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The Best from the West |
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A fistful of fine old Western-themed Video Games |
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Guns, lawless towns, whiskey, whorehouses and shoot-outs – could there be a more expressive canvas on which to set a video game? Since way back in the ‘70s when the medium began, developers have been using the Wild West as a brutal backdrop for some cracking arcade action. Armed with a six-shooter, a bottle of Ol’ Red Eye and a fistful of dollars, STACK rode out of town on a trail to find a fine selection from the West.
GUN FIGHT
Arguably the first Western themed game to hit the arcades, Gun Fight was introduced in 1975. It was the first coin-operated game to use a microprocessor and features two simple pixel cowboys that move across a pre-designed screen with the use of a joystick. A second joystick is used to aim the cowboy’s gun in a duel and a point is awarded for a kill. The game proved to be such a success in arcades it spawned a sequel, Boot Hill, two years later.
SHERIFF
Released to arcades in 1980, this was Nintendo’s first original game. Similar in look and feel to the earlier Gun Fight, players manoeuvre the sheriff to repel an attack by multiple bandits massing on the periphery of the screen. A unique joystick with an eight directional switch enabled the lawman to move one way and fire in another. Quite impressive back in the day.
GUNFRIGHT
Using the same pioneering isometric technique used on the earlier ZX Spectrum classic, Ant Attack, Gunfright, released in 1986 scored highly with critics of the day. Playing as a sheriff, gamers must hunt down wanted outlaws, level by level, challenging them to a duel where only the divine can judge the quick and the dead. That is, of course, if you could get the bloody thing to load.
SUNSET RIDERS
This side-scrolling coin-op arcader allows players to choose from one of a team of four bounty hunters – two armed with Peacemakers and two with shotguns. At the beginning of each level, a wanted poster appears with the designated outlaw’s mugshot on it. Powerups lead to additional weapons, rapid fire and dynamite. Ported to both the Mega Drive and the SNES, the enjoyable Sunset Riders was irritably short in duration. Gun – Released across multiple formats in 2005, Activision’s revisionist Western themed GUN is a beautiful looking title that belies its age. An open world game based on lead character Colton White’s mission to avenge his parents, this was a huge leap forward in the progression of the Western genre. The game caused controversy upon release when The Association for American Indian Development demanded that the game be withdrawn from sale due to its unfair portrayal of the Apache people. All of the developers were subsequently scalped.
RED DEAD REVOLVER
Red Dead Revolver just seemed to get the balance right, fusing classic cult Westerns with faded visuals that perfectly reflected the movies that the game obviously reveres. The austere storyline is ingrained with engaging characters, the like of which only Rockstar could write the dialogue for. The Dead Eye mechanic slows down a gunfight and allows the lead, Red Harlow, to nail multiple targets in a flurry of burning lead. A PS2 and Xbox essential.
CALL OF JUAREZ
A Western game developed by a Polish studio would seem to be an unusual combination, but Polish developer Techland capably pulled it off with Call of Juarez. Playing as two different characters, Billy Candle and his Uncle Ray, the game is set on the brutal frontiers of the Old West. The developer studio’s lack of experience is apparent in Juarez, but this quirkiness adds to the title’s overall appeal. Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood followed in 2009, ditching the original game’s stealth component for a more Call of Duty based blueprint.
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