In particular the game takes critique at the dime novels and Wild West shows build on the back of Buffalo Bill's Wild West. Yet despite these critiques it never goes into the territory of self-flagellation. It's a very unique piece of media because of this and comes highly recommended

Which paints a very different picture to the story the game is trying to tell. The information there is very accurate and well researched. But the game also uses the unreliable narrator trope to directly critique the romanticised stories of the Wild West.

However what makes Gunslinger stand out is the fact that it directly acknowledges how the perception of the west is very different to the reality thanks to the media it's based on. Through the 'Nuggets of Truth' the player can find, more detail is given about the reality of the Wild West.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the game. It's a fun arcady shooter absolutely dripping with the kind of charm and stylisation you would find in golden age and spaghetti westerns. The game is a love letter to the romanticised west and it builds on many of those same tropes.

Especially given the Call of Juarez series generally received very mixed reviews over the years and kind of fizzled out. But after my undergrad thesis focused on the wild west and how it was romanticised in media I decided it was time to actually play it.