It should be a legal mandate for every video game shotgun to be good enough to warrant its own intro cutscene.
Gunslinger's an easy recommendation for anyone who enjoys arcade-like games and chasing high scores - when you get into the flow of things, it almost starts to feel like a western Hotline Miami in the best way possible. But to say that's all it is would be selling it short. For one thing, it's also great example of how a well-executed art style can actually benefit gameplay; the deeply saturated, exaggeratedly bright colours of enemies' clothes means there's always just enough visual clarity for them to never get lost in the midst of the game's lovingly crafted environments.
And while the story might seem like a standard revenge tale on the surface, it actually tackles a theme you don't often see explored in much media outside of historiographical studies - that being how little we know about what historical events and figures were really like, even those from as recently as the early 20th century. It occasionally risks undermining itself in this regard with how matter-of-fact some of the little historical trivia collectibles can be, but its playfulness in twisting the fates of famous outlaws and shootouts into boss fights or set pieces is so endearingly creative it's hard not to appreciate.
John Cygan (RIP)'s performance as Silas is also absolutely excellent in how naturally he flows from humour to vengefulness to even singing in a couple of instances. It's up there with some of gaming's best voice work for sure.
Gunslinger's an easy recommendation for anyone who enjoys arcade-like games and chasing high scores - when you get into the flow of things, it almost starts to feel like a western Hotline Miami in the best way possible. But to say that's all it is would be selling it short. For one thing, it's also great example of how a well-executed art style can actually benefit gameplay; the deeply saturated, exaggeratedly bright colours of enemies' clothes means there's always just enough visual clarity for them to never get lost in the midst of the game's lovingly crafted environments.
And while the story might seem like a standard revenge tale on the surface, it actually tackles a theme you don't often see explored in much media outside of historiographical studies - that being how little we know about what historical events and figures were really like, even those from as recently as the early 20th century. It occasionally risks undermining itself in this regard with how matter-of-fact some of the little historical trivia collectibles can be, but its playfulness in twisting the fates of famous outlaws and shootouts into boss fights or set pieces is so endearingly creative it's hard not to appreciate.
John Cygan (RIP)'s performance as Silas is also absolutely excellent in how naturally he flows from humour to vengefulness to even singing in a couple of instances. It's up there with some of gaming's best voice work for sure.
2 Comments
@TheQuietGamer Thanks! The story came as quite a pleasant surprise for me. I'd known before playing it that part of its appeal was Silas' unreliable narration, but I didn't expect that aspect of it to be part of a larger theme that's deftly woven into every character and level. Really, really cohesive stuff that I'd like to see more of in games with historical settings.
TheQuietGamer
2 years ago