Having lived in Wyoming for six years and Texas for currently nine, I'm pretty sure that I've qualified as a cowboy. Despite initial impressions, I don't spit hayseeds; I don't wear boot-flared jeans nor a large belt buckle...but there's only so many Wounded Knee Hotels you can drive past before you begin to accept that you're from cowboy country. Raid my closet, and you'll find a large black hat and a single-action .45 Colt. The hecklers call me "Phil Berquist" all day long, but Daniel Stern's four-eyed cattle driver delivered a freaking foal.
Growing up in south Jersey and northern Delaware, the lore of the classic western tale drew me as it does most children. Born just 12 miles from Cowtown, New Jersey -- a flea market locally considered to have held the first American rodeo -- I have fond memories of watching amateur riders flung to the dirt with a bottled cream soda and hot dog in hand. It had never occured to me that I would one day attend world championship rodeo events in Casper, Cheyenne, and Houston.
Now, don't get too mesmerized by the introduction: I love a good Dean Martin western film and a bull-riding show; but I don't care for country music, and I couldn't stay atop a bucking bronc for two seconds...much less eight. I'd pee my pants if I'd ever tried to mount one of the mechanical bulls at Gilley's in Pasadena (pre-1989) -- I'll leave that to the drunk refinery workers. So how does a softie suburban father get his western kicks?
In 1994, Konami released Lethal Enforcers II: Gun Fighters in arcades, and then ported the light-gun shooter to the Sega Genesis, Sega CD, and Super Nintendo. Included with the game was a blue revolver, called the Justifier, that resembled a Colt Python. A second player could use another Justifier (also available in pink) or the Genesis gamepad to join in. Hours of Blades of Steel, TMNT III: The Manhattan Project, and Double Dragon II behind us, Lethal Enforcers II was a welcome addition to the co-op library that my brother and I were accumulating. To this day, scratchy jeers of "You can't hit the broad side of a barn!" take me back to the days of great co-op westerns.
"I have two guns...one for each of ya."
Fans of Contra and other side-scrolling shoot-em-ups may remember Sunset Riders, a co-op arcade game that was ported -- as were many classic games -- to the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1993, one year prior to Gun Fighters. The popularity of Sunset Riders spawned the arcade clone Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa, based on the cartoon series of the same name. It goes without saying that all of these titles offered two-player co-op.
Since those glory days, however, western-themed video games have developed into single-player affairs. LucasArts' Outlaws built on the success of the first-person shooter Star Wars: Dark Forces and added online multiplayer. Gamers were quick to form posses and clans -- a tradition that remains popular today -- creating a team spirit of sorts...but alas, true co-op had begun its ride into the Arizona sunset, further marked by Rockstar's Red Dead Revolver (with four-player splitscreen competitive multiplayer) and Ubisoft's GUN. Outlaws and the latter-mentioned third-person shooters all held a fairly high level of quality and satisfaction among each one's respective fan base, but unfortunately all three were also eventually left to wander the desert, thanks in part to a severe lack of replayability.
Can you imagine The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly without Tuco? Jim West without Artemus Gordon? The Lone Ranger without Tonto? Quick-Draw McGraw without Baba Looey? Apparently the revisionist version of the Old West as depicted in recent video games can.
If there's one thing we've learned from the great John Wayne films, it's that the loners never win. John T. Chance and Dude are an unstoppable team in Rio Bravo. Taw Jackson and Lomax must work together to defeat the War Wagon. After a short brawl in The Sons of Katie Elder, John convinces his younger brothers that they must remain a trio of Elder wrecking balls. Even Rooster Cogburn goes to great lengths (two movies' worth) to be paired with Eula Goodnight, after decades alone. On the more recent side of Hollywood, Shanghai Noon showed us that The Lone Ranger's partner criteria for broken English is not dead yet, and the Varsity Blues-erized star characters of neither American Outlaws nor Texas Rangers were without their respect brothers, cousins, and fellow Rangers.
So why -- with all of these timeless predecessors and mentors -- do modern western-themed video games fall short of two or more players? Among other theories, one may propose that video game developers are seeking to create their own niche in the western genre. Understand something, devs: we want to be entertained! The reason that the western film succeeded was because of the outlandish sharpshooting, sprawling fistfights, tireless horseback chases, and most importantly: colorful characters. Until Clint Eastwood dropped his cigar for a director's chair, realism was never a part of the recipe for a successful classic western flick.
I'll pause here to give props where due: one development studio with a flair for the unique incuded two-player co-op throughout the story mode of Darkwatch in 2005, but only for the Playstation 2 version of the game. As much as we appreciate the consideration, Darkwatch is not strictly a western-themed game -- instead blended with the increasingly popular vampire theme -- so those of us who favor tumbleweeds and dusty saddles have regrettably been left without a proper three-dimensional co-op experience staged within the legendary Old West.
In 2009, Rockstar will release Red Dead Redemption, a game with a fitting title because Rockstar has a real chance to turn the stagnant genre around. It remains to be seen whether or not the game can be played cooperatively; all signs currently point to "single player only". But while gamers drool over the lush visuals and stylish poster art, visions of cooperative train robberies dance in the heads of the Co-Optimus staff. Four-person security detail for a Wells Fargo money coach? Yes, please! Rob a bank...defend a herd of cattle...start a poker parlor shootout...raid a saloon for a marshall's bounty -- all of these typical western scenarios are best played out with a partner or a posse. Sure, being the mysterious lone gunman is intriguing, but let's be honest: there is always an interesting backstory that follows the gunman around...a backstory that is ripe for co-op, be it an outlaw gang or a Civil War tale.
Red Dead Redemption may or may not redeem the western-themed video game genre; if it doesn't, then we still have the classics to enjoy. But if a few developers would come out of the stables to see what the gunfight is about, then the future may hold some really great co-op experiences in one of the most beloved and satisfying settings ever put on film, on print, or on your console of choice: the Old West.