Wild West Turmoil

You'll have to watch your scalp as you investigate your father's murder in Neversoft's Gun.

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Neversoft's upcoming Activision-published Gun has shown quite a bit of promise since the Southern California-based developer took the wraps off the third-person Western-themed action game earlier this year. The game blends elements and technology from Neversoft's own Tony Hawk franchise, as well as a smattering of GTA-inspired bits. We've been anxious to see just how this Western romp--which promises much shooting, female interaction, and mystery-solving--will handle, ever since we got our first look at it this past June. Our subsequent looks have done little to diminish that positive impression, so we were naturally anxious to take the reins in the game and get some hands-on time. We were finally able to do that recently when we tried out work-in-progress versions of the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 games, which featured a sampling of levels taken from the start of the adventure.

The first levels we tried started us at the outset of the game, which we'd seen in a demo previously, but which now featured a bit more context. Before you dive into the game, you're treated to a brief cinematic of travelers being massacred by surly natives who clearly have issues with the white men traipsing through their lands. Following that quick intro, you take control of Colton White, Gun's antihero, as he's roused by his father Ned. The pair head out to do some early morning hunting, which serves as one of the many tutorials you'll go through at the beginning of the game. Following a spot of hunting that offers your pick of fowl, wolves, and bucks, Ned will be taken unawares by a large bear, and you'll have to save him by grabbing his rifle and plugging Yogi with lead until the beast drops.

Colton and Ned then set out on a riverboat, which is attacked. During the assault, Ned drops the now well-known bomb on Colton about his lineage, namely that Ned isn't Cole's father. He then shoves the young lad off the boat before it blows up. Cole wakes up three days later, just in time for some horseback-riding lessons from an eccentric mountain man. He then heads out to Dodge City with a coin given to him by Ned and the name of the local promiscuous woman, Jenny. They meet in the local bar, and she gives Cole information on the secret past that Ned had remained silent about.

But then, conveniently, the young lady is kidnapped by overly enthusiastic patrons. Once you rescue her, she directs you to the nearby city of Empire, which promises to hold more information on your family tree. As luck would have it, Jenny is set to go to the fine city herself to ply her trade to the deprived locals. Upon arriving to the rough town, you'll meet one of Jenny's acquaintances, Hoodoo Brown, Empire's handlebar mustache-bearing, stovepipe hat-wearing mayor. Though it seems like Colton's la vida loca might finally be settling down as he begins his quest, he's then deputized by Hoodoo and charged with helping bring order to Empire. While we don't want to spoil the game's twists, suffice it to say you shouldn't trust anyone…ever.

You can take a break from the main storyline to earn some cash and beef up Colton's already impressive arsenal.

All of the above unfolds via a mix of in-game cinematics and playable segments where the dialogue fills you in on what's up. The game's structure is a pretty standard mix of linear story segments that move you along through Colton's story, as well as open-ended exploration and adventuring via optional side missions you'll pick up in the various towns you'll come upon. The towns will serve as hubs for both types of gameplay. The best part about the story and side missions is that they both reward you in some meaningful way. The story obviously moves things along, but you'll also score on some nice firearms, as the boss fights will yield some sweet new weapons. However, you won't be missing out on the side missions, as they'll yield precious cash you can use to upgrade Colton's skills and weapons, which comes in handy.

The gameplay we've seen so far is good and varied. Yes, shooting the bejesus out of anything that moves is still very much at the game's center, but it's given different context as you go, which keeps the action fresh. For example, when you're on the riverboat during the attack, you'll man a turret and take the enemies out. When you escort Jenny to Empire you'll be mixing standard shooting on horseback with traditional rail-shooting gameplay and even some melee. Later on you'll even find some puzzle-solving in the level as you poke around on foot to find explosives to clear the way for Jenny's coach. In fact, we hit quite a few multipart levels as we played. The last part of the playable levels we tried found us hunting down some wanted felons. We set a booby trap with explosives in the town center, and as they rode through after completing their crime spree, we chased them down. Once the felons were sorted, the action spilled over into a boss fight against two armed foes, one on foot and one mounted. The variety we've seen so far is welcome and certainly keeps the action interesting.