Introduction

Developer: Rewolf
Publisher: Sierra
Official Page: http://www.sierrastudios.com/games/gunman/

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Half Life?

Before we begin to describe Gunman, we'd like to discuss how development of this game began. You see, the story behind Gunman doesn't follow the model of the typical design house: the developers of Gunman were never in the same room. Some of them have never even met each other in person. In fact, I think I would be ok saying that there is at least one ocean between most of these guys. For the conditions that these guys worked under, the end product is very surprising. Software houses have company funded Top Ramen and all the other amenities that come with the gig, a steady paycheck being one of the bigger perks. In comparison, the guys at Rewolf (the developers of Gunman) probably didn't feel too much love while they were making this game. In the end, they got some help from the people at Sierra, but we're pretty sure that this project had to have been almost complete by then.

Considering the conditions that Rewolf had to deal with, the result is rather amazing. But while I was surprised by what these guys had accomplished, I also felt that this game was a little out of its league. It's kind of like the underdog that you want to succeed, but in the end you know they just aren't going to win.

Lookin good

Flux capacitor?

Now that Gunman Chronicles is released with the tagline "It's high noon in deep space", questions are bound to fly. So lets delve into what this game became.

Story

With much of the galaxy already settled, exploration and development of distant planets is left to the frontier people. On these far off planets, life is very much like the Wild West - harsh, unforgiving, and brutal. To make matters worse, a silicon-based life form is on the loose killing off these far reaching settlements. These beasts are now encroaching on long-standing outposts, destroying, devouring, and killing everything in sight. Enter stage right - you.

Help me Timmy.

Duck and cover!

As a Gunman, you are a something akin to a Texas Ranger thrown into a wild-west galaxy. You've fought these nasty bugs before, but reports are coming in that they are getting bigger, meaner, and generally more ill tempered. Being the highly decorated officer that you are, the government decides to send you and a crack squad of men to figure out what's up. Naturally, your elite team is dead before the dust settles from your landing craft. The fate of the free galaxy rests in your hands.

In the style of the Evil Dead movies, the developers wasted no time throwing you into the story; the rest is all action after that. Once you begin the tutorial level, the game throws you headlong into the storyline. Within five minutes of playing, I was face to face with one of the largest enemies that I have seen in any game, a dinosaur.

Bloody table? Hmm..

One shell or two?

Unfortunately the story doesn't really develop into much. Once you find out who is behind everything, along with his rather shallow motivations, the plot pretty much stops right there. Aside from a helping character, no new people are brought into the game, and nothing more is learned about the source of the xenomes, the nasty creatures.