LEAD AND GOLD: GANGS OF THE WILD WEST

When I first saw clips of Lead and Gold I was super exited. I love the western theme, and more so after playing the latest Call of Juarez. I just love the potential of the setting. There are so many unique ideas, which could be easily applied into a game. Fatshark has done this and more.

Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West produced by FatShark, it is a Third Person Shooter and as the title denotes, it is based in a Wild Western setting. This title is an online multi-player only although there is a training mode that has you learn the basics.

Although lacking a single player campaign, it more than makes up for it in terms of game modes. These include -Shoot-Out, which is Team Death Match in all but name, -Robbery, where you play two rounds, taking turns as either attackers or defenders. Attackers are out to steal bags of gold from the defending team’s safe. To gain access to the oppositions safe you must blow your way in using powder kegs as your means of entry. Then bring the bags back to the safety of their base. Then teams swap over and do the reverse of the last round. -Powder Keg, The attacking team is tasked with blowing up the opposing objectives using Powder Kegs, whilst the defending team is there to stop the attackers. Again the second round attackers and defenders switch over. –Greed, is a variation of CTF. A sack of gold is randomly spawned on the map and both gangs battle their way to be the first to bring the loot back to safety. Greed is played in two rounds with the total scores added together to decide the winner. Finally, -Conquest, The objective is to conquer control points in sequence, while the opposing team are doing the same but taking zones in reverse order. Once all zones are controlled by one team, that team are deemed the winner.
Mostly variations of the classics but unique enough to still be interesting. These unique ideas matched with the Wild West setting really help compel the player to keep playing. The game is highly addictive and super fun to play. Strategies and style of play can ebb and flow due to the class system.

You play one of four classes, that you choose at the start of every game and every time you respawn. These characters all look straight out of a typical Spaghetti Western. These classes include Trapper: who is basically a sniper class, carrying a one shot long range hunting rifle and a medium calibre revolver as her side arm. Deputy: who carries a medium to long range repeater carbine and a side arm as before. A Blaster: does what it says on the tin really. He carries a double barrelled shotgun to blast his way out of tight situations. A Gunslinger: who is your typical John Wayne style Cowboy carrying only a quick loading Six-Shooter, but don’t worry he isn’t under powered he has a special ability, as do all the classes. Theses special abilities really make the game enjoyable and adds replayability like you wouldn’t believe. I will leave the details of these abilities for you to find out, because that’s half the fun.

As well as specially abilities there is another unique trait all classes have, which is called Synergy. All classes radiate two Synergies. The Regeneration Synergy and a unique synergy for example, the Gunslinger has the Accuracy synergy meaning if any other team mate is around, the Accuracy Synergy and Regeneration Synergy will be radiated around the nearby team mates. The more team mates are together the more Synergies will be shared. This really rewards players for working as a team, and really makes this a great game to play with friends. You could become a deadly force with just a little organisation and a bit of communication. This is what online multi-player is all about in my opinion.

The easiest way to describe Lead and Gold would be, if Clint Eastwood made Team Fortress, then this is what you would get. For a Downloadable game at an extremely affordable price point you cant get better than that. Graphics are above average and frame rate is silky smooth. I only experienced minor hic-ups during the time I spent online, and quite some time that was. One being a slight bit of lag, but that would be more down to the host’s connection than to a poor net code. The most eye catching hic-up I noticed was, for a brief time one of my team mates had no run animation, he was just floating around the map as if ice skating the coarse sand.

The biggest let down for me was the levelling system. XP levelling isn’t persistent. You only earn levels in a match then scores and levels are reset for the next round. Saying that I completely understand why FatShark has gone for this way, rather than the now standard COD style levelling. It rewards players for skill and team work, rather than just who can plough the most hours in. I commend FatShark for this and not sticking to the norm.

With these minor faults I still think this is one of the best shooters you can currently get of the Playstation Store. With hours of potential and even more, what with promises of DLC and constant support via updates. I really see this one having legs, especially for the Team Based Multiplayer crowd. The theme has been nailed through out, from the designs of the characters not looking out of place from a classic Hollywood western film set, to the game modes incorporating the Wild West theme perfectly. A lot of attention to detail has been given to this game, so buckle up your cowboy boots and give this game the time it deserves.

Editors Note:

This game was given the ‘Editor’s Choice Award’ for being a unique downloadable game to the PSN store. A true must buy in our opinion.