while gamers can figure it out it feels stripped. The fact that it doesn't give tips on what each of their strengths and weakness are is also just shallow and a pretty avoidable flaw.
Lead and Gold can combat the practice system because it is easy to understand the control scheme and get right into the game. Movement keys are easy, shooting is simple, and the other features it has you can suck up the knowledge in only a few seconds. Synergy education isn't incredibly hard and you can soon be strategically thinking up which type can work on which map. For the regular cowboy you can shoot accurately, the trapper lays down traps, the blaster throws dynamite, and the deputy marks the target this making that target's life a lot shorter. The synergies of each class is well balanced making not one class feel more powerful than it's companions.
Lead and Gold's multiplayer isn't truly a breakthrough but it is fun and once you get into the gist of it becomes a highly addictive game with all kinds of things to do. While replay ability isn't high and can get boring, the thrill of shooting and the superb animations will want you coming back. For a small thing it had a lot work for it, animations on your character rarely stagger and the kill animations while repetitive and cheap looking are still funny and quite awkward to see.
Multiplayer has several modes of simple and ordinary objectives of other games, you have a Capture the Flag like game called Conquest, and a team death match called Shootout. There are also other modes such as Robbery which calls one team to rob the other teams gold. However, these objectives are often repeated and overly used, example would be Robbery and Greed. While the objectives can get repetitive and boring the joy of Lead and Gold's team based multiplayer is still loads of fun and welcomes new comers and old veterans.
The major flaw that really kills the game is the most simple flaw that many other multiplayer has, however in this game it feels they were upped so that you could rarely play the game. The flaw is the lagging issues, for one thing you are running freely gunning down you're enemies and taking the loot. At that same time lag kicks in and you're partners suddenly run in place and the enemies teleport all around. This may not be a problem to some but I found that as I was shooting at the guy he wasn't getting damage. Why? He had already moved but it hadn't registered that yet on my screen.
Lag is a big issue in game and out, for some reason when you go into the lobby there is a lag that can kick you out. This lag has never before seen and I bet many other players couldn't see it but it happened and detracts the game's personal bests. It may not be much of a problem if your mouse just moves slowly but if you get kicked from the game and it happens all too many times then we have a problem.
The lag is a flaw and can't be looked past, but the game-play is still fun and engaging. When you have the loot and heading back to your base you feel tension and pray to your teammates to protect you. When you're nearly about to lose you race to the finish in a struggle to stop the timer and stop the other side. The game-play is great and will be the main reason you come back.
Lead and Gold also has a great game-play even without the objective based matches. Gun play is smooth and always registers, each gun has its own strengths and weakness that is always fun to learn about. Not to mention the best part of the game is the level system. In a match all players start at level one and as you gradually gain level you get minor changes to your character which can alter damage and life. These small changes help make you strive to become the highest ranked in the game and the most feared. The bad news is that each match your level resets to one and therefore you have to grind once again to get back to the top.
Death will come to those unprepared but Fatshark and Paradox know this problem and therefore gave all the people the healing power to revive your teammates. When you go down you stay up but are still down and with a gun in your hand you try to kill the person who laughs at you as you lie there, if you can take him down to your level you can finish him easily. This system is well used and gives you a second chance. Unfortunately you can die in that position if much time passes and it's always frustrating to see your teammate run past you and not notice the press the button to heal you up.
On some maps there are turrets, turrets can be used by the opposing team or your team to help the teams out and kill the competition faster. While the turret adds some nice variety it's range is limited and it can be a bit frustrating to die from someone who was just a few paces off of your sight. Not to mention the lack of damage it does to the buildings so if you want to kill an enemy and he's in the building, don't bother. The maps are all well balanced and generally fun, but they can get too old, too fast.
Pros:
-Fast and fun game play
-Balanced characters
-Objectives give reason to play
-Just so much fun to kill someone with the wide range of weapons you have
-Synergy is a neat attribute to the game
-Your team is always there for you
-There are good moments of you feeling like you saved the day
-Animations are fluent
-Varied maps
-Great multiplayer from an independent gaming company
Cons:
-Lags
-Like a lot of lags
-Character features on the front are a bit disturbing
-Balancing for players is not here
-Turrets can be a bit meaningless
-Varied maps can get a bit tedious
-Same kind of objectives
-Stripped practice
Overall, Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West isn't a Battlefield Bad Company 2 multiplayer and it has it's lag issues. However, you can still find a fast paced, enjoyable multiplayer experience in this game. Plus with the objectives and the pure joy of shooting down your enemy and the achievements you can unlock, chances are you will spend many months combing the old west with your old friend, the Negotiator.