LONG BEFORE CATS, CARTS OR CARS WERE HORSES

A screeching cry pierced through his ears, interrupting his deep slumber. Dressed in a tucked white shirt under his brown jacket with rolled sleeves, he steadily regained his sight. He thought it was a woman screaming but it soon dawned on him that it was the shrieking vulture hovering above him. In his soliloquy he questioned "What happened last night?". He probably had drunk too much last night and had collapsed in the desert. Well, the vulture won't be making a meal out of him today since he was already on his feet. Soon, he starts questioning the circumstances behind his "sudden" appearance in a desert. He quickly remembers the words of his father;

When in doubt, head west.

Hey Cowboy! It's your day, trouble finds you. A woman screams for help from a far distance and he moves to investigate. Apparently, she had been tied down by two bandits and her distressed face only hinted one thing; she needs help. Six Guns is an iOS/android game released by gameloft in 2012. Long it is, since its release but it has surprisingly undergone major updates up till June this year. It's not one of those games that are just created for the fun of creating it. If gameloft has stuck with this for 6 years, what then is the catch? It's an open world game which allows exploration of vast possibilities within different environments and scenes. Well, not only that, it adopts the old form of transportation - horses. You are to play as a cowboy who must survive in a mystical world full of bandits, witches, vampires, werewolves and many other spine-tingling creatures.

Typically, in games, your first mission is used to give you the basic game tutorials - which is the case here. The V-pad allows you to move around, running and making turns. The still "anonymous" cowboy who had just lost his horse in the aftermaths of a drinking spree moves closer to the distress call. The struggling woman manages to disarm one of her two captors and they run towards the cowboy. The tutorial then tells you how to punch your enemies till death. Your first fight is a gunless one. You are also awarded 150 coins for completion of the first out of the numerous tasks available in this game. The need for a gun takes you to the store where you will be required to purchase a small gun for just 250 coins. The map is then shown and it is where missions and side missions can be directly accessed.

PROSPERRAID

The Grangers, a dreaded gang is about to ride into the town to perform a "number 83"!. A number 83 as defined by the Grangers is a kind of shooting spree - shooting everything in sight. The folks there need someone to repel the attack and the responsibility sadly falls on me. Well, there's 150 coins in it for me so what's the wait for?.

Now we are with a horse. It is summoned after the horse icon at the top left is selected, the cowboy whistles and it appears for mount. The interesting thing about this is, you can summon the horse anywhere except indoors. Your first ride test is given as you make your way through guided directions to the attack zone. Unfortunately, the camera cannot be panned 360 degrees when on a horse, the horse rather rotates with it so in essence, you can't get a front view if your horse when it is mounted. This is not the case with the cowboy though, as you can do a 360 degree turn while he stands.

He gets there in a jiffy and covers the rest of the distance on foot. Surprisingly, there's another cowboy waiting for you and once you two are positioned, the shooting starts. The enemies come in and both of the "good guys" have no option but to take them out. This gun reloads too soon though. The enemies are neutralized and you are notified of the completion of your tutorial. Well, that was too short a tutorial for my likening. It only covered the basics and not the advanced like buying and gun upgrades etc. A few items are unlocked on completion of the mission and you even have been tagged a *"badass gunslinger" *. That's too soon. I've only been in action for like what? A minute?

The player is taken to the mini-map where he is given a random mission. The idea is to familiarize the player with the functions of the mini-map. In this quest, a mysterious stranger on a wanted list for a murder he didn't commit needs your help in clearing his name. The player's objective is to help him get 10 of these wanted posters pasted on walls all around. The player is then transported to an environment with dilapidated buildings, the area is pretty silent and the horse's footsteps sounded more like a tractor working in a field. Some posters are then sighted and the cowboy is made to interact with the poster by tapping on it. We weren't alone after all; right after the first poster is removed, the residents come with their guns and accuse the cowboy as one of the "murderer's" cohorts. They wouldn't take any explanation and the shooting starts.

The short gun you were given is a very poor one, it takes up to 20 shots to kill a target and you can only take 15 shots before your health (rated in a scale of 30) depletes. It's all just annoying because you have up to 5 hostiles shooting at you with the only moment of pause coming from the intermittent gun reloads. After I had exhausted my free regeneration pack, only two hard earned health regenerating elixirs, a free resurrection pack, he succumbed to pressure, yeah I just left him to die. I could have fought for life, but it was my decision to let him be - not like it has been predetermined.

You are now to continue your erstwhile mission. Apparently, the bandits won't accept defeat and now they are on their revenge mission, they have even set part of the village on fire and they have recaptured the girl you had earlier rescued. I can't say for sure if it is recapture of the same girl or another hostage, the bottom line is, your service is required. We may be able to even call him a mercenary because at the end you receive coins for your work. He arrives at the village and takes on the bandits. They are located at strategic places and even some on top of huts.

^{Thanks to the FPS mode, you can get a close view of your target without necessarily getting near the danger zone, of course you can get hit bullets even from a far distance but the damage is greater in a close range.}

The enemies are eliminated and it is easier than the failed mission earlier, maybe it was a bug I don't know but one thing I know is, that mission if for higher level players. The girl is rescued at the end of the shootout but the raging fire didn't leave much of a moment to celebrate. Luckily, there's a reservoir just near the inferno and you are made to make hole in it with your bullet so that the it spills its content - water - and the inferno is subsequently quenched. The cowboy's work is done now and he makes his way out but just as he steps outside the entrance, a word sends chills down his spine

Thanks Darling!

He froze as though he were stunned by a bee and the words echoed through his ears. In his perplexity, he gets flashes of memories. A woman carrying a basket filled with flowers in an apparent state of confusion can be seen. "Darling, Darling! Don't do this" was all that came out of her trembling lips. A hand appears with a gun and pulls the trigger and like a defibrillated man, he bolted out of his limbo. He regains his composure and he saddles down the hill.

^{All Images are Screenshots from my Mobile}
There are a lot of side missions to keep the player busy whenever you feel less entertained, tired of exploring or you haven't acquired the required level for continuation of the story mode - these side missions can also increase the players level. While some are based on finding lost items, getting needed items for people, fighting bandits, repelling bandits, others are based on survival - fighting your way through waves of witches, ghosts, vampires, werewolves but not exactly till death. Of course, if a player dies, that's the end but it actually has an end. Typically, with each wave comes increasing difficulty and some wave can reach up to 26 waves. It will take a very high player level to survive that long. Similarly, there are story spin offs too and most of these revolve round horror.

When you are not spending your time trailing the suspense of the story mode, weighing your courage with the spin offs nor testing your dexterity with the side missions, what then can you do? Of course you can hang out with your fellow cowboys, drink beer and watch their piano plays but that's not the crux. You can take your time hunting for animals, ranging from squirrels and doves to Wolves and Bisons. You can get a couple of items from these kills and the bigger the kill, the better. But you have to be careful, most of these animals pose serious threats, you can even get attacked while on a horse and get your horse killed. Imagine a situation where you are out there hunting for a pig and a snake sneaks up behind your back with a well aimed strike to your leg, that could kill the player. You have to constantly be on the lookout in the wild. Hunting may already be scary as I portrayed but it can actually be easier, what are guns for?.

Six Guns is Weapon-packed

52 different kinds of Weapons at your disposal

From the sleekest to the scariest, you can rely on them to cut-through, burn, pulverize or decapitate your enemies like a mere barbecue. Pistols, shot guns, and revolvers and sniper rifles are the least of these and they come at affordable market prices, Like the triplet barrel terror that costs 28 elixirs - which are very hard to get - and the Long shot repeater 1887 that goes for 18,000 coins. But when you talk of advance weapons that could neither pass for the infamous Ak47 or the dreaded M16 you begin to wonder if it's some sort of hybrid weapon. The "Hand Dragons" for example, said to be an "holy" weapon that sends enemies to hell, may seem like some sort of flamethrower but it is obviously not, you may want to call it a pistol, but neither is it and it almost has an 100% damage. What about the steam-powered strikers? - Hell raisers! - it is said hit enemies like a runaway locomotive. I remember playing shadow fight 2 then and Hell raisers was one of my favourite, the only downside about them is you won't be able to make long distance kills as you have to strike them with your fists. The bottom line, is these guns are gorgeous!

It has a Penchant for Fashion

I can always fall for adorable customizations anyday, anytime and this is not a disappointment for me. There are 22 different custom packs and can be said to be progressively cool, from the first page to the twenty second. Each packs comes in a four part customization, The hair/Hat/Mask, the cloth, the trousers and the boots. There's a string that ties the contents each pack and they are meant to be bought together. Of course, it doesn't mean you can't buy different items from different packs, you just might end up looking like an alien. The wears are not just all flashy though, they offer varying protection and resistance to harm.

Even the horses too are not spared, there are horses and there are beasts (They can also be classified as horses). Talk about the harbinger that looks more like fiery horse from the famous ghost rider movie, it literally breathes fire. Or the plague horse that leaves a trail of greenish plague in its path, you can also call it a reindeer because of the distinctive horn but it's not, it's just a horse which likes the green colour. There are also the mechanical horse, tundra stallion, black steam horse - that looks like a dog- and the maniac mustang, the violent one. All these are facilitate your wild west reign.

It may be kind of hard to get coins or elixirs for shopping sprees and that is exactly what lotteries are for. You can call it a bet because it is unpredictable and it encompasses the "higher stake = higher reward" notion. Regardless, it is the only way to circumvent the tedious money-making tasks. You are required to purchase bullet chests which range from Free chest, bronze chests to gold chests. The free bullet chest is available once in 24 hours so the lottery play cannot be abused. The bronze bullet chest costs five elixirs, silver costs 10 while the gold costs 20.

They each contain prizes ranked according to the chest's worth. Could be a horse, a gun or free coins, the prizes are arranged in a 3x3 row and they are shown before each card is turned over and shuffled. Thereafter, you will shoot your desired card and your prize will be revealed. It is a fair way to earn, get horses or badass guns.

LIKES & DISLIKES

• Most players like PVP games and can't just help but play it. Why multiplayer games are different now is because it is not overly reliant on Wi-Fi network and can be played with mobile data, although some games require relatively low pings, it is still a better option than having a WiFi router by your side all in the name of multiplayer. It is as you guessed, the game requires Wi-Fi network for any form of multiplayer, it doesn't support mobile data at all. ❌

• The event mode is supposed to bring players together and create thrilling atmosphere within the game and there should not be a shortage of it but I have not seen a single event mode since I started playing. I hope the "later" comes as quick as possible. ❌

• There's an annoying tab above the screen that displays your coins, elixirs and your health bar but it is not as classic and elegant enough to go unnoticed even for a second, it is just too colorfully obvious. I had to crop it out of some my screenshots❌

• You don't get to hear conversations in cut scenes, reading it via text like a movie subtitle ❌

• The graphics is pretty fair for a mobile game but not exceptional. you can make do with it though ✔️

• The storyline is just full of thrills, twists and suspense. You may not get to see any like it in a while; the cowboy kills his wife but there is more to it than meets the eye ✔️

• The gameplay? There's not a dull moment or a chance for boredom, if you are not playing the story, you are battling with side missions. If you are not battling with side missions, you are hunting, if you are not hunting, you can race with other cowboys. And if you are not? Just hang our with your friends, and listen to some piano play ✔️

• The sound, just great! Different sound plays for different circumstances. Even the ominous music that plays when you go to greet one of your dear witches could almost make you abort the mission ✔️

• It is a vast open world game that revolves round Oregon and Arizona. This means you can't travel long distances to mission locations without getting bored but that is where the fast travel comes in ✔️

I give it;

8/10

Game Link

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