Tag Archives: Shooter

Contra: Hard Corps Review

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All right now this was a really fun shooter game. It definitely went all out with the premise. We got a lot of action, high end graphics and a good story. The game even had decisions you would be forced to make which would decide what stage you played next. The fact that the decisions actually matter is impressive since some games really mess that up. For this one you actually have to think about what route you want to take. For example in one level you have to choose between heading back to base to save a hostage or finally taking out the main villain. I opted for the latter because the sooner he is knocked off of the board, the sooner everyone will be at peace and safe anyway.

So Contra plays like a super intense 2D shooter. You have your machine gun with unlimited ammo and have to shoot at tons of enemies who are attacking you from all sides. As you defeat them you can gradually inch your way further and eventually you reach the end of the level. The bosses are definitely intense so you gotta keep on blasting until you win. In some ways the bosses can be a bit easier than the normal enemies sometimes since you only have to dodge from one direction but it’s super relative. Either way you will be dying a whole lot in this one.

However, it’s one of the most enjoyable Genesis games that I’ve played either way. It’s all so fast paced the whole time so even when you lose you can just jump right back on the saddle. Beating it normally would be an incredibly difficult endeavor though. It’ to be expected with Contra and since most Genesis games tend to be very tough anyway, just multiply that by 2. The graphics here are really good and it’s another Genesis game that is definitely on point with the amount of effort they put into it. The soundtrack is good as well and of course the gameplay is really smooth.

Aside from your main weapon, you also have a ton of side weapons that you can get during the levels. Enjoy them while you can because you lose them just as quick as you got them. That is, unless you can be really careful to never get hit but realistically you are definitely going to take some hits. There are too many enemies to dodge them all. Fortunately the main machine gun is super good either way. I never found myself needing another weapon because this one would do the job just fine. It’s a simple point and shoot and the unlimited ammo is really what takes it to the next level.

I love it when games have unlimited ammo so that earned another star in my book. I think this is a game that would absolutely be high tier with a AAA remake at some point. There’s a ton you can do with it. It’s sort of like GI Joe meets Halo. The high tech aliens going up against the government fighters with modern graphics would be real intense. They need to make sure they keep up this same level of intensity though. I want tons of bullets whizzing by at all times.

Overall, Contra: Hard Corps was definitely a pretty solid game. It balances the difficulty with the fun factor extremely well. At no point do you feel like just putting the game away. You are always ready to try another level and give it another go. The story is very compelling as well so there are a lot of reasons to play this game. Just keep an eye out for your reaction times because you’re going to need them to be at peak performance to handle this title. This game feels like it was ahead of its time with how polished it is. It could have easily been a title in the next generation and I wouldn’t have even flinched.

Overall 7/10

Space Harrier II Review

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It’s time for a pretty pleasant game. It’s basically like a 3D auto runner you could say. You are always moving at a high speed and the levels go by quickly. It almost feels like RNG with how quickly the enemies attack but technically it is all skill based and you are testing your reaction times. I bet people had to try again a bunch of times before the end.

There’s not really much of a plot until the end to be honest but you have to stop powerful aliens and monsters with your sci-fi gun. What’s more hype than that right? You only have one gun so unlike the last few games this one isn’t very customizable. It’s fully arcade style in that sense as you just have to strike at the opponent enough times for him to go down rather than playing the long game. As it’s a 3D auto runner like I said before, you can only move up, down, left, and right. There are no other dimensions to the game and since you don’t control your speed that does mean you can focus all of your brainpower on blasting at the enemy.

What I found to be the best strategy was to constantly be flying in circles. It always made it very difficult for the enemies to land hits but sometimes it also meant that I would sort of fly into an attack. So you probably shouldn’t start spinning with reckless abandon unless you want to be reusing that rewind feature a lot. Hey, there’s nothing wrong with that of course but it’s probably good to win as much as possible. Then there are also lots of buildings and other objects where if you bump into them then you lose as well. There is no health bar in this game, when you get hit you die. That’s all there is to it.

The graphics here definitely look really nice. You could tell that they want all out in this area and the color are striking. I was pretty impressed and in terms of pure visuals it is one of the better Genesis titles. The soundtrack is more on the standard side but it works well enough, I didn’t really have any issues there. In terms of length it’s around an hour or so which isn’t bad. Not one of the longest ones but it works well enough.

I also liked the various boss designs. The game was really creative with them. In a sense every boss does feel the same because the attacks are only different in terms of cosmetics. Either way you have to dodge them all so it doesn’t change much. It does go back to how this game in a sense is a very simple gameplay style because you move and blast. There are no other dimensions to this, no twists and turns. No new mechanics. And it works well for what it is but the one downside is the developers can’t really show off with the bosses.

The final level is crazy though as you have to fight every boss back to back and then the final boss. That’s a lot of time where you can’t afford to get hit and I don’t see how realistic it would be to complete that without taking a shot. Maybe there are extra lives you get or something else that I was missing. If not, my hat’s definitely off to whoever was able to beat this one back in the day. You really did have to be a complete pro gamer to tackle titles like this one.

Overall, Space Harrier II is a pretty fun title. It may not be the best sci-fi game but it will pass the time by. The length is fairly decent and the graphics are colorful. Considering that you can basically play it for free, you really can’t go wrong here. The sci-fi marathon has been a blast but now it’s going to be time to turn my attention to some of the other Genesis titles. We’ll see just how well they stack up next to these last few. If you have the Switch Online you should go ahead and play this one though. A fun way to turn your brain off and just have fun.

Overall 6/10

MUSHA Review

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It’s time for another retro game courtesy of the Nintendo Switch Online. I can safely say that this is a fun title but it doesn’t really stand out all that much compared to the other sci-fi titles that I’ve played. It’s a good game of course but eh it definitely could have been better if you ask me. In the end it needed a little more of a plot or some kind of super unique gimmick.

The gameplay is more of a top down shooter style. You are blasting away at all of the enemies that try to stand in your way. It can be a bit hard to tell when you are dealing damage since the visual indicator isn’t very obvious but keep on blasting and you will take the enemies down in no time. You can keep on switching the way that your robot fires its shots as well so I recommend experimenting until you’ve found the perfect blend for you. There are certainly many different ways to tackle this and you can also alternate between manual and automatic fire.

I found that the best firing method was the 3 guns style. It works well on automatic and you get a lot of coverage while you are moving around. There are wider guns like the 5 way but I felt like they didn’t do as much damage so ironically it was a bit tougher to use that one. I would often find myself being a bit held back there. You lost your extra firepower the more you get hit so it is important to dodge every blow. Seriously one wrong shot can send you all the way back to the basic gun which is the worst possible gun to have. If you’re down to that weapon you can pretty much turn in the towel at that point.

You can of course get the power ups back by hitting the collectibles but surviving that long is the tricky part. The bosses have a ton of health as well and they will drain your HP quickly. Your reaction times are probably the most critical part of the journey since that is what will keep you alive. The graphics are pretty solid for this time frame. The characters look solid and the backgrounds had a good amount of detail to them. The levels are also fairly different so it’s not like the same background is used over and over again or anything like that. Now that would have definitely been pretty lazy.

There isn’t a lot of replay value here but that’s pretty normal for a retro game like this. The main idea is to just complete it as you normally would and then it goes back on the shelf. You can probably have fun creating your own strategies like maybe trying to complete it while only dying 5 times or something like that but for the most part this will just be around for 1 hour. At least it’s an hour of quality content though. The soundtrack isn’t bad, no home run hits but it’s not a weak selection. It works pretty well with the look and feel of the game.

I do think the developers had a fun idea with the gun customizing and it feels like an early concept of what Armored Core would turn into. Customizing your robot can be fun whether it is in game like this one or pre game like the Leynos title. That said, it would also need to be perfected more. Each gun should have some kind of benefit to it and in this case some just felt like downgrades. Why would you ever use 2 guns instead of 3? Maybe one way you could do this is that you sacrifice more armor as you add more guns. That would be pretty fun or you could scale down attack power the way it seemed to work for the 5 way gun. That would make a lot of sense.

Overall, MUSHA is a good game to check out while you have the Switch Online. If you had to pay for it then I wouldn’t be able to recommend it quite as highly but there’s really not much of a downside when it’s free like this. Just jump in and have a lot of fun right? That’s really the way to go about it and a modern remake of this game could have a lot of potential. Even if this may not be the flagship title of the genre, I like the genre enough where it still works out in the end. Blasting away at enemies while zooming around is always a good bit of fun. I’ll do my best to keep on remembering the game at least for the remainder of the year. A true challenge indeed!

Overall 6/10

Zero Wing Review

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Time for our next Genesis adventure with Zero Wing. This one definitely has a pretty iconic moment in the script and as a whole it’s pretty intense to see it. You really would not have expected the script to be this rough after the game was translated into English but I guess this squeaked through. In a way it makes the game funnier though so it works out and the game gets a full thumbs up either way thanks to the smooth gameplay.

The basic plot is about stopping the aliens who are trying to conquer or destroy the planet. You have to use your own ship to stop them and it must be a crazy high tier ship because it is destroying an entire army. I know that’s mainly gameplay mechanics of course but it’s still pretty fun to see. There sadly is not an ending cutscene here so after the opening you could say that the story completely dies. This is pretty odd because that just feels like it’s a given. Maybe there is some way to unlock an extra cutscene? Maybe not but that’s at least something that could make a little sense.

Ah well it may have ended on a weak note but the game was still fun. Think of this like a 2D Galaga where you are spamming your blasters at everything that moves. One unique thing about this adventure is that you can keep on switching your gun every time you get a power up but some in my opinion are better than others. Once I got the homing gun I would dodge all the other power ups because I didn’t want to lose it. It may be the weakest out of all the guns but at the same time the homing attack function just makes it something that you do not want to lose. This game is part bullet hell to an extent so you’re really focused on dodging. Not having to worry about where you are firing is a massive help.

Particularly since the attack power difference wasn’t massive. Yes, it’s enough to be noticeable but at the same time it’s still not a problem. The gameplay is very fast paced so you get to trust your reaction times while at the same time it’s not so fast that you have to make a lot of gambles. When you get hit, you know instinctively that you made a mistake. Often times you will immediately recognize your mistake as you get hit. With very few exceptions, it always feels reasonable that you can beat a level without getting hit but realistically everyone will slip up at some point.

Then for the graphics, the game is pretty good. The fact that we have actual illustrations with text is pretty good since most of this console’s games couldn’t seem to manage that. Meanwhile the soundtrack also gets a thumbs up without a doubt. The tunes are fun and really fit the gameplay. Definitely no issues on the technical side for this one. I do have to address the one weak point of the game though which is that it is very short. The game can be completed in under an hour and there is no real reason to play it again. The replay value here is absolutely zero and so you need to make sure that the single playthrough is enough for you to want to buy the game. If not, then that is a very valid reason on why you would want to skip it.

Zero Wing joins a bunch of other games that I’ve played where I feel there is a lot of potential to bring the series back. The story is already there so modernize it with more cutscenes and you can make a franchise out of it. Of course you can say that for many games but when you’ve already got the story and good gameplay at your disposal then it almost goes without saying. This is definitely not one that you want to miss.

Overall, Zero Wing is a pretty good game. I definitely had a good amount of fun with it. Of course it is a bit on the short side and there is technically no replay value. So this is a one and done type of game but hey that’s fine as long as that first playthrough is good. Naturally this isn’t really a game that I would spend money on but when you’re playing it as part of a full package deal then that’s really not a bad bet. I would definitely recommend checking it out, these sci-fi shooters are always so much fun!

Overall 7/10

Sin and Punishment Review

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It’s time to play a game that was really well known back in the day. I mean it still is as a legacy title of course but I’m betting most people probably have not heard of it at this point if you ask someone down the street. It’s why people need that big remake or reboot already. The sequel on the Wii was a lot of fun though. This game definitely has a very retro feel to it that you just don’t see nowadays though and it’s aged really well.

The game sort of just throws you into the story with some kind of resistance fighting some kind of alien invasion and an alien girl is around manipulating everyone. As the game goes on you get more and more context on what is going on but it’s also left vague enough to be part mystery all the way through. It works really well and definitely sets the stage for what you can expect here. It actually reminds me of Blame! a whole lot with the characters designs and story going on. There’s a lot of creepy visuals going on here and you have to keep your guard up at all times. The stakes get really high by the end and it even feels a bit meta at times.

The gameplay is pretty good to keep up with that. TO an extent it’s like a first person shooter. You do see your character but can only move side to side so I’d say it counts. You have to blow up all opposing forces before they can get to you and deal damage. What this means is that you need to try and go full throttle all the time. Predicting where an enemy will go and firing it a great way to stay ahead of the curve and prevent yourself from getting overrun. The game starts off rather easy but let me tell you that when the difficulty ramps up…it really ramps up! It hits you suddenly.

There was one boss in particular that I died to quite a few times where you’re fighting a spinning alien trash disc of sorts and then a giant robot shows up and stabs you. I couldn’t figure out how to dodge this thing and it turns out that I had to defeat the monster before it could hit me. So it’s a speed trial level and I didn’t realize that for quite a while. Not that it would have helped me much since it turned out that I also needed to use my sword on the object near the end.

I never fully mastered the controls. It seems like there are 3 gun settings and they change as you use the A button but that’s also the button you use to move to the right so I just wasn’t totally sure what was going on here. Sometimes I would switch settings accidentally when I was just trying to move. I do think there was some kind of a tutorial but…I didn’t click on it. So yeah no complaints on this end, I didn’t quite do my due diligence but that’s how it goes sometimes. The important thing is that the controls are still very smooth except for that and so the design is on point. Just go to the tutorial and you’ll have an easier time of things.

The game is fairly short although that’s to be expected for a shooter title like this. Generally in games where the level moves and you try to shoot your way to the end, the story will be short. I’m thinking it’s because it probably takes a lot of processing power to load up all of the levels and enemies. It’s just a guess of course but I think it makes a lot of sense because this feels really advanced especially for back in the day. The graphics may not be the best here but it’s hard to tell how much of that is on the tech and how much of it is stylistic. I do think to a degree the game is trying to look rough around the edges after all but I’m not sure and either way I gotta call it out all the same.

The soundtrack is definitely really good. It’s got that full sci-fi feel to it and the themes are always fairly quick. They match the tempo of the levels. The characters are good and the story is high quality at all times so I have no issues there either. This is a game that really had a lot of good effort put behind it which I really appreciate. It has no weakpoints, at most you could just say that it could stand to be longer. Still, it’s enough for you to have fun and the gameplay is solid which is the important thing. As a nitpick I do think they should have made movement be with the L and R buttons or something though just because having one button be for moving as well as for changing weapons can be a little confusing.

Overall, Sin and Punishment is a pretty fun game. I definitely had a good time with it all the way through. It does really finish in a flash but each level was well made and there was a lot of plot involved in it at all times. It’s what makes this game be a step above a lot of competitors. They definitely should have made many more games in this franchise already since the potential is absolutely there. If you have the Nintendo Switch Online then you should definitely play this game as soon as possible. It’s right there and ready for you to start playing it after all. You just need to dive in and have a good time. Keep your guard up and you’ll be fine.

Overall 7/10

Goldeneye 007 Review

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All right it’s time for one of the more iconic Nintendo games. Everyone knows about Goldeneye from back in the day after all. It’s won many awards and everything. A lot of its acclaim comes from the multiplayer mode though so what happens when you go into the single player campaign? Well I would say that it doesn’t age quite as well as some of the other shooters with all of the bonus objectives you have to accomplish but props to the folks who managed to conquer this game. It gets deceptively hard by the end and without a guide some of the puzzles would have really had you stumped for quite a while.

The game follows the story of the movie with Bond having to save a girl and stop an enemy threat. You know, classic Bond stuff. But is he really ready to take on this new terrorist organization that has a seemingly endless amount of fighters at the ready to put an end to him? He will have to definitely harness all of his skills and experience with a gun in order to end this. If he can’t pull off the win…then it’s quite possible that nobody can.

Right away you can tell that the graphics here are pretty solid. The characters are a little blocky but the fact that the game has massive environments and lots of variations of guns and ammo is really impressive. The soundtrack also has the classic 007 theme among others so that gets a thumbs up as well. They went all out with the technical aspects of the game and you will not be disappointed at any point. The quality of the actual gameplay is also really good. I’m glad that the gun auto locks on to an extent but that you also have the ability to manually select your targets too.

It’s really the best of both worlds here and doesn’t force you to make a big decision either way until you are ready. I mostly stuck to the classic lock on but it did have a weakness for targets that were high up like the auto gunners so you will have to switch styles there. Your machine gun is the best bet for taking out enemies but at the same time it does use your ammo up very quickly so just be careful about that. Don’t overextend yourself or you will really be in trouble.

I did die a number of times in the gunfights but the really tough part in my opinion are the puzzles. Some of them I just really didn’t understand from the vague mission requirements. Whether it was taking a picture of a satellite that was nowhere to be found or having to access a bunch of computers you are often left in a really dicey position. Definitely not one to be underestimated and the game loses a bit of steam there. I guarantee you that it would have been a lot more fun if you could have just plunged ahead and had a blast dealing devastating damage to everyone in your path. Just make it a classic shoot your way to the finish. Instead the objectives mean you sometimes have to backtrack and the endless stream of regenerating minions will eventually take you down.

The length of the game is fairly decent. There are around 17 levels here and some can be short while others are pretty long. The difficulty also varies a lot so you are really on your toes the whole time. Just be careful because one slip up can result in your losing the level like if you break the object you were supposed to take a picture of or if your teammate end up getting shot. That last one is particularly difficult since she will often run in front of you so make sure you have terrific aim or start running immediately to stay in front.

There seems to be some replay value in playing on a higher difficulty which unlocks further levels but additionally the multiplayer aspect gives unlimited replay value. There is always something to do in that part after all. Multiplayer is the kind of content that keeps on giving which is why more and more game should strive to copy that approach. It’s definitely the way to go. Make no mistake either, the multiplayer is what really saves the game because if it was single player only then it would be good but not very good. It certainly wouldn’t be put on the pedestal that you can often find it nowadays.

Overall, Goldeneye is a pretty good game. I had my issues with it like the vague objectives but on the whole the gameplay is fun which is the important part. The story may not have been the strongest as I didn’t love the way it was told through long mission briefings as opposed to more cutscenes but the game is on the older side so I’ll cut it some slack. I would say that despite the reputation, this game is surpassed by the Gamecube ones. The Gamecube titles are top tier though so there’s really no shame in that. Sometimes that’s just the way that the cookie crumbles.

Overall 7/10

Winback: Covert Operations Review

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All right now this is what I would call a gem in the rough! It’s a game I’d never heard of before and without the Nintendo Switch Online I probably never would have gotten to play it because of how obscure it is. I’d just not have ever thought to look it up. Well, this game is a blast and I absolutely recommend checking it out if you have the Switch Online bundle because this game does not hold anything back.

The story starts with the top notch agents all being placed on a mission. They are being dropped onto an island to stop some terrorists that have taken over to try and use a powerful weapon to bring the world to its knees. This mission is one where failure is not an option so the heroes can’t leave until they’ve guaranteed success. Unfortunately it does not start out well as the copter is shot down and everyone gets split up. You now have to find your comrades while taking on the villains but will you really be able to pull this off?

First up, the game’s story is very impressive. There isn’t really any voice acting here but we still get text boxes and technical limitations did not slow the writer down. You have a lot going on here, a fairly big character cast and also a serious body count. Nobody feels safe and that makes sense because you are behind enemy lines at this point. Make the wrong call and that’s game over. All of the characters understand the stakes and act appropriately. There is always a villain to be stopped and they will follow their mission to the end.

The epic soundtrack helps to balance this out. It reminded me a lot of Oni for the PS2 with the sci-fi vibes here. The costumes are really solid and the villain entrances are memorable when they show up with their accompanying music. One of the first bosses in particular impressed me as he had a very detailed design and must have had some kind of interesting backstory but the main character doesn’t have time for that. He just launches right into the battle and I definitely had to respect that. That’s exactly the kind of energy I would expect to see here. It’s just a fight to the death and it’s not personal as both sides are fighting for a cause that they believe in and would give their life for.

There are a ton of twists and turns to be found in this story as well so get ready for a lot of epic moments like that. The game is also fairly long with over 30 levels, some levels are quite long at that. So definitely a lot of amazingness all around. It also ends up being a bit extra long because the game is very difficult. Far from being a walk in the park, this game has a lot of absolutely brutal sections mixed in. You will be jumped by tons of enemies from all sides and have to try and fend them off. Taking a stray hit can take over half of your health bar. You have to always be taking cover and keeping track of your surroundings.

The controls are very basic. You point and shoot, plus you can hide behind objects. That’s basically it. You can use lock on which is extremely handy but just watch out because sometimes it takes an extra second to find an enemy and by then you’ll have been shot. That’s really where the game is at its most tricky. It’s trying to encourage you to use manual shooting which is without a doubt superior, but it can be really hard to move so quickly. So for me I stuck with auto and just did a lot of extra hiding.

Even with that though, there are so many rooms on the island and they are all filled with enemies. New enemies spawn when you enter a room and then back track so you can really never lower your guard. Some enemies will run up to you and just stab you which is usually a game over. Each level has check points but the check points remember your health so ironically this can actually be a bad thing. Like you survive the first section with one piece of health left so now you are doomed to always start that way until you completely finish off the level.

Yeah I died time and time again in this title. It’s got to be one of the harder games that I’ve played and this is often the case with shooters. It is definitely not my best genre and if I had to play it straight like back at the arcade I don’t see how I would have stood a chance. It’s just so unforgiving because you can finish the first 20 enemies perfectly but then the 21st gets you. That’s really all that it takes to tip the scales which is the crazy part. With the awesome music and story you’ll definitely power through but with a lesser game you’d probably end up being frustrated.

That’s why it’s good to have developers that really give a title their all though. Every piece of this game is great. From the smooth controls to the solid story, no corners were cut here. Even the length went above and beyond since most games for the console were considerably shorter. Nobody would have bat an eye if it was 15 levels instead of 31 but the game still brought in a ton of content and made sure that the replay value was really on point!

Overall, This is definitely a game that I would recommend checking out. It’s just great all around and way better than I ever could have guessed. It has that retro vibe to it which you just don’t see anymore nowadays. The characters are solid and the gameplay is excellent. It’s hard to beat a good 3D shooter after all. The game is incredibly hard though so props to whoever managed to beat it back in the day. The checkpoints help but we’re still talking long sections in which you can’t save or anything like that. Yeah this probably kept people up at nights trying to conquer it.

Overall 8/10

The Shootist Review

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It’s time for a fairly somber wild west film. There isn’t a whole lot of action here but the film definitely delivers with a pretty solid climax. The build up for that was definitely a lot of fun and ultimately ties everything in well. It’s a pretty good film that takes itself seriously and has a lot of solid writing. It’s not perfect but I had a consistently good time all the way through.

The movie starts by introducing us to Books. He is a very notorious killer. The guy has never lost a fight and is one of the only survivors of the true wild west. What people don’t realize is that he’s dying. The guy is old but it’s not that, he has developed cancer and his doctor confirmed the diagnosis. There is no way out for him now and so he has only a few weeks to live. He decides to rent out a room in a quiet town and just wait for his death. That was the plan at least but he isn’t ready to just die like this and so he prepares to see the world a bit and get into one last fight. The stakes are pretty high for him but what’s the worst that can happen in the fight right? He’ll be dead soon anyway.

It’s got to be tough knowing that the end of your life is approaching but at the same time I always rather liked the idea of having a rough time table. If I know I’m going to die in 4 weeks for example then I would go crazy enjoying every kind of food and activity I wanted in the meantime. Of course the reason you wouldn’t want to do that is because no diagnosis is 100% accurate. If they made a mistake and you just spent your life savings…that won’t go over very well. So it’s always important that no matter what you don’t do anything that would be irreversible. Trust me it’s not a good idea. Of course back in the wild west days there were far less resources so the diagnosis could be said with more confidence since it’s not like he could have an operation.

A big portion of the film is Brooks getting to know Bond, the owner of the house, and her son. The weakest part of the film is definitely the mild romance with Bond and Books though. It doesn’t really make sense, he’ll be dead soon anyway and they got off to a really rocky start as it is. Granted the film doesn’t really go anywhere with this but that’s part of why it’s just filler and could have been removed. Having this connection didn’t actually add anything to the film and you could have replaced it with something a whole lot more useful. At least if you ask me that definitely could have been changed quite a bit. At most have her see him with some respect for leading a tough life but you don’t need anything more than that.

I’d also say it’s selfish of Books to be driving around with her and asking her to accompany him. There’s not much use in building bonds when you’re about to die because you’re just going to leave the other person in a rather rough spot. Of course it provides him some comfort but hey you don’t always get to win out. I’d have preferred he just hang out with everyone a little like his scenes with Doc, Gillom, and the others. Books is still a solid character and the film goes out of its way to show that he was no common criminal. He didn’t start fights, he just ended them.

I do think it was pretty unreasonable when Bond was giving him a hard time over murdering the home intruders. Clearly they were going to finish him off so he had to defend himself. For the most part Bond is reasonable in the film though and I definitely didn’t blame her at all for wanting Books out after he lied to her about his identity. I think most people would feel the same way because right out of the gate you can’t trust your tenant. That’s not a good way to start things off.

Gillom manages to be really annoying throughout the film though. The guy ends up being a thief by the end and while he apologized, I didn’t buy it. It also wasn’t the best of apologies either. He gets a good moment at the end of the film at least so I’ll give him that but for the most part he was definitely really weak. I much preferred the guy at the stables who was good at bartering. He had a decent sense of humor too and was able to hold his own without being insecure or over the top like Gillom.

Finally I liked the doctor, he was a good friend to Books throughout the adventure. He also didn’t sugar coat how things would end up if Books died naturally which I appreciated. At the end of the day that’s probably the worst thing you can do. You need to give your patient the right tools and knowledge to make the best informed decision possible. That’s just not going to work if you don’t explain the situation 100% accurately and clearly.

The highlight of the film is definitely the big climax. I liked how each of the 3 big gunmen just walked into the saloon waiting for Books to show up. Each one was super smug and confident in their abilities. You were wondering if they would turn on each other, team up, or just watch in the end. It made for a good setting and I liked how Books just walked in with a ton of confidence. He was maybe too confident as he was wide open during the first shot and is just lucky that the guy missed.

It’s a full action climax that you may not have expected for this film and it ended up working out really well. While most of the film is more dialogue heavy and just about life in general, you always want to have some kind of explosive climax and this film definitely delivered on that. The fight scene was handled really well and you got to clearly see Books’ accuracy all the way through. An ending is supremely important for any film so it was really good that this one stuck the landing.

Overall, This is a film that I could easily recommend whether you enjoy wild west type films or not. It’s really more about deciding how you die and making a final stand. The classic hero having to enter one last fight is certainly a popular kind of plot and it makes sense because there’s a lot to enjoy with that. The writing is really solid which is naturally important and I also really liked the cast of characters. These films can sometimes make the lead a little too unlikable so you’re rooting for him to lose or at least to go for a draw but in this case Books was actually likable so that worked out well. He had a lot of fun banter with the local Marshall which made for a little injection of humor into the film. That guy was definitely as mean as he could be but that never broke Books.

Overall 7/10