Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

Gun offers a robust free-roaming Western experience that marries the frontier’s gritty realities with the open-world freedom popularized by modern action-adventure titles. As Colton White, you’ll tackle a linear storyline while also having the flexibility to diverge off the beaten path for countless side activities. From high-stakes duels in dusty main streets to frantic multi-enemy shootouts amid canyon vistas, the combat mechanics blend traditional third-person shooting with RPG-style progression in QuickDraw, zoom firing, and melee moves.

The variety of available missions is staggering. On the main path, you’ll chase outlaws, defend towns from marauding bandits, and escort railway builders through hazardous territory. Meanwhile, optional tasks range from poker games and bounty hunts to animal hunting, gold mining, and rescuing stranded settlers. Each activity not only pads your coffers but also lets you sample different gameplay loops, whether you’re laying traps for coyotes or flinging tomahawks in close-quarters melees.

Mounted combat and traversal are highlights that bring the GTA influence to the Wild West setting. Horses respond to spur commands, allowing you to gallop, skid to a halt, or even trample foes when provoked. You’ll need to balance your mare’s stamina, feed it oats, and rest it between sessions to keep it in fighting shape. Combined with roll maneuvers, cover-based shooting, and brutal finishers—scalping included—Gun’s gameplay loop feels both varied and authentically frontier-harsh.

Graphics

For its time, Gun delivered impressive vistas of sweeping desert landscapes, dense pine forests, and frontier towns that feel lived-in and bustling. The draw distance is generous, letting you spot bandit camps on distant mesas or circling vultures over abandoned homesteads. Textures can appear rough around the edges by modern standards, but the dusty color palette, dynamic weather effects, and flickering campfires more than compensate, fully immersing you in an 1880s Western world.

Character models show clear influences from early 2000s console hardware—occasional pop-in aside, the townsfolk, soldiers, and Apache warriors are distinct and recognizable in their attire. Gun’s weapon models stand out with crisp details, from the polished steel of your father’s Colt to the intricate wood grain of your Winchester. Animations during QuickDraw or melee takedowns retain a cinematic flair that underscores each moment’s brutality.

Environmental details such as tumbleweeds drifting across streets, drifting dust storms, and realistic water reflections in mountain streams elevate immersion. Lighting transitions—from golden dawns over the mesas to torch-lit saloons at night—are handled gracefully. While some textures feel dated today, the overall visual presentation holds up as a convincing, gritty depiction of the American frontier.

Story

Crafted by Randall Jahnson, the narrative follows Colton White on a path of vengeance after his adoptive father is slain by a vengeful tribe led by the enigmatic Reverend Reed. The father’s dying revelation—that his “son” carries a strange token and isn’t truly his—acts as the story’s driving mystery. Though the plot unfolds linearly, twists in alliances and betrayals keep you guessing at every turn.

Your journey takes you through key Western set-pieces: dusty frontier towns, Apache camps, gold-rich mining outposts, and rail line construction sites. Along the way, you forge and break alliances with townspeople, Apaches, and other gunslingers. These relationships, while scripted, add emotional stakes when a fellow ally might suddenly turn on you, underscoring the era’s law-of-the-gun mentality.

While the story occasionally dips into well-worn Western tropes, it’s elevated by strong voice acting and dialogue that capture the period’s grit and moral ambiguity. Moments of respite—poker games in a smoky saloon, quiet rides through moonlit canyons—balance the high-octane shootouts and lend weight to each plot twist. For fans of classic Western revenge sagas, Gun’s tale provides sufficient emotional investment to carry you through its dozen or so hours of main content.

Overall Experience

Gun successfully blends an open-world structure with a tightly directed storyline, catering to players who crave both narrative punch and sandbox exploration. Its multitude of side missions ensures that earning cash or upgrading your weapons never grows stale, while the main plot provides a satisfying arc of revenge and discovery. The game strikes a fine balance between challenge and accessibility, offering tutorials for its RPG elements without overwhelming newcomers.

Technical rough edges—such as occasional frame dips, dated texture work, and minor AI quirks—are forgivable when weighed against the game’s atmosphere and content depth. The horse-riding mechanics remain particularly memorable, and the roar of a Winchester echoing through a canyon still thrills. With a variety of weapons to master, skills to unlock, and secrets to uncover, Gun entices you to keep exploring long after the final credit rolls.

For any gamer intrigued by Wild West lore or fans of free-roaming action titles like Grand Theft Auto, Gun stands as a worthy classic. Its mixture of cinematic duels, vast landscapes, and RPG progression creates an experience that—despite its age—retains the spirit of frontier adventure. Saddle up and prepare for a ride that’s equal parts gritty, grand, and gun-toting fun.

Retro Replay Score

7.7/10