Despite the setting being almost tailor-made for the medium, games set in the American Wild West are few and far between. There seems to be an endless amount of action and open-world games set in post-apocalyptic and fantasy worlds. Ironically, many of these games still use themes that are associated with the lawless wild west and are often filled with dangerous characters like outlaws and bandits.
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Quite why more developers other than Rockstar don’t try their hand at making more games centered around the Spaghetti Westerns is a mystery. This is especially so, as many gamers are crying out for different backdrops beyond Tolkienesque fantasy and science fiction. Thankfully, there are still some worthy games in the genre for fans to try. Let’s take a look at ten of the best ranked by Metacritic.
Released in 2004 on the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox,Red Dead Revolveris an action-adventure shooter set in the wild west. It’s the first game set in theRed Deadseries but unlike its two succeeding games set in theRed Dead Redemptionseries, it’s a totally linear experience.
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Despite not being set in an open world, many of the gameplay mechanics made the transition into theRed Dead Redemptionseries like the slow-motion Dead Eye aiming system. The Spaghetti Western and Clint Eastwood movie influences are also very apparent inRevolvertoo.
9Gun (Metascore 75)
Gunwas released on the PlayStation 2, Xbox, the Nintendo GameCube, and the Xbox 360 in 2005. It Spaghetti Western-inspired game set in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Kansas during the 1880s and featured an open-world setting five years beforeRed Dead Redemption.
The game featured a lot of real-life historical figures that existed during the timeGun’s storyline. It also featured a very talented voice cast withThe Punisheractor Thomas Jane in the lead role and support from Lance Henrickson and Kris Kristopherson.
8Call Of Juarez: Gunslinger (Metascore 76)
Call of Juarez:Gunslingerwas released in 2013 on the PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade, and Steam and in 2019 for the Nintendo Switch.It is the fourth game in the series and is set in 1910 and places players in the shoes of a bounty hunter Silas Greaves.
It tries to put a different spin on the storytelling by having Greaves tell his tale to an audience in a bar as an unreliable narrator. The inconsistencies in his tall tales allow for changes to the environment and events as the story progresses.
Released in 2001 for the PC,Desperados: Wanted Dead or Aliveis a real-time strategy game set in 1881. The game puts players in charge of a team of bounty hunters tasked with stopping an outlaw gang run by the bandit El Diablo from robbing trains.
Desperadosis very challenging with quite a lot of spikes in difficulty but the strategic gameplay mechanics are entertaining and polished. In addition, the level design is very accessible providing gamers with lots of options and opportunities to take the fight to the bandits.
6Call Of Juarez: Bound In Blood (Metascore 78)
Released in 2009 on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and the PC,Call of Juarez: Bound in Bloodis a western set in the 1860s after the American Civil War. It was developed by Techland and took inspiration from both Spaghetti Westerns and realistic westerns.
Call of Juarezis a run and gun style action shooter with a very linear level design not dissimilar to theCall of Dutysingle-player campaigns and filled with lots of thrilling set-pieces. It’s not a AAA game likeRed Dead Redemptionbut still a fun western experience.
5Wild Arms 3 (Metascore 78)
Released in 2002 for the PlayStation 2,Wild Arms 3is a western-inspired Japanese RPG with aspects of magic and even medieval weaponry creating a very original universe. Its gameplay consists of a traditional JRPG-style turn-based system that the player can either participate in manually or micromanage the game’s artificial intelligence for auto-battles.
It’s the first time theWild Armsseries made the transition to 3D visuals and implements a cell-shaded art style that still looks good to this day. In addition to its solid gameplay mechanics and interesting visuals,Wild Arms 3has an excellent story.
4Red Steel 2 (Metascore 80)
Red Steel 2was released on the Nintendo Wii in 2010. It’s a first-person hack-and-slash action-adventure game that makes use of the Wii Motion Plus remote for its sword-fighting mechanics and shooting. The puts players in the shoes of an unnamed “sword slinger” and the last remaining member of his clan.
Red Steel 2makes use of western and samurai themes and seamlessly blends swordplay and gunplay mechanics in a very creative and energy-consuming way. Visually, the game looks like a Japanese anime and uses a very stylized cell-shaded art style reminiscent of theBorderlandsgames and remains one of the best looking games on the system.
3Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath (Metascore 83)
Released in 2005 for the Xbox,Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrathis a science fiction shooter heavily influenced by western movies. The game puts players in the shoes of a mysterious and feared bounty hunter known only as The Stranger.
Based in the same universe asAbe’s Odysseygames,Stranger’s Wrathis just as humorous with its own original gameplay mechanics like “live-ammunition” which is made out of living creatures and fired at enemies with spectacularly funny results.Stranger’s Wrathwas re-released for the Nintendo Switch in January 2020 and it’s still a must-have action-adventure game.
Developed by Rockstar Studios and released in 2010 for the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3,Red Dead Redemptionquickly became the best wild west-themed game ever developed. It’s an open-world action game and ten years on it still a masterclass in world design.
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Players took on the role of John Marston a former outlaw forced back into the life a gunslinger by the government who has taken his wife and child hostage. The story, soundtrack, and interactivity made it a benchmark not only for other games set in the wild west but for open-world games too.
Eight years after its predecessor,Red Dead Redemption 2was released in 2018 for the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One. A PC and Google Stadia release followed in 2019 complete with the online version of the game.RDR2is a prequel set 12 years before the events of the first game and places players in the shoes of an outlaw named Arthur Morgan.
Rockstar really went out of their way to bring their interpretation of the wild west come to life. The gritty western towns are very reminiscent of the grimy locales seen in HBO’sDeadwoodTV series.RDR2is truly a staggering achievement in visual design and arguably the best looking game of its generation.
