While the underrated Gun was a fair attempt, it took Rockstar themselves to finally capture the idea of GTA in the Old West. You could spend hours roaming this magnificently realized setting, exploring forests, canyons, wonderfully detailed towns and forts. The side activities are perfect from bounty hunting to handling cattle and the side missions informing your standing added depth to the classic Western stuff of gun duels and chasing wagons. The story is the key to the game's appeal as John Martson stands as one of the greatest protagonists of any game of the last decade, easily blowing away any of GTA's often-clichéd leads. A classic Western hero (or anti-hero depending on how you play him), his quest is made clear as the game unfolds and he goes from small towns to Mexico on a personal hunt. You genuinely get to like him, and feel for him, which makes the games stunning finale all the more emotional. Its Western motif does work against it as does the fact it's produced by Rockstar as many will see it as more a "companion piece" to GTA than a true successor. But it still stands well on its own as a game that shows that the GTA style can work well in most any period and place.
A freelance writer with love of comic books, sci-fi/fantasy, action films, pro wrestling and more. An inventive mind and history major who hopes to bring some of that to readers.
