Wild West Guns

Thanks to Wild West Guns, I have a whole new moral compass.

The next time I run someone down, shoot him in the head, or steal his horse I won't feel bad about it at all. I won't even panic about the police being on my tail.

To rid myself of any guilt, all I'll do is nip into my local church, or even drop my local Big Issue seller a couple of pence.

In the kill-or-be-killed world of Wild West Guns, such acts - designed to lower your 'wanted' level with the cops - are about as kind-hearted as life gets.

It's not an overstatement to say that Gameloft's Grand Theft Auto meets Red Dead Redemption, with a little bit of Assassin's Creed thrown in for good measure.

Officially, the game's challenges – which play out in a world populated by gun-toting criminals and a whole host of dust – are set in an open world, throughout which you can wander as you please and even mount a horse.

Progression, however, relies on you following some fairly prominent signposts, riding where you're told, and shooting at batches of bad guys usually split up and strung out to draw out the action.

Your role in response is to dart from firing at one to the next, hammering the '5' key when in range and taking advantage of the game's auto-aiming system.

Gameloft has also taken steps to populate its take on the wild west with other points of interest.

Money you pick up from fallen victims (remember, no need to feel guilty) can be spent on upgrading weapons, while there are also hidden boxes of treasure dotted around the place that act as the perfect reward for those unscripted wanders.

Wild West Guns isn't entirely smooth sailing, however. Riding a horse can be a rather buggy affair, as invisible walls trap you for unforeseen reasons. The only response in such situations is to dismount, run away, and call your horse over once free with the '0' key – a tactic that loses all appeal ten or 20 times down the line.

The gameplay is also a touch derivative. Gameloft has certainly rode into this town before, albeit in a different skin or two. There's little here that hasn't already been mastered by other games 100 times over.

Yet Wild West Guns isn't without appeal, mostly in its presentation. There's genuine character to the game's setting, and so this is a world you won't feel guilty devoting a bit of time to.