Cold, Hard Steel

Step into the lawless wild west in this new trailer for Neversoft's Gun.

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The last time we got a look at Gun we gave you impressions of the game from an extended demo at a press event. The game's promising first impression left us hankering for more, and Activision recently tossed us a bone in the form of a visit to show us even more. While we still couldn't get our hands on it to try it out, we were able to get a look at the game being played during demos of various sections. Despite the game's clearly work-in-progress status, it seems to be coming along just fine.

Our demo encompassed four areas that were taken from different points in the adventure, and it began with a look at how you'll start the game. You are put in the boots of Colton White, a young adventurer who sets out to discover his roots when he discovers the man who raised him isn't his father. You're thrown right into the experience as Ned, the man you think is your father, raises you from a peaceful slumber and beckons you to come hunting. This introductory level brings you up to speed on Gun's control scheme, which blends third- and first-person elements into what appears to be a very smart package. You'll follow Ned's orders and take out local wolves and fowl. The wolves just require you to be a good aim, while the pheasants that get scared up by Ned require you to use the game's "quick draw" mechanic (which should be familiar to anyone who's up on their bullet time effects) to hit all the birds as they take flight. The early shooting segments also let you get a feel for the differences between your pistol and rifle, as well as the melee combat. The pistol is faster and will let you use the quick draw feature in order to hit multiple enemies quickly. The rifle, on the other hand, is more powerful and, although it won't let you use quick draw, has a greater range because of the scope mounted on it. Melee is a basic attack that you can perform and use with different combos. This early segment ended with a cliff-hanger, as you see Ned lose his rifle to a large and unpleasant bear that bursts onto the scene.

The next area we saw was a riverboat where Ned and Colton hooked up with Ned's friend, Sadie. Ned appeared to be in fine health and lacked any visible signs of mauling, so we assume the bear business was sorted out without much fuss. Unfortunately, given the game's story, we knew the grizzled mountain man was living on borrowed time. A brief cinematic set on the deck of the boat shows Sadie being menaced by a preacher, who settles the matter with a good old-fashioned hatchet. There isn't much time to mourn, however, as an attack on the boat takes the bulk of Colt and Ned's attention. The assault on the riverboat, which entails enemy boarders, gunmen on the shore, and incoming boats, will force you to multitask as you make your way through the ship. The segment, still from an early part of the game, continues tossing in a few tutorial bits on the controls and introduces the turret mechanic, which finds you manning a powerful gun on the riverboat and taking out the incoming craft. The segment climaxes with Ned telling you to leave and dropping the bombshell about your lineage before he pitches you overboard into the water.

The segment that followed finds Colton roused back to consciousness by "Honest Tom," who gets this name pretty quickly, as the scruffy fellow is in the process of looting Colton's comatose form. Once it's clear he's not getting any loot off Cole and he realizes that he's likely the only survivor from the ill-fated riverboat, Tom offers some sympathetic help. With Ned gone, Colton's main goal is to reach Dodge City and find Jenny, the mystery skank that Ned told him to seek out. Tom teaches him, and by default the player, the ins and out of riding a horse. The short segment shows off the Zelda-esque controls you'll you use to ride your noble steed. Our look at this segment ended with Colton heading out on the first leg of his search for the truth behind his origins.

The final part of our demo offered us a good look at Dodge City, Colt's first stop on his tour of the West. There appeared to be many possibilities to explore in this massive free-roaming environment. Before we saw the bar fight and tribulations that occur when you wind up at the local brothel looking for Jenny, we got to see some of the activities that you can engage in when you hit a town. You'll be able to visit shops and purchase upgrades that enhance your performance in the game. The saloon will let you interact with the locals and engage in some seven-card-stud poker games that will yield precious cash. Money will be central to your playing experience in Gun, as you'll need it for all the good stuff. Thankfully, you won't have to sweat playing cards every time you need cash, because there are a bevy of side missions that will be available to you. We saw two of the main side missions in town during the demo. Wanted posters will send you off hunting disreputable folk and bringing them in, dead or alive. If you're looking for a change of pace (and that's not to say that shooting people ever gets played out in the Wild West), you can also pick up missions from the local representative of the Pony Express who will send you off to deliver packages. In addition, it appears you may also be getting quests from town locals who seem to be a needy bunch. The last bit of the demo showed off the chaos that ensues when Jenny is nabbed by miscreants and you have to run to her rescue. The sequence had received a decent amount of extra visual polish from the last time we saw it.