Developer Neversoft has been making nothing but Tony Hawk games for so long, I half expected the cowboys of Gun to ride skateboards. But they stick to traditional horses and saddle up for one of the best, old-fashioned Western yarns I've seen in a long time. All the requisite outlaws, gunfights, Indians and saloons are present in an open-ended environment. It's like Grand Theft Auto: Tombstone.
But whereas GTA features three packed cities, Gun's vast expanse of desert has yet to see that kind of development, so at times you'll be riding through a whole lot of nothing. Nevertheless, this West is still worth winning.
NEED FOR SPEED: MOST WANTED (T) (4 stars)
Electronic Arts
Xbox 360, Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube
Nothing gets your palms sweaty like two cop cars on either side of you, 25 more in the rear-view mirror, and a chopper tracking you from above. Evading the police is actually more fun than winning the story mode's races, which come with some of the most awesomely (intentionally?) ridiculous cut-scenes you'll ever see.
AEON FLUX (T) (3.5 stars)
Majesco
PlayStation 2, Xbox
This game makes no sense. Each level has virtually nothing to do with the last, and it's never even clear whose side Aeon Flux is on. In other words, it's 100 percent faithful to its source material—especially if you die a lot. It otherwise plays very much like Bloodrayne and should please anyone who likes to see a hot babe kick ass with style.
MARIO PARTY 7 (E) (2.5 stars)
Nintendo
GameCube
If you're a fan of Nintendo's glorified bored game—excuse me, board game—franchise, I'll tell you how to get a free copy of the seventh installment. Get a thick Sharpie and any of your previous Mario Party games and write "7" over the existing number. Ta da! Save that pen and next year I'll tell you how to get Mario Party 8.
SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs FireTeam Bravo (M) (4 stars)
Sony Computer Entertainment
PlayStation Portable
Remarkably, all this series lost in its transition from the PS2 to the PSP is two members of your squad. I never liked those guys anyway. But if you really miss the company, you can perform special ops with up to 16 players in ad hoc and online modes.
Matthew Scott Hunter has been known to mumble, "Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, start" in his sleep. E-mail him at
[email protected].