Summary
To live or die by honor and the draw of a gun. Miles of uncharted wilderness. Starlit campfires, wagon trails, and jingle-janglin' spurs. Tales of the Wild West can jump-start the heart of even the most timid or domesticated of greenhorns or city slickers. While remnants of the self-sufficient and rugged ideals of the western expanse persist in the hearts of rebels and modern-day ranchers, it’s clear that the open expanse has all but dried up, and with it closes that most romantic and gritty chapter of pioneer history.
Buzzkill historians might point out that while elements of the Mythic West did exist in history, the real frontiersmen of the new world were forming settlements with tighter gun regulations than a lasso rope on a bucking bronco, having their ventures funded by big government subsidies, and settling already-inhabited territory. However,historical accuracy aside, the archetypal dream of the rugged, dusty gunslinger pushing west across untamed, virgin pastures and scorching deserts, fending off bandits from their homesteads, still rides strong, especially on the frontier of video game entertainment. Here are six of the sharpest shooters, wanted dead or alive.
While it may be a warped interpretation of those old cowboy days, the Mojave Wasteland is still a ruthless frontier filled with gunslinger ghouls, cowboys (some of them robots), and cannibalistic lawbreakers. The setting ofFallout: New Vegasdemonstrates what the people of the 1950s thought the people of the 2280s would think the Wild West of the 1860s would have been like. As a result, there is a distinctly post-retro-future-revisionistic vibe to the people and culture beyond the “civilized” walls of The New Vegas Strip.
The player’s choices have enormous consequences for the tribes and factions dotted around the raider-occupied lands, and their actions ultimately decide Nevada’s fate. The player can mete out their justice and right wrongs (or make mincemeat of justice and writehorrible new wrongsinto the records), all while sporting a duster coat, swinging a big iron by their side, and (best of all) listening to old cowboy tunes on their wrist-mounted wireless.
Borderlands
The legendary Gearbox looter-shooter series perfectly captures the essence of lawless frontier clearing with its highly refined, fast-paced gunplay, relentlessly gritty humor, and endlessly escalating weapon drops. However, those looking for a more stripped-back gunslinger experience might find the cartoony, cell-shaded,jumped-up dieselpunk settingofBorderlandsa little too high-tech.
Pandora offers a vast world of free-roaming exploration for the cyber-cowboys still in the saddle. Weapon-fitted dune buggies help kick up the trail dust in massive maps. Players are prompted on with the promise of skill tree progression as well as guns, guns, and more guns, and various incarnations of a legendary treasure known as “the vault.”
2015’sMad Maxhad the misfortune of coming out on the same day as the hugely-anticipatedMetal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, and to this day, the underrated post-apocalyptic vehicular combat clanger still doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. As a former cop, Max is driven even crazier on his journey through the lawless wasteland by rabid, motor-worshipping gangs intent on inflicting as much pain as they can on the weak.
Besides the raving roving of the raiders, the wasteland is genuinely a savage environment with only smatterings of civilization (or uncivilization) dotting the landscape. The player drives Max from place to place in afully customizable war vehiclein an open-ended journey into the unknown. Gang bosses can be thrown down, and enemy convoys can be sabotaged, each success making areas slightly safer to pass through.
Snake oil salesmen effectively run things in the few pockets of civilization in the stellar frontier ofThe Outer Worlds. With the Board squeezing every drop of sweat from its workers, who are surrounded on all sides by rabid raiders and mutant monsters, and no centralized effort to provide safety (or basic human rights), exploration of the lawless colonies is a hazardous affair.
There are signs of expansion on each of the colonized worlds, but as soon as profits begin to fall, those outposts and assets and “human resources” are abandoned or “liquidated” by the company. The playersteps into the shoes of “The Stranger"and must decide how to clean up the lawless mess, not only by eliminating the murderous lunatics and savage beasts terrorizing the lands but by putting a stop to the tyranny propagated by the corporate conglomerate.
Ain’t no cowboy from east nor west ignorant to this multi-million dollar lawless frontier masterwork. Rockstar took pained steps (and poured a considerable sum) into crafting the ultimate Wild West simulator, a rival to anything seen in movies, TV shows, novels, or even the most vivid imaginations of open-air rodeo fans.Red Dead Redemption 2features blazing gunplay set to a raucous soundtrack, richly delivered storytelling (in its direct narrative and stunningly detailed environmental design), and unparalleled free-roaming in a gloriously rendered open-world, lawless American West.
RDR2takes place in 1899, during the closure of the frontier, where free-roaming mercenaries are being rounded up by bounty hunters, lawmakers, and government forces. As Arthur Morgan, players are free to live an honorable or dishonorable life as they see fit. Robbing or saving people will have meaningful consequences on how the world reacts to Arthur. Players can partake in dueling, card games, and horse breeding. As well as action, players are invited to drink in the serine vistas and countryside backdrops broken up by the occasional horseback traveler. If this game doesn’t grab fans of the Western genre, it’s unlikely that nothing else will.
Many of the titles on this list feature adventures of lone wanderers. In contrast, the gameplay inDesperados 3emphasizesthe strength of riding as a posse. Each mission can be treated as an open-ended puzzle. Going in guns blazing isn’t always the best option. Bushwhacking is the name of the game, as stealth, speed, and deception are essential in overcoming even the toughest sons of guns that the Wild West has to offer.
Each outlaw gives the player a different set of skills with which to complete the objective. Cooper uses knifeplay and a fast trigger finger, Doc McCoy snipes varments from a distance and uses chemistry to heal allies and hinder the opposition. Hector brings the muscle, setting traps and cutting down foes up close and personal. The femme fatale, Kate, distracts and assassinates her witless victims, and Isabelle uses a mixture of mysticism and agility to take down her enemies.
