The evolution of the genre “Western” in video games |From Wild Gunman to Red Dead RedMaption

In recent years, the Western genre has ceased to be at least any popular. This is especially noticeable in modern films and books, but in the game industry in 2018 there was a completely reverse phenomenon. The released Red Dead Redemption 2 broke several records, overtook many hits and brought a little popularity of the long -forgotten setting. Today I propose to go through the most important, in my opinion, video games in the setting of the Wild West. From Wild Gunman to Red Dead RedMaption.

For people who prefer to read, not watch
Over the past twenty years, the Western genre has ceased to be at least any popular. Someone will want to object to me: they say, at least one film with the style of the Wild West is released every year. And yes, in 2010 the remake of the film “Iron Slip” was released, in 2015 I liked the “Bone Tomagavk”, here is the old Tarantino two films in a row on this topic: “Django” and “Menile Eight”-this is nothing more than the foolishness of a fan of spaghetti-westerships.

And everything would be fine, but if you look closely, it turns out that literally all the outlets – either remakes or works that use the Wild West as a regular decoration. Replacing revolvers and Indians in the “bone tomahawk” with swords and African cannibals – and nothing will change. There is nothing to talk about Tarantino: some fans christened the “eight” with a free remake of “frantic dogs”, which in no case is bad, but such a “closed” movie could happen during any decoration – at least in the mountains of Manchuria, even at a distant space station.

It is amazing that the unenviable fate of the genre in the cinema did not affect the game industry so much. This year Red Dead Redemption 2 was released, it will be prophesied by sales of 15 million copies by the end of this year. In the UK, as in a country with the most playing audience, RDR2 did not overtake FIFA 19, but easily went around the Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 sales rating. True, here you need to understand that the game was developed in Rockstar Games, and this is the best advertising. But the fact remains-Western-game is very popular with the playing public.

If you wonder what is expected from games in the setting of the Wild West, then several obvious things will come to mind. There should be authentic landscapes, harsh laws in cities and complete lawlessness on the roads, and, of course, the robbery of the train – where without it? The characters are obliged to adore cruelty and fiercely hate each other, and the main character will be either the most vile of all, or, on the contrary, fair and firm in his decisions. These qualities lie on the surface, but if you turn to the classic western in the cinema and literature, then it has always been [withstand a small pause] about loneliness. The loneliness of a man who not only fights with enemies and conquers the expanses of the uninhabited West of America, but sometimes makes complex decisions, for which he will have to answer. However, the books that the reader’s fantasy helps, or a movie with a visualized vision of the author – and as developers of interactive entertainment recreated those sensations for us? Let’s go through the most important, in my opinion, works.

To begin with, we will decide: to convey the images inherent in Western is not so difficult. For example, the Wild Gunman game, first released for arcade machines, and later on the 8-bit Nintendo system. I think, if in your childhood there was a dandy prefix at your house, then you will definitely remember this game. There is nothing unusual in it, except for the need to play it with Zapper’om – a light gun that connects instead of a gamepad. You shoot from Zapper’a to the characters appearing on the screen – and with your inaction they will begin to shoot the first to lead to the loss.

Wild Gunman was released in 1984, so https://dream-vegas.co.uk/ you do not need to look for the depths of gameplay here. We manage to kill the enemy, earn glasses. Nevertheless, the atmosphere of the Wild West is present here: the expanses of deserts with cacti and rolling, cliffs, visible in the distance, the usual decorations of the saloon of the end of the year before last. And, of course, music that perfectly conveys the atmosphere of the Wild West.

The atmosphere responds in the only mechanics of the game. Duels only emphasize the chosen genre, because they have become the hallmark of the westerns: the hero on equal terms with the villain, one on one, in the temples the blood pulsates and you need to shoot the first. Nowadays, this mechanic migrated to Red Dead Redemption and Call of Juarez, because without it in this genre – nowhere.

Since it was cinema that made stories from the Wild West popular, it is not surprising that the creators of the games have torn a lot from the films. This applies not only to works about the conquest of the West: the game industry, especially at the beginning of its development, could not compete with the cinema and constantly echoed it. Game Mad Dog McCree, like no other, can confirm this.

At the start of its creative path, American Laser Games has released several arcade games in which it combined cinema with the gameplay. Having shot, of course, a low -budget, but still feature film, the company gave the opportunity to become the main character in it. They turn to him directly, they try to kill him, and the player can only be silently listening to all this, and then crush other actors to the right and left. After the shot, depending on the success of the player, either the next storyline or screen with Game Over was turned on.

The appearance of Mad Dog McCree is logical, because it does not cost anything to remove Western: I went into the desert, put a plywood with cut holes a la window, and take off the homeless-than you are not cowboys? In addition, then it was believed that the games should produce according to the patterns of feature films, and did not even take into account that they are original and give the player the opportunity to choose, which neither a movie nor a book can make. However, many do not take this into account and now.

But the closer the new millennium was selected, the wiser the developers used their resources, of course, not forgetting about the trends. In 1997, the Outlaws game fell on the shelves of stores-the first-person shooter, whose representatives at that time were very popular due to the success of Doom, Quake and Unreal. But, unlike the latest quake with a three -dimensional engine, Outlaws ran to 2.5D on the Jedi Engine engine, which was developed for the game Star Wars: Dark Forces.

In this video, to put it mildly, niche and even secondary game came in vain. The fact is that, despite interesting forms of presentation in previous games, it was Outlaws who was the first to give us that very immersion in the world of the Wild West. I think no one will deny that the first-person view gives a greater immersion effect than when the character is visible from behind or naits to the screen and cannot move independently.

The script was written according to the testaments of John Karmak – only an introductory explanation why we need to do what the main character does. James Anderson, retired sheriff, returns home and discovers that his wife Anna was killed, and his daughter Sarah was abducted by two bustled villains, who will now have to kill. I used to say that Western is a genre about the loneliness of the protagonist. It is in Outlaws that you can feel like a lone wolf, which fights for justice with a gun at the ready, which is worth a lot.

If you move a little to the future, you can notice how the industry developed. The shooters became cinematic, in fact, rolls to the format that was shown in Mad Dog McCree. He experienced himself back in the 90s, but, follow his hands, replace living actors with intra-game blanks and-Op! – Already gameplay. Nevertheless, normal developers with a creative vein have always tried to surprise: either they came up with something new, or they presented a new old one. Here are the creators of Call of Juarez made a classic first -person shooter, but added stealth and previously mentioned duels one on one. And most importantly, what they hooked players is a flavor. One of the main characters here is the elderly holy father, who, holding the Bible in one hand, and in the other shotgun, shoots villains indiscriminately, reading out quotes from the Holy Book.

In the presence of talent, the authors are able to not only add new, but also completely change the initial approach. One of the most successful and meaningful experiments was Fallout 2 and its “seemingly” continuation of Fallout: New Vegas. The western part of the United States after a nuclear war briskly darkened in the 19th century, which led to the wars of gangs, slaveholders and other joys of life. Loneliness on the Wasteland, the native revolver in the hand and only one goal is to save relatives or take revenge on their enemies. Only a horse is missing. Although in the second part he was, let the iron. In any case, the developers perfectly conveyed the spirit of Western, albeit working in a different setting.

In my story, I intended to miss several worthy projects: Desperados – the Commandos clone seasoned with the Wild West;Fresh Hard West, which is also a clone, but another game is xcom;Gun, an interesting third-person shooter, and Steamworld dig, modern indie game-it can also stand with them at the same level, very cozy and atmospheric. However, with the games named earlier, these projects will be difficult to compete, as well as with, of course, the strongest representative of the Western genre from the interactive entertainment industry.

About Red Dead Redemption, a series of games that literally yells about its belonging to Western, it would be stupid to tell. The game has long been in its place in history and loved by millions of players around the world. Like no other project of the previously listed, RDR gives all those feelings that the Western genre can give. And if we talk about the first part, it’s not entirely correct – there the wild West is chronologically over, and John Marston appears as a relic of the past, then the second part is developing during the sunset of the era. There is a viscous atmosphere in the game, and the robbery of the train was touched by us already in the trailer – what else to wish for?

It would be a mistake to deny that it was for Rockstar that the last word in the genre remains. They are the only ones who not only created an excellent game, but also tried to expand the niche genre, thereby opening the way for others – not only games, but also films. And I would really like to see more works on this topic. I want a role-playing game that will allow me to get used to the role of one of the inhabitants of the city of the Wild West, I want an urban planning simulator, and even a continuation of Outlaws, but at the modern level-from some ID Software. I hope the RDR2 output will bring not only dozens of hours of adventure to players and millions of dollars to the creators, but also the rearrangement of forces in the industry. Wild West setting is too good to just leave it for another 8 years.