Holiday You-Wish List

Gun

Activision, $49.99

The cinematic game genre, with its filmlike segments between player-controlled action sequences, gains ground on movies with Gun. Despite average graphics and game-play, the game succeeds in filling a now-obvious gap in the genre department: Westerns. And though thin by film standards, Gun's plot remains engrossing – if not a bit fleeting – while simultaneously setting up a kickass gunfight every five minutes. The voice casting is genre-appropriate with our hero, Colton White, played by Punisher Thomas Jane, and other characters voiced by Hellboy Ron Perlman (the veteran of 10-odd video games) and Kris Kristofferson of, uh, Big Top Pee-wee fame. Like most cinematic games, you can play three ways: follow the linear plot, earn money by taking on various side missions (bounty and game hunting, playing poker, ranching, etc.), or roam aimlessly and kill indiscriminately. The auto-aim function seems at first to be a built-in cheat, but as the villains approach in waves, you'll learn to embrace the WMD-caliber body counts. Providing the seemingly requisite iota of conscience is the "town's patience" meter that increases when you kill innocent bystanders and, when full, turns the townspeople against you. Make sure the kids are in bed before playing this maim-fest, lest they get the idea that blurry vision due to numerous bullet wounds can be remedied by a swig of whisky. Who knew?