Video Game Westerns

[excelsior]

I tend to like the old west theme, whether in movies or video games. Though the setting doesn't seem to show up in the mainstream all that often, I'd imagine there have been quite a few video game 'Westerns' over the years. Any recommendations for games like this? 

The obvious ones are no doubt the Red Dead series - which I've yet to play. Perhaps I should at least give Red Dead Redemption a go? Though I grew tired of the Rockstar formula a long time ago so not sure.

Otherwise I of course very much enjoy Sunset Riders, which nicely blends together Contra and Rolling Thunder.

Wild Guns is a really nice gallery shooter which received a recent update.

One of the stories in Live a Live was a western, and was unsurprisingly one of my favourites in the bunch.

[spanky]

I enjoyed the first RDR when I played it over a decade ago. I remember the early parts of the game being very slow but it had a pretty good story and some great atmosphere. I definitely enjoyed it more than GTA V. I haven't played the sequel though I don't think I can bring myself to play any more 100 hour games unless they're Zelda titles.

A few NES ones:

Cowboy Kid is a late (and rare) NES release that is of all things, a western themed Goemon ripoff. It's pretty fun, really.

The Lone Ranger by Konami is one of those titles that tries to cram in several different gameplay styles. The sidescrolling parts play like Castlevania but with a gun.

Not a full title but Zoda's Revenge has a level based on the mid 1800s California gold rush.

[🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀]

These aren't 'recommendations' per se, since I haven't played them, but the Wild Arms series, Gun.Smoke and Gunple: Gunman's Proof might be worth a shot. There's also West of Loathing, I guess.

[lurker]

Sunset Riders
Wild West Cowboys of Moo Mesa

[ommadawnyawn2]

My faves are Sunset Riders, Wild Guns and Gun.Smoke (NES ver.) so far. I'll second Lone Ranger as a pretty good game though and Gunman's Proof as well. Also if you like Zelda 3 and Monkey Island then Marvelous (SNES) has a western-inspired chapter in it. 

COW-Boys is on my to play list along with Wild Arms and Outlaws. The latter two have great OSTs. 

[personman]

The Wild Arms series is definitely the first one that comes to my mind when thinking of games themed like this. Especially the 3rd entry that leans on the the theme the most. 4, 5 and XF though pretty much just turned into generic anime much to my chagrin.

[lurker]

Depending on how loose you define it, New Vegas might qualify.

[Apollo Chungus]

I can vouch for Gunple: Gunman's Proof being a good game. Fun little action-RPG with arcade sensibilities in its combat and such, and it only takes a handful of hours to beat so it moves at a speedy clip.

Off the top of my head, other western games not already mentioned are:

Gun (made by Neversoft around 2005 in time for the 360's launch, psuedo-open world game)

the Call of Jaurez series (first-person shooters made by Techland; the original seems to be quite charming despite its flaws, Bound in Blood seems to be a better game, and Gunslinger is a cool game where the levels and enemies change according to the constantly changing narration of its main character)

Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath (first-person shooter with third-person exploration, where you play as a bounty hunter and use different kinds of animals as ammo to help you out; more western-styled than set in the old west specifically)

Outlaws (Lucasarts-made first-person shooter in the mid-90s, features a fair few adventure game elements)

Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist (goofy point and click adventure game by Sierra)

Gunman Clive (pair of simple run-and-gun platformers, fashioned after Mega Man iirc)

Rising Zan: The Samurai Gunman (PS1 action game where you play as a samurai in a western setting)

I can't really vouch for these beyond Stranger's Wrath (highly recommended) since I haven't played them apart from brief bits of the Gunman Clive and Call of Jaurez games.

[dsparil]

Mad Dog McCree isn't really good strictly speaking, but it has a cheesy FMV charm.

[excelsior]

I would say New Vegas counts, yes

I have played Wild West Cow Boys of Moo Mesa - it's decent for more Sunset Riders action, though not as special as that game.

I also played the Gunman Clive games. Those were pretty enjoyable.

I have Rising Zan on my shelf, just haven't gotten around to it. I guess it is an East meets West kind of idea to it.

Red Steel 2 is another game with a similar East/West setting.

So far I'm thinking Freddy Pharkas sounds like the most out the box take on this setting.

[Snake]

Rising Zan is the shiznit!  The samurai gunman, the SUPER ULTRA SEXY HERO, with his own anime style AND Saturday morning opening theme song! Justice is SERVED!

Also love Mad Dog McCree!  I would love to see more digitized FMV light gun gaming.
The genre predecessor would have been Wild Gun Man, on NES with the Zapper. It has its charm, with 1980's NES chiptune melodies and sound effects, as a game of quick draw.  

There was also Cowboy Kid on NES.
Lucky Luke on PC and Philips CDi.

[jorpho]

No mentions of Tin Star (SNES) yet. Got some coverage in Nintendo Power back in the day, if that counts for something.

And if we're going to mention Mad Dog McCree, I suppose we could mention The Town With No Name (CDTV).

Lethal Enforcers 2 was entirely Wild West too.

There's also Dust: A Tale of the Wired West, which some people seemed to like.

And Wild Wild West: The Steel Assassin, but that's really scraping the bottom of the barrel.

[blackdrazon]

Sierra's Gold Rush isn't necessarily their best but it's still an interesting title, especially with its randomized puzzles.

There are a few historically interesting or important games that you might also find worth your time, like Wild Gunmen, Nintendo's Sheriff, the arcade game Bank Panic, and especially Law of the West, which is extremely novel.

[spanky]

Aug 8, 2023 0:24:38 GMT -5 jorpho said:

No mentions of Tin Star (SNES) yet. Got some coverage in Nintendo Power back in the day, if that counts for something.

Interestingly enough it was even published by Nintendo and was featured in a lot of their Play It Loud advertisements around it's release. I fished it out of a bargain bin a year or so after I came out. It's pretty good!