Have Gun, Will Travel

Get a load of the Wild West action to be had in Neversoft's upcoming Gun.

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Gun is the mysterious original title that has been cooking at Activision's Neversoft studio for the better part of two years. Anticipation has run high for the secretive project since the Tony Hawk developer revealed its existence last year. Many grew restless when Neversoft wound up offering just a teaser trailer and the revelation of its name at E3, which led fans to speculate and work themselves up into a froth of expectancy. Finally, in the wake of more information coming out on the new game, we got a look at Gun for ourselves at a recent press event, wherein Joel Jewett and other members of the Neversoft team led the assembled press through a look at the upcoming game.

Given all the anticipation and hype, we were naturally curious to see just what Neversoft was going to do for its first original game in years. After all, given the developer's pristine track record, the studio must be due for a stinker at any time, right? Though we just saw a demo of a work-in-progress version of the PS2 game, which offered us a sampling of the varied gameplay Neversoft is packing into the promising title, we're already intrigued by the team's ambitious work.

So just what is Gun? Put simply, it's a free-roaming third-person action game set in the old West. But while that may sound surprisingly conventional for a Neversoft game, the descriptor really doesn't do it justice. This conservative label is just a framework for the realization of some ideas that the Southern California-based developer has been kicking around for a while. Much like Tony Hawk's label of "skating game" didn't quite capture the grand scale of what that game was all about, Gun's "Wild West shooter" label doesn't quite do justice to its content, either.

Just a flesh wound. Really, I'm fine.

At its core, Gun revolves around a lone wolf out to exact vengeance on those who killed his father. The narrative has grown in scope and texture as the team has done research on the post-Civil War era of the late 1800s. With the scars of the war still raw on the nation, the West was a primal place, ruled by passions for violence, sex, money, and liquor. This harsh backdrop serves as the stomping grounds for the main character, Colton Wright. The youth is a wild child given focus and direction by his mountain-man father, who taught him everything he knows. Of course, with violence such an intregral part of life in those days, you can expect a greater emphasis on shades of gray than simple black-and-white dilemmas.

Gun's opening offers a doozy of a twist to the story that upends everything you know about Colton and sends him off on his quest of revenge and self-discovery. While on a riverboat with his father, a brawl over a lady friend erupts into something even more deadly. Colton's father gives him a simple token and instructions to track down a woman named Jenny before he drops the big bomb: he's not actually Colton's father. But before the bewildered son can ask any questions, he's thrown overboard by his surrogate father just as the man is felled by bullets. Shortly afterward, you'll play as Colton as he wakes up downriver, with the coin, the name of the mysterious Jenny fresh on his mind, and the knowledge that the life he knows has ended. So what's a young man to do after such a traumatic series of events? Follow the only lead to his past--and get a vengeance, of course.

Mounted combat will be a big part of Gun's action.

This premise dovetails nicely into Gun's gameplay, which draws liberally from both Neversoft's most recent Tony Hawk game and Rockstar's seminal Grand Theft Auto series. Your journey as Colton will send you throughout the West as you attempt to piece together what happened to your father and get your revenge on. There are two primary types of gameplay, each of which breaks down into a host of different chapters. Certain chapters will revolve around tasks you'll be doing to move the core story along. In the live demo, for example, Colton's search for Jenny leads him to a brothel, wherein some overly anxious customers nab her when it appears she's about to pass them over for Colton. When this happens, you'll have to rescue her in the face of all manner of opposition: a horde of wily gunslingers. Thankfully, you'll have your trusty six-shooter handy, which will help you deal with whatever stands between you and your goals. This portion of the demo showed off a bullet time and zoom feature that showcased how the characters will react according to where they're shot, much like in Resident Evil 4.