Guns And Spurs 2 Attempts To Give Red Dead Redemption Some Cowboy Competition

This does not look like it yees any sort of haw.

I think that I might have more faith in GameMill putting out a competent Red Dead Redemption clone than SODESCO.

I'm not paying $50 for this and it's likely I don't have to.

"""Competition"""

Looks good honestly. Hopefully no jank.

Is this a $2.99 game?

"the games look very similar in terms of their overall aesthetic" 🤔

On a semi related note: I would like a Switch version of "Gun", please. Where's Kate when you need her?

@samuelvictor indeed. I have Gun on PC but the controls aren't too wieldy for my taste. And considering that the game even got a PSP port back in the day, a Switch version doesn't feel all that improbable. We got Rogue Trooper from the same era out of the blue!

Yeah good luck with that.

Wow. Just...wow. That looks phenomenally bad.

The idea is good, be a bounty hunter and go do your thing. I like the idea of being able to make my own character, too.

But dear lord that looks terrible. The graphics look flat and the animations look like something from an early 3D game on Newgrounds.

Has anyone heard of “Guns and Spurs” the original? …I haven’t. lol

@nhSnork Absolutely, the Switch is 100% up to the job. I never played the PC version, not sure I was aware it existed! lol. I picked it up on a whim for OG Xbox when I saw it in a shop and was very impressed with how cinematic the presentation and cutscenes were. I later bought that PSP port and it was pretty close to the "full fat" version! Even had some extra content IIRC.

I getting "The Last Hope: Dead Zone Survival" vibes.

@Farts_Ahoy I hadn't but looked it up. It was IOS and Android only. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NTmkpHmUl0

Neither look particularly good... but it looks like these games are made by a single dev, a Greek dude called Sakis. According to his blog he makes all the 3d assets and 2d art for his games - those aren't just quick asset store purchases for a cynical asset flip, looking at the trailer of the new game, he's got some modelling and texturing chops and getting better over time.

The second game like a vast improvement on the first. I know how hard making games is and I encourage him to continue working on his passion and honing his skills, maybe its not quite there yet but the progress from first to second is impressive and its not easy for a single person to make a game like this.

I think comparissons to a $300 million budget Rockstar game is hardly fair. I don't see the dev making these kinds of comparissons, and I don't think he's trying to prentend this is anything its not (unlike that game recently that was clearly cynically trying to look exactly like Last of Us in the marketing)

edit: Ha looks like @CazSonOfCaz beat me to it. But I think the intention is different here.

If having fast travel makes it into your list of features, you may need more features. I'm surprised day and night cycle and auto saves didn't get bullet points.

Music is beautiful , was wonder how is actual real gameplay on BGM

It’s odd how a game appears on the eShop that gets labelled as a Last of Us ripoff, gets torn to pieces and ultimately forced off the store. This game turns up and we are going to “give it a chance” and scratch the red dead redemption itch. Maybe they will port gunshot city to scratch the gta itch.

Save your LIFE and your CASH!! Go buy COLT CANYON now for $14.99 or wait for when it's on sale for $4.99!! CC is a REAL mans Western game!! Blow peoples bodies to bloody bits in a rage of fury!! throw dynamite to blow up half a dozen or more spit waggle tooth mother f'ers and laugh your ass off picking up all their ammo and guns to use it against them!! This game RULES!!!!!

@solidox Soedesco has some hit or miss games, but they are a legitimate game publisher. VG Games (also known as INSTAMARKETINGANDGAMES and Midnight Works) thrive off of flipping premade assets and putting fake screenshots and 90% discounts on the eShop to trick consumers. The two are very different.

https://www.nintendolife.com/games/browse?title=company%3Ainstamarketingandgame

@solidox I thought the same thing. They're like the same level of ripoffness.

that looks absolutely awful. Like really awful.

@samuelvictor
I loved Gun on the GameCube. Absolutely fantastic game...

...Except for the final end boss, which was a textbook example of how to do it wrong.

This looks, pretty janky. But I have a strange love for jank from smaller outfits so I may check this out if it goes on a decent sale. It doesn't look like 25 quids worth of gunslinging action.

@JoeyTS Exactly this. This game isn't an asset flip, its an over ambitious game by a solo dev that perhaps bit of more than he could chew... but in order to both create all the assets and program it from scratch, he's done impressive work and put in a lot of effort... even though it still doesn't look good at all, because in our heads we are comparing it to RDR.

Thing is, the dev himself didn't make this to market it as a RDR alternative when the games is current... because he made it 2 years ago (its free on the app store!) And its a sequel to an even older game. If anything, Sodesco deciding to release it right now while RDR is trending is exploitative to an extent, but this wasn't the intention of the dev.

I had a look through the dev's previous work - some of it is over ambitious and impressive for a single person, but can't possibly live up to what its trying to do - like his pretty full featured, but obviously non-AAA GTA clone.

But some of his less ambitious more retro style games that are aping the style of N64 platformers actually look good, because you are comparing them to something more realistic for a single person to make, and the basic graphics are part of the style.

Like, the Toree games are really good. But if the same dev tried to make a Call of Duty game by himself with no budget, it would probably be very impressive for a single person, but would have no chance competing with Activision and would be laughed at, no matter how "close" he got.

This is why I got out of games programing in the late 90s/early 2000s when games started being all about the most impressive 3d graphics and requiring large budgets and teams. I've only recently come back now there is a market for retro-style games again. As a solo dev, you are better sticking with retro-style projects that are realistic and will be compared to old games, not current AAA titles.

A functioning GTA or BOTW clone will be a far more impressive technical achivement for a solo dev, but there's no chance you will pull off something that will compare, so people will laugh at it. Make a pixel art RPG or Metroidvania, and people will be kinder.

@Woderwick Oh, this is absolutely not a $25 game. Its a $2.99 or free to play with ads mobile title. And that's what it originally was. Its literally available for free on the App store right now. Looks like its got quite a lot of semi decent reviews and people having fun with it because their expectations were low. The problem we're having here is that Sodesco are trying to market this as something its not.

As someone developing my own games, and hoping to get a physical release for them, I need to be careful not to throw stones in a glass house. But I think by making realistically simple pixel art 16bit style games, I can nail the basics then concentrate on polishing everything as much as possible to make them worthy of a physical release, similar to a Shovel Knight or Shantae. Its hard, but realistic for a dedicated solo dev to make something that can be considered as good as a AAA release from the 16bit days. Maybe even 32bit. Thats kinda where I'm aiming.

Though I'm pretty proficient in Unreal Engine 4/5, 3d modelling, shader programming, and use them for VFX for pretty big budget movies, I'd never, ever try to make a solo game project that could be passed off as a AAA 3d current gen release - you're asking to be compared with $300-700 million budget game that had literally hundreds of people working on them.

Again, I don't think thats what this dev was doing. He was making an ambitious mobile game as a hobby in a genre he enjoys, not expecting it to sell for more than a few $, never expecting it to compete with AAA titles. The fact its been picked up by a publisher for a current console release, at that price? Good for him to get his bag, but its asking for bad reviews, because its being somewhat missold simpley by being on a console, having that price point, and getting a physical release.

I'm glad to see several people here have good memories of Gun. It was a game I'd never heard of and just randomly stumbled accross, and enjoyed a lot, problematic stereotypes that are tropes of the genre aside. Very impressively cinematic for the time. I must admit to not rememberign the last boss... perhaps I never got that far. I haven't played it since the PSP was a current system.

@samuelvictor
I've got a lot more time for a game made by a small outfit which has heart but is janky than a AAA title with similar levels of jank.
Half my switch library is stuff I've picked up for a couple of quid here and there which is nowhere near as polished as bigger titles but at least tries to do something interesting and is clearly something the dev wants to see exist, even if they don't have the resources/time/skills to polish it to perfection.
For example, I bought a game called Event Horizon, which is basically a cheap and cheerful port of an unfinished mobile game with stock assets. It's perpetually on sale and I got it for less than a quid simply because the entire game is pretty much the Super Melee mode from Star Control 2 which I loved when I was younger. Most people would complain about it being on the eShop in the first place but I love it to bits. More than got my money's worth and I enjoyed it a lot more than I have some very big and very well rated titles that I thought were absolute gash.

@Woderwick Yes I don't have much interest in AAA games, and am a LOT more forgiving of small indie passion projects that I see potential in. Of course, when a small indie passion project ends up being damn near flawless like Shovel Knight, Shantae or Star Dew Valley, thats even better! Its that kind of quality level I aspire to. (not saying I'll reach it, but good to have goals & inspiration).

I feel a similar way with movies - I like some big popcorn A-lister titles, but in general I'm not that interested in most huge blockbuster films, and when I do watch one, it theres stuff about it that I don't like, I'm super critical. Especially when I see something that I literally know that I could have done better myself, in a movie 20 times more expensive than anything I've ever made. Whereas low budget indie movies, or B-movies, or "clearly a bunch of mates trying their best and having a blast doing it" really appeal to me, and if I find a project thats nowhere near perfect but actually has potential or some element about it thats really good, I'll go to bat for it. Often seek out the individuals involved and try and help them.

I'm quite fond of picking up obscure unloved titles I've found at festivals or randomly on the internet and helping them get distribution, to earn some money for the creators, maybe fund their next film - but again I always warn them, bare in mind some people will be expecting your project to be comparable to a $30-100 million title with world class actors, and you WILL get mostly bad reviews... but your project will be on Netflix/Amazon/DVD or whatever and will pick up a small cult following that wouldn't have found it otherwise. If I'm being charitable to Sodesco, maybe that's what they've done here. But the timing is suspicious to say the least.

@samuelvictor
Exactly that. I'm so much more forgiving of a film that was made on a smaller budget but is trying for something the creators really wanted to see made. Even if they don't always get it quite right, the fact it's not the same bland pap being turned out by the big studios to appeal to as many people as possible means a lot more to me than a huge SFX budget and a cast of a-listers.
I think my missus is thoroughly fed up of me eschewing the blockbusters she wants to watch and instead suggesting we watch Jonny Mnemonic or Dust Devil or Death Machine or Avengement (crap title, great film).

Admittedly, Jonny Mnemonic does have a great cast, but it was still panned when it came out but I love what the did. Also, I'd happily watch Henry Rollins and Keanu Reeves reading the phonebook.

Kudos to you for flying that flag for real and actually helping those sort of films reach a wider audience.

The animation is rough but might be fun, the reviews on mobile look positive. If the price is right I’d consider it.

@Poodlestargenerica Glad someone got the point

@JoeyTS So they employ the same pricing strategies as other publisher like Activision then? It's quite common to price high then offer a massive saving.

I never commented on the quality of the game. Imitation is the best form of flattery as they say. It is unlikely you will confuse RDR and G&S2, and the same goes for Last Hope and TLOU.

Maybe if Nintendo Life reviewed for some of the games on your link, people would not be duped so easily.

As to ripping of.

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ellen-page-says-naughty-dog-ripped-off-her-likeness/1100-6410610/

Personally I don't mind these sorts of games.

@Woderwick Thank you!

You know, I've not seen Avengement but I'm very aware of it, as about half the cast and some of teh crew are either friends of mine or people I've worked with before! At the time it was being made I was in the process of moving country for a big project so I couldn't have been involved but a lot of great and talented people I know were. I remember when it was originally pitched it was to be somewhat based on Kobayashi's Harakiri. I know it got good reviews, I should definitely check it out!

I've always had a soft spot for Johnny Mnemonic, its a shame what the studio did to it, I've always been interested in what Longo's version would have been if Speed hadn't been the success it was and lead the studios to try and turn it into a blockbuster halfway through production, when originally it was planned as a lower budget and more of an ironic piece than a straight up action film.

One of my favourite films of recent years (though its highly weird and an acquired taste, for sure!) is Brigsby Bear. Its one of those films where its better to go in knowing as little as possible (and the trailers really don't give away much because of this) but the various things that happen eventually lead to a very socially awkward man with an obsession with an 80s TV show from his youth that was cancelled, wanting to make his own fanmade movie to get closure on the series and therefore his childhood so he can move on.

Its a really nice, touching film, but also pretty funny and super creative. Not seen much else like it, and I'd recomend it, both as a nice film, but also as its literally about an amateur rallying his friends to help him create a passion project just for the love of it, so it fits the theme of what we've been talking about. It really struck a chord with me, as a pretty autistic dude who obsessively throws himself into wild crazy passion projects myself, and loves to help others do the same, its cool to see that celebrated and people supporting his dreams, even when they don't really understand them.

@solidox Name me an Activision game that employs a 90% discount on day one. No really, I would love to know! Name me a company that puts literally every single game they publish at a 90% discount, that I also would like to know.

I love that you acknowledge that people get duped so easily from buying these games, it proves my point exactly. They are horrible games that are straight asset flips with fake screenshots and descriptors on the eShop and your comment about people being duped so easily implies that you know that these are bottom of the barrel games. Imitation of beloved franchises is the best form of ripping people off as I say. But seriously, if you don't mind games like War Tank Machine Battle Vehicle Simulator - Fight World Wars WWII Mechanic Troopers Royale Driving , then you do you.

Plus in the article you linked, Naughty Dog altered the design anyways, it's a moot point. These asset flips are still on the eShop, even thought their one Last of Us rip-off is gone, dozens of others are still there unfortunately.

@samuelvictor
Thanks for the recommendation. I'll check it out next time I'm looking for something to watch.
I watched a film called Turbo Kid a while ago which is very much a love-letter to 80's culture and films. It's cheap and cheerful but it works very well. I've always said that post-apoc films work best on a small budget because the need to do things as cheaply as possible lends itself much better to the whole idea of people having to scratch out a living from whatever they can scavenge and this film is absolutely that. Also, it's funny and pretty touching in places. And features Michael Ironside who I've loved as an actor since Darryl Revok in Scanners.
I was an avid watcher of Alex Cox's Moviedrome when I was probably a bit too young to watch a lot of the stuff he showed but it absolutely opened my eyes to the world of cinema outside of the big glitzy hits. I loved the way he'd sometimes show films he didn't even like that much just to showcase a particular element of it which made it stand out amongst others.

Scarlet Deceased Salvation.

Even as a cheap 3D action game this just feels terrible and the visuals look ugly while pop-ups still occur. If it had better graphics like say Breath Tears of the Wild Kingdom then maybe I'll let it slide but these are cheap Unity assets, why does it still had pop-ups.

@solidox There's also the Cuphead ripoff too which was insanely bad. Dev really need to learn from Freedom Planet, the Messenger, Sea of Stars, Dark Deity, Axiom Verge, Fast RMX, Chasm, Bug Fable, and Prodeus. Those are ripoffs done right.

It is more on par with Red Dead Revolver.

@Woderwick Sorry, I thought I responded to this, apparently it got lost. Moviedrome was great! And yeah I really loved Turbo Kid, felt like a love letter to a lot of the things I grew up with.