A Fistful of Gun is a title that’s got a retro feel with a fistful of modern features. Sporting a dynamic story taking place in the Wild West, A Fistful of Gun is a top-down shoot ‘em up that exemplifies what a quality arcade shooter should feel like.
A Fistful of Gun
Developer: Farmergnome
Price: 12.99 USD
Platform: PC
MonsterVine was supplied with a PC code for review
After a short and semi-serious cutscene intro, it’s clear that A Fistful of Gun is meant to be fun. You’ve got a few primary modes to choose from: Story, Arcade, Same-Screen Versus and Online. You can play online with up to 8 other players, and you can choose one of 11 insanely unique characters. Unfortunately however, you need a gamepad, a mouse and a keyboard in order to experience all 11 characters in their entirety.
Regardless of which mode you decide to play, shit will hit the fan quickly. While looking up information and checking facts on A Fistful of Gun I spotted the phrase “Western Bullet Circus,” which perfectly encapsulates the frantic gameplay experience. On my first try (okay, first several) I died almost instantaneously. Once you spawn into this Wild Western Hell you’ll quickly be greeted by screen-clogging weapons fire and enemies. After a few tries you’ll probably get the hang of things, and maneuver around hazards like the bad ass you never knew you were.
Story mode, while loose, is incredibly dynamic for a game of this caliber. The game is separated into both Acts and Days. After a short intro you’re dropped into a firefight, given a horse upgrade (which reminded me of Yoshi from Mario in both companionship and dispensabilty), and presented with a choice of direction (Up, Left or Right). From what I can tell, each direction gives you a different scenario which is randomly generated. These ranged from gambling events in which you must gamble huge sums of coin or fight, environments filled to the brim with explosive traps to be used on enemies and a particularly odd situation in which you are given a choice between death and carrying around a large pinata (yes, seriously). While each room may present you with a different challenge, many of those challenges were recurring and unvaried. Yes the pinata thing was funny, but after the third or fourth time I was presented with the same text-prompt and the same pinata it got a bit old.
Arcade mode is exactly what it sounds like. Story and completionism go out the window in lieu of scores and survival. Players simply shoot as much as they can for as long as they can before biting the inevitable bullet. Scores can be compared against other players in the leaderboards or other players in your game, and while I find the latter experience much more enjoyable it’s ultimately up to you. Each mode has multiplayer options, turning every experience up to 11. Encounters become exponentially more chaotic as more and more players enter the fray, and your survival chances will only get better as long as you can tell what’s going on on-screen.
The Final Word
A Fistful of Gun is a surprisingly air-tight title. I encountered only a single bug, which probably only applies to few to none of you. A Fistful of Gun is the perfect game if you want to experience a retro title with modern perks and quality.
– MonsterVine Rating: 4 out of 5 – Good
