As a gamer, I have had the opportunity to play many different roles. From a spiky-haired savior, to a war-hardened hero. I have been a professional at every major sport, a cop, a crook, even a fat Italian plumber running and jumping to save a princess. Yes, the gaming industry offers consumers a chance to become whatever they want (at least while they hold a controller.) However, there is one role that has been scarce in gaming: the role of a cowboy in the Wild West.
How could the Western theme be so under used? Since the first time I watched movies like Young Guns and Unforgiven, I’ve longed to step into the boots of an 1880′s American Western cowboy. What could be more thrilling than forming a posse to collect the bounty on a wanted man, or running from a lynch mob, guns blazing, because you are that wanted man? A few developers have dabbled in the Western genre. Rockstar with Red Dead Revolver, Neversoft with Gun, and Ubisoft with Call of Juarez being the most notable, but there is still a lack of options. Now that Western movies are regaining popularity, my desire to play this role is even stronger. If you feel the same way, good news your way comes.
Rockstar is close to releasing their follow up to Red Dead Revolver with Redemption. Redemption will be the first open world, sand box style game from Rockstar other than the GTA series. The screens I have seen look incredible, and I can only imagine the possibilities of a Western-themed game with a GTA style. Ubisoft is also releasing a sequel to Call of Juarez with Bound In Blood. I have little details on the game other than it is an FPS with two playable characters. I can say that the first Call of Juarez is a very good game with some unique mechanics, and a solid story. Last, but certainly not least, there are rumors of Neversoft working on a sequel to Gun. If you have never played these games, you owe it to yourself to do so. I strongly recommend Gun to fans of action games.
Here’s to hoping these Wild West sequels make big enough waves to get more gamers and developers interested in the genre. I think we could all use a break from WWII shooters.
