Video games have evolved into one of the most effective means of transporting oneself to other worlds and timelines. If you love cowboys, you must have imagined yourself decked with the signature cowboy hat and leather boots, sitting on the back of a horse. Unfortunately, it took some time for video games about Old West to catch up.
Western video games are highly influenced by the cowboy media that came before them. Westerns were one of the most prominent cinema genres in the 1950s and 1960s. After a period of decline in the 1970s and 1980s, they resurfaced in the early 1990s. Around the same timeframe, western-themed games began to appear in arcades and on home consoles.
The modest West is an essential part of American identity. You must have heard about popular TV shows like Westworld and movies like Unforgiven. When the gaming developers chose to take on the responsibility of recreating the American West into our lives, they were under a lot of pressure to succeed. Fortunately, a few of them have completely grasped what it means to be a cowboy.
1. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is an action-adventure game. While it has an unrelated narrative from its prequels, it is set in Wild West-like them. The entire concept and execution are brilliant, and the game makes excellent use of the historical context by seamlessly integrating it into the gameplay. You’ll have a blast shooting your way through Silas Greaves’ fascinating narrative and bringing down famous thieves along the way.
In fact, it’s Gunslinger’s narration that really stands out. Enemies, locations, and even time can alter right in front of your eyes as the levels mold themselves around the presented story. All of this adds up to an unexpected, extremely fun, and distinctive combat in Call of Juarez: Gunslinger.
2. Red Dead Redemption
Red Dead Redemption is, without a doubt, one of the best video games about the old West. It is set around the start of the twentieth century when the unregulated and unpredictable badlands gave way to the government’s growing reach and the development of the Industrial Era.
Red Dead Redemption tells the narrative of former bandit John Marston and leads players on a grand adventure through the American wilderness. Players will face the intensity of gunfights and skirmishes, encounter a diverse cast of people, and combat the severity of one of the world’s few surviving wildernesses along the journey.
Red Dead Redemption is the only game that has taken a passionate and powerful approach to the era. The game not only depicts a previous world but also helps the player think about current events. It’s a must-play for everyone who enjoys the genre or good action adventures overall. Imagine if Red Dead Redemption was such a masterpiece, its successor Red Dead Redemption 2, must have really blown everyone away!
3. Gun
Until games like Red Dead Redemption were released that effectively mastered the western genre, videogames like Gun aimed to do the same thing only a generation before. Gun is a bold game set in the untamed West of the late-1800s. In an epic narrative of betrayal, greed, and vengeance, players journey across an action-packed wilderness setting, deserts, and busy towns.
You will get to participate in various side quests to improve your gun-slinging and horseback riding skills. Players can discover secret weapons and improve talents and abilities to increase the performance of their weaponry. With such refined gameplay, the only thing to complain about was that it could have been longer!
4. Hard West
When a terrible sequence of affairs pushes one man onto a road of supernatural disaster and wrath, he must chase down all those who have mistreated him. You have to fight and survive in 8 different story-based situations, as well as over 40 uniquely created turn-based combat operations with your own team of 1-4 people.
Characters are engaging, the visuals are fantastic, and the soundtrack is impressive in the Hard West. It is one of the most entertaining videogames of the old West, thanks to its excellent portrayal of history and the implications of your actions.
5. Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive
Desperados is a western-style game of strategic and tactical performance. In this character-based game, you’re recruited to hunt the bandits guilty for a train heist in the early Western frontier and must lead Cooper and his gang through 25 stages.
You are responsible for invading an enemy base, rescuing a team member, or fleeing an attack. What is there to complain about with striking visuals, realistic locations, and fascinating and unique characters? Nothing at all! Desperados 2 Cooper’s revenge is a direct sequel to the previous game and is also surely worth checking out!
6. Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath
The game puts you in the position of The Stranger, a mysterious and dreaded bounty hunter. Stranger hunts and captures criminals throughout the game to receive rewards. The final aim is to gather enough moolah (in-game currency) to fund a mystery life-saving surgery.
Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath is a science fiction game largely influenced by western films. It is genuinely creative in its gameplay execution. With its beautiful and finely created masterwork, it provides a gaming experience unlike any other.