Those who lived through the 16-bit era will likely remember a game by Konami called "Sunset Riders." This superb 2-D shooter was set in the Wild West with a tongue-in-cheek style that brought back memories of spaghetti westerns. Though from a completely different company, Red Dead Revolver from Rockstar actually has a lot in common with Konami's old-school classic, just with a new-school, 3-D twist.
The game puts players in control of Red; a child turned bounty hunter after the murder of his parents. He wanders around the west, taking jobs to wipe out criminals for money, all the while trying to extract revenge from those who made the mistake of killing his family. You'll meet some allies along the way and occasionally control a few of them, but the main focus of the game is on Red.
This 3rd person action-shooter does almost everything right. Originally developed by Capcom but dropped for financial reasons, Rockstar picked it up and released it to the public. Each of the stages are usually confined to a small town (basically an arena), though a few will let you flex your platforming muscles. Enemies will relentlessly attack from every angle and your keen reflexes are the only things that will keep you alive. Thankfully, the camera is rarely out of place and will hardly ever be a problem for players.
Red will be able to purchase other weapons between stages to add to his arsenal, though only a few can be carried into the actual gameplay segments. Every weapon has various attributes and they can all be upgraded as well. In a few stages, you may find various turrets to fire from and ride horseback a few times as well.
Shooting is a bit tough to get used to, mostly thanks to the clunky control system. To draw your weapon, it is necessary to hold down the left trigger while moving and aiming with both analog sticks while firing with the right trigger. It's very hard to get used to and even more complicated when switching weapons. This can be done either with a tap of the white button or d-pad. Jumping, melee attacks, and reloading are all mapped to the face buttons as well. There is a lot to do and it will take some time to master.
Article comments