Smokin' Guns
Posted by Guest Reviewer Sat, 10 Jan 2009 02:13:00 GMT
[Guest review by MisterX, originally posted on TIGForums]
As few probably know about it, I’ll just introduce it a bit: Smokin’ Guns is what became of Western Quake³. The latter was a very solid and well-liked western mod for Quake 3, and it was developed by Iron Claw Interactive. As time passed, the usual thing happened – there was less and less activity on the servers and eventually the developers moved on to other things. So when the source code of Quake 3 was released, a group of die-hard fans put it upon themselves to polish the mod, iron out bugs, create new content, and, best of all, make it a stand-alone game! They achieved no less and so now, few days ago, Smokin’ Guns was finally released into the wild!
Smokin’ Guns is not the most modern shooter, but it’s one of the few Western-themed action games there are, and it’s simply the best, in my opinion. There are the normal deathmatch and team deathmatch modes, but they have a catch, as you need money to buy weapons, ammo and items whenever, wherever you like. The money is not only gained by killing, but it’s also found lying around the maps. More interestingly, there is the Bank Robbery mode, which pits one team as defenders of a bank against another trying to break it, steal money by blowing up the safe, and then escape to the train yard. The most competitive one, though, is the Duel mode, which is self-explanatory. Two men go in, one comes out – very classy.
SG is really not an innovative game, but I like it for how well it manages to capture the Wild West feeling inspired by all the famous classic movies. In most shooters rifles are the most important weapons, and the one-handed guns are merely backups. But here it’s really well-balanced, so if you want it to be all about the revolvers, have it be that way. There are a bunch of revolvers, rifles, and shotguns, and even a fancy classic Gatling gun – in my opinion they all just feel right, especially the revolvers. You can use single ones or carry two simultaneously, and you can mix them how you like it. When using two, you can also reload them individually, and one of the revolvers is reloaded one bullet at a time, which feels very nice.
Lastly, the graphics aren’t much to look at, but they have been polished from Western Quake³, and the maps tend to look quite atmospheric. The sound is a different story, though, as the weapons sound appropriately powerful, and there’s a very, very nice soundtrack which really gets you in the mood for duking it out at high noon.
It’s been a long time coming, and I’m glad I can finally play the game again online. I hope some of you will also find it interesting. So, see you online, maybe!
Just thought I’d point out, as the server finding wasn’t, apparently, working well, you can probably use http://www.serverspy.net/site/?link=1&action=result1&orderby=r.rank&orderway=asc&game=2&type=smokinguns to see what servers are around.
The concept sounds very much like the multiplayer from Call of Juarez — which is a very good thing. CoJ had a highly underrated multiplayer mode which was a helluva lot of fun with 12 - 16 people playing at the same time. The purchasing of weapons wasn’t a part of the game but that does sound like an interesting addition as well.
I think it’s time to go try it out.
Feels like Wild West Counter-Strike. Needs more weapons tho. Also, bank robbers rarely even rob the bank.
It doesn’t have single player, huh? =P
Great game, anyway. It could need some more weapons, but then again people say that about L4D too.
The train map was so much fun. You can even land on the train station without dying and catch the next train!
I do not know any weapons they could add. In Wild West they did not have any MGs or something like that. Only pistols, rifles and shotguns.
“I do not know any weapons they could add. In Wild West they did not have any MGs or something like that. Only pistols, rifles and shotguns.” More pistols, rifles and shotguns? Sure there were more than 3 of each.
Looks like something that should be ported to the Pandora. B)
Cool. I remember playing Western Quake 3 way back. I liked the guns.
less of this more more junk yo. this game is tight because of its simplicity. its modest, tactical, silly, and fun. its much more fun playing with friends, so find some! if a weapon had to be added, i would day it should be bow’n’arrow. or a whiskey bottle. games got ‘tude.
@ Someone: If they add any weapons the would only have another skin. Bow and arrow is the only weapon which is missing.
http://www.fistful-of-frags.com/ anyone!
this is quite actually a western counter strike. you got your free for all, team matches, and your rob the bank matches (rescue the hostages). you got your dynamite (gernades), moltolves (incinderary). you got your buying sustem, your boiler plate (kevelar), your moenkey for killing people.
still its free so can’t complain.
Yeah, I haven’t thought of that comparison, conceptually Smokin’ Guns is actually similar to Counter-Strike. But, now, what exactly is wrong with that?
I also don’t think that SG really needs more weapons, unless there was a more unique one missing than just variations of what’s already in. I’ve got to disagree with the bow and arrow, though. I know most western games have them, but I think they would be very out of place in gunfights as they are in SG. If it’s a possibility, I suppose SG could use enhanced graphics, but other than that I think it’s a pretty complete game all around.
@ Mister X: That´s the point, they could only add variations of weapons, so nobody would use them. This game is completed, and I do not know why you are complaining, CS does not have much more weapons, although it could.
what i think they could add is some form of a whip and/or rope. a little cliche but it would be kick ass. and you don’t have to make it a melle weapon necessarily. that’s what the knife is for. you could use it to choke or temp restrain some one like with a net. you get the idea?