Electronic Gaming Monthly: Bullet Time: We Walk a Mile in the Game’s Cowboy Boots...

Those carefree deer and antelope have it made. But for cowboys, home on the range is one tough place to make a living. Gun keeps you busy with side tasks anytime you decide to take a break from the main story (which itself has about 20 missions). Completing this bonus business pumps up your five skills—gunplay, horsemanship, melee attack, quickdraw, and health—plus earns money you can use to upgrade the weapons you swipe from bosses.

Peace Keepin’

Colton gets deputized later in the game, and that opens a series of

law-enforcing missions, including breaking up an opium ring, killing the town sniper, escorting a snitch, and finding a rapist.

Pony Expressin’

Hey, these copies of Nonelectronic Gambling Monthly aren’t going to deliver themselves. You have to carry the mail—and other vital items come rain, snow, or bandits.

Bounty Huntin’

You’ll find wanted posters featuring notorious cowpokes. Just walk up to the posters to accept the bounty mission, then go hunt down your man.

Herdin’

Ranchers will hire you to round up their cattle or horses, or protect them from rustlers and wild animals. Use your horse to head off strays and keep the herd together. Promised for the sequel: lassoing.

Prospectin'

The old hayseeds are right: There really is gold in d’em thar hills. Neversoft has hidden it throughout Gun’s world. Buy a $5 pickax early in the game and you can mine the deposits for a tidy profit.

Huntin’

Grizzlies, wolves, and other beasts range widely in the West. You’ll earn bounties for the hides of rare and dangerous animals, although at times it’s hard to tell who’s hunting whom.

Rescuin’

The West being insanely brutal and all, innocent pioneers need all the help they can get. So you’ll be sent to rescue trapped miners, rush medicine to outposts, save besieged wagon trains, and more.

Card Sharkin’

Each town has a casino with its own poker tourneys. And yes, you can cheat. The game? Texas Hold ’Em, of course. “No point reeducating the ESPN2 crowd,” says Neversoft’s Jewett.