Woohoo woohoo woooo…woo woo hoo… It’s really hard to write in “whistle,” but if I could it would be the perfect intro to this review. You see, Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West is set in, you guessed it, the Wild West. There is only one song that can put you in the mood for a bit of Wild West action, and that is Ennio Morricone’s theme for The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. So I wrote the tune down. Now try to read it again in that classic whistle tune, and it will all become clear to you.

Lead and Gold is a small game, with a small budget, was created by a small team (by today’s standards) and is sold for a small price. It has big dreams though! In essence it’s a third person online multiplayer shooter, and its style will immediately draw comparisons to games like Team Fortress 2 and Battlefield Heroes. But does it set itself apart enough to be worth an additional expense if you already have the other two games? (you should have at least one, its free!) In a word, YES!

How the West was won

I was going to end the review off right here, but editors have high demands and in order to keep her from breaking out of her cage, I need to flesh this one out a bit more. And that means less time playing Lead and Gold. The game can be very addictive. It plays really well, its smooth, and does everything you expect for a game costing $15. But therein also lies one of its two biggest faults: you get exactly what you pay for. But let’s not be negative too early.

As mentioned, Lead and Gold is multiplayer only, but has an offline trainer which is terribly hard! It teaches you the ropes of different game modes though. You get the usual Team Deathmatch, Deathmatch and even Conquest modes. These are all the same types of game that you will spot in most online games. It also has a few more interesting modes, like Robbery, which sees the bandits trying to rob a bank of its gold. You first need to find a powder keg, blow up the safe and then carry the gold back to your base. Problem is, while carrying gold (it’s heavy, remember) you cannot shoot or run. You are a sitting duck. This forces players into teams better than most other games. In other games the CTF modes allow you to still shoot and run. Here you are vulnerable.

Once upon a time in the West

It also pays off in other ways to stick with a team. The developer created a game mechanic called Synergies. This is an area of effect that players have and it influences your teammates’ abilities. Some characters will radiate accuracy, making your team shoot better. Others will give them an armor boost. So not only does it pay to stick together, it also benefits everyone to have a big variety of characters in your team.

You only have four characters to choose from. The Gunslinger is your average western cowboy with boots and a Stetson (that’s the cool hat, guys, just in case you didn’t know). He carries a six shooter and his special ability allows him to fan his revolver to shoot much quicker. If you don’t know what I am talking about, strike a cowboy pose in front of the mirror, about to take out six guys in rapid succession. Gun in the right hand, you use your left hand above the gun to cock it as quickly as the previous bullet was fired. His synergy is accuracy.

You then have your trapper lady with Davy Croquet raccoon hat, a sharpshooter rifle, and she can set bear traps that will disable your opponents. Very handy to keep the sheriff off your backs when making a run with the gold. Her synergy power is greater critical shots. The Deputy is your medium range rifle guy who radiates higher damage. He can also tag the enemies so you can see where they are at all times. It sounds a bit boring, but boy, does it help in the heat of a battle!

Finally we have the Blaster who is a miner, complete with miner hat with a little candle on it for light. He sports a shotgun and can chuck a stick of dynamite to scatter the opposition. This is especially handy when the other team is sticking together to up their synergy, and they make the perfect target for a bit of dynamite. He also gives his team higher armor levels.

A fist full of XP

As you kill enemies and complete tasks in some game modes, you gain experience. The higher your experience the higher your rank, and the higher your rank the greater your synergy effect. You gain experience for every kill but you also gain points for supporting your team, reviving knocked down teammates (who can still shoot while lying down, ala Left 4 Dead) and such. The experience points are not persistent which may put some off, but this suits casual gamers a lot better, no need to grind through the game to get a better gun.

If you are knocked down and nobody is around to revive you, you can kill yourself and respawn in the spawn zone. A really nice thing though is that your teammates can pick up the respawn flag at the base and this will allow you to spawn right with the flag to support your team. No more running across the level to get to the action.

There are only six levels in the game, but every level feels authentically western. From your obligatory mine level to the little town on the prairie. They are all well laid out with multiple routes to objectives. The levels are all a bit small and might make you feel a tad claustrophobic when lots of people are playing, but it means you are always in the action and never bored.

Have we met before?

There are a lot of nice little features that only really make an appearance when you play the game for a while. At first it feels like a quick little cash in on a simple multiplayer game. But then you learn about the different strategies and nuances that make it clear FatShark, the developer, loves this sort of game. Sure, a lot of the features are copied from other games, but it’s only the good parts. That makes it ok in my book!

But all is not rosy in the Wild West. You would expect some dry winds and dust in the eyes. The occasional graphical bug will rear its ugly head, and often you will get disconnected for no reason, although that may well be my shady ADSL connection. There may not be a lot of levels or variation in the games, but remember you only paid a few bucks for this.

The game is balanced and a lot of fun if you find someone to play with. And here is the other big problem I have with the game: nobody is playing it! I know this should not count against the game itself, but if nobody else is playing then it’s a pretty lonely and tame west out there. You know that scene in the western movies - the tumble weed rolling down the street, a lone gunman standing in the shadow of the clock tower. But there is nobody to shoot! The game browser is easy to use and shows you which games are more suited to your ping, and works pretty well. Too bad nobody uses it! I sure hope the PC version does better!

Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West (I refuse to use the abbreviation LAG for this game, as it does not apply!) is a fun game that should be tried out by anyone who likes a quick and easy game to get into. It’s also a welcome break from the average shooter out there with fun modes and features. Finally it’s also a nice tide me over until that other big western game releases soon. So I urge you all to purchase this game so I have someone to play against!

The good: Fun alternative to the other shooters out there; cheap!
The bad: A few glitches and a little sparse on content.
The ugly: Seeing a game full of only tumble weeds…

Purchase: