Red has plenty of tricks up his sleeve and he implements them throughout the game . . . only not as smoothly as we all want. The Dead Eye feature is great so expect a lot of cool gun tricks during intense gunfights. Duels are also great, although they certainly require an abundance of patience and even more practice. The game also seems to place little emphasis on story so don’t expect much of one in the game’s main Story mode.

Red Dead Revolver isn’t the prettiest of games and this is something of a tragedy since Rockstar has a lineup of visually pleasing games. This is not to say that the graphics completely suck since the environments (hell, even the main menu) look authentic to the time period. Each location has enough detail and charm to work well; it’s just the characters that don’t look as impressive. The facial features, for instance, needed lots of work.

The Sergio Leone-inspired music is an audible treat and is even more amazing during duels or showdowns in some dusty old town. As far as the voice acting is concerned, Red has this gritty tone that will surely remind you of Clint while the assortment of characters you come across are actually pretty good. Its the sound effects that really win this one and while the sounds of Red spinning the cylinder of his revolver, nothing sounds better than the sound of spurs jingling as you step out to face your enemies. Yee Haw this is good stuff.

Story mode seems to push story aside to keep the action going and this might suit those that already know where the predictable story is headed anyway. There are many challenging moments in this game that will have you dying faster than a bug smacking into the windshield of a moving car and the fact that there is no save points during a level, you’ll be replaying a lot the much harder moments. Duels, especially the more advanced ones, will also provide a lot of challenge so expect to die a lot in this game.

You have to love a game with plenty of treats to unlock and Red Dead Revolver allows you to unlock them by completing a level (score high and you get weapon upgrades as well as extras used in the game’s multiplayer mode) or purchasing them with the bounties you’ve collected. Gamers will also enjoy playing as five other characters and (my personal favorite) riding on horseback to catch a moving train. Complete the game once and you unlock Bounty Hunter mode (which is basically Story mode but with a time limit like the New York Minute mode in Max Payne).

So there’s no Xbox Live multiplayer action but the multiplayer modes found here are fun enough to be played with up to four players. Seen in split-screen fashion, there are four multiplayer modes in all and this is pretty good considering the fact that the Xbox gets Coliseum mode. Of the bunch, Sundown is the game’s deathmatch mode and High Noon its cool dueling game. Make no mistake--multiplayer mode is where the intense action is most enjoyable.

Well, gunslingers, Red Dead Revolver isn’t perfect but it’s one of the most entertaining action games set in the Wild West this year. While the game needed its rough spots smoothed out, it offers enough gameplay variety to keep things interesting. If you’re in the mood for a Western, give this one a shot . . . it might just surprise you.