He has done, and will long continue to do the heyday of cinema with many cult works, but the Wild West universe has also inspired video game developers. At a time when the online mode of Red Dead Redemption 2 is regarding to bow outet Evil Westan ultra-modern futuristic vision of the genre, to sort of take over, it was time to take stock.
Nintendo draws the first
Since their very beginnings, like pioneers in search of nuggets, games have sought to exploit this world that is both fascinating and hostile, but, above all, very popular in the first sense of the term. Anchored in the collective unconscious thanks to the plethora of films and series on the subject, the western has been able to offer video games material powerful enough to draw real gold mines from them. The minimalist technical beginnings of the media knew how to aim right, from their first attempts.
In 1974 one of the most famous and effective adaptations came out: Wild Gunman, signed by Japanese Nintendo. First in an arcade game, since it required the use of a gun detecting light “impacts” on the screen. The concept is as simple as it is effective; the player embodies a bounty hunter and faces increasingly dangerous enemies. It is an heir to what used to be called the electromechanical games of fairgrounds, where all the physical part (targets, movements) was replaced by pixels.
What simpler and more obvious concept might emerge on this theme? Wild Gunman was also adapted for the Nintendo Nes console, requiring the famous pistol as an accessory, later made profitable by a hunting title, Duck Hunt. The popularity of Nintendo’s game is also measured in pop culture with its presence in a scene that has become cult back to the future 2.
pioneers of crime
Subsequently, other publishers, once more mainly Japanese, set out to conquer the West. Western Gun de Taito offers, in 1975, two players to compete weapons in hand on the screen. It is both the very first representation of the death of a man, but also of a confrontation between two human players in a video game. Arcade success, both in Japan and the United States under a different name (Gun Fight), is immediate, promising this kind of interaction with the bright future that we know today, all universes combined.
One of the first titles offered by an American developer – American Multiple Industries – will also be remembered, but for other reasons. Cluster’s Revenge, regularly voted the worst video game in history, invited the player to “avenge” the Lieutenant Colonel who died during the Battle of Little Big Horn by approaching a Native American while dodging arrows to abuse her. Racism, misogyny, rape culture: the title ticks absolutely all the wrong boxes, a feat in itself.
Progress on the move
After a few less flashy releases during the late 1980s, the western once once more benefited from technological advances in the medium. The arrival of the Laser Disc (the ancestor of DVD and Blu-ray) allows arcade machines to offer interactive video sequences. Two titles will be the banners: the unknown Badlandsfrom 1984 at Konami, but above all the legendary Mad Dog McCree from American Laser Games in 1990. His “live” video sequences with real actors remained in the memories of all those who approached the terminal at the time. Still, apart from the aesthetic aspect, the virtual horse straddled by the video game is treading water in terms of playful ambitions.
Still confined for many years to arcade games, adapted for consoles and microcomputers, the western remains very present. Sunset Riders by Konami (1991) allows you to browse some classic action scenes of the genre, up to four players simultaneously. In 1994, Wild Guns by Natsume on the Super Famicom (the Japanese version of the Super Nintendo) is a little more adventurous, with a futuristic western with steam-punk accents and very neat production. A shooting game so significant for its time that it will even be entitled to a remake in 2016, published first on PlayStation 4, then PC and Switch.
The West of the new millennium
The early 2000s marked a break in this long tradition of shooting games, arcade games, ultimately simplistic even if sometimes extremely effective. First with the release of a strategy game, Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive (Infogrames), western counterpart of the mythical Commandos (Eidos). Here, there is no longer any question of shooting in all directions, you have to manage your team with various talents to carry out various missions. The brain finally takes over this famous finger, still glued to the trigger.
In March 2002, a title produced by the Japanese Capcom and produced by an American studio Angel Studios presented itself timidly. Her name : Red Dead Revolver. The fruit of an ultimately impossible collaboration between a Japanese publisher and an American studio which will nevertheless change the face of the video game western.
Red, not quite Dead
The project ends up being bought by Take Two, leaving a certain Dan Houser (Grand Theft Auto) take over the concept. Upon its release in 2004, the game of the new entity created on the ruins of Angel Studios, Rockstar San Diego, bears the scars of its difficult gestation. However, there is something special regarding it, like with this concept of locked shooting called Dead Eye, which allows you to target an enemy several times in slow motion. And then this music with the false tunes of Ennio Morricone which halos grazing sunsets from which the enemies point in the distance… Imperfect, Red Dead Revolver nevertheless inspired other creations, while waiting for his return.
In the West, finally something new
Impossible not to quote the improbable Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath, released in 2005 on Xbox. Lord Lanning, genius at the origin of the adventures of poor Abe of Oddworld, adapts his bizarre creatures and other extraterrestrial strangenesses to the codes of the western. The ammunition becomes living creatures with various effects, and the bounty hunter that one embodies moves in an almost open world.
The same year, Gun by Neversoft (Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater) offers an action-adventure game also in an almost open world, with a greater freedom than in the old pixel westerns. Side quests, manhunts, cattle breeding or poker games punctuate an adventure rich in action and situations, but lacking in charisma.
Also in 2005, a certain Darkwatch at Ubisoft mixes cowboys and vampires, for an action festival in view FPS. A certainly exhilarating release, but without real contribution to the genre, despite some quickly cooled hopes of bringing the adventures of Jericho, his hero, to the big screen.
And Rockstar created Marston
The real revolution will be built on the fragile foundations of a Red Dead Revolver a bit wobbly, but mostly on the tremendous experience of open-world game scripting acquired by Rockstar Games. With a sequel called Red Dead Redemption in 2010, the developer of Grand Theft Auto embraces the western in every detail. If all the clichés are present, it is to better give, in contrast, thickness to a living, organic world, and to characters that are more complex than it seems.
John Marston, the hero, is a tired outlaw, dreaming of finding a wife and child, but forced to hunt his ex-partners. A twilight atmosphere, in a wild open world, as much by its fauna (the memorable attacks of cougars), as by its inhabitants (the false calls for help in the form of an ambush).
Rockstar uses certain mechanics like the Dead Eye, but sublimating the result, in sometimes unforgettable scenes. John’s death is thus experienced by the player, controller in hand, powerless once morest a horde of traitors and enemies despite his marksmanship. The kind of moments that change an art, those for which we launch a new adventure to discover its surprises, with relish.
The end justifies the means
In 2018, Red Dead Redemption 2 does even better than its predecessor. Thanks to technical progress, all the qualities of the previous game are sublimated. The writing is not forgotten and, as in the first adventure of Marston, one will notice in particular a beautiful development of notorious female characters, natives or African-Americans who are no longer confined to the roles of targets. As if the rough Western had made the writing of Dan Houser, long sole master aboard Rockstar Games, softer.
The only inevitable pitfalls for this blockbuster, the “crunch” problems experienced by the teams, subjected to infernal cadences. And despite the commercial success that accompanied these two cult titles, the online mode of the second, inspired by that of GTA Onlinenever knew the success of its muse, for lack of sufficiently numerous virtual cowboys.
However, the succession seems assured in the desire to depict the legends of this epic period, with a newcomer who switches to the fantastic: Evil West. The title, produced by the Polish studio Flying Wild Hog (Shadow Warrior, Trek To Yomi) and whose quality we will be able to judge on November 22 on consoles and PC, will undoubtedly be able to restore vigor to this decidedly indestructible genre.
