Where Are the Wild West Games?
Gun, Red Dead Revolver, and the Wild Arms games. These are the only half-decent Wild West themed games that have come out in the past decade. I give Wild Arms credit for having such a long running RPG series, I even enjoy my copy of Wild Arms 3, but when I think of the Wild West, I don't picture cell-shaded anime characters shooting goblins in the face with snipers and shotguns. I like the Wild Arms series, don't get me wrong, it just isn't the type genre of the Wild West that I'd like to see more of.
The 1800's in America were a time of exploration and adventure, where everyday people weathered the elements, the treacherous landscape, and the wild animals to catch a glimpse of the Pacific Ocean or make their fortune in gold. Nowadays, sand box games are all the rage and so an open ended Wild West game seems doable; just picture Nikko from GTA4 on a horse instead of a car and using a six shooter instead of a rocket launcher.
It surprises me a little that we aren't flooded with every Western-style game imaginable like we were with Western movies. Ask anyone if they've ever heard of John Wayne or Clint Eastwood and after they ask what you're doing in their house, they'll probably say yes. The simple answer is that we don't see more wild west games is because Japan has the most say in what types of games are to be developed and since their history is much different than ours, we see more samurais and ninjas than we do cowboys.
Don't get me wrong, I like exploring fictional video game lands like Filgaia and whatever the name of the world is from the Final Fantasy games, but it would be a breath of fresh air and much more interesting to have landscapes in games modeled to look like realistic locations. Nothing would be more exciting than to explore the pre-settled territories of the American West and ride off into the sunset like we see so many heroes do in movies; or recognize a landmark in a game that you've actually seen in real life.
Thanks to advancements in open sourced technology, gamers are given the driver's seat when it comes to what they want in video game. Maybe in the future we'll see more games that seek to satisfy the restless American spirit that we all seem to have because, I don't know about you, but Oregon Trail just doesn't seem to cut it.
My name is Brendan and I am a senior at the University at North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I enjoy writing articles to improve my writing, pad my resume, and give my advice and feedback on different topics. Check out my website to find more of my stuff at http://brendanigan.com
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