Inspired by every spaghetti western ever dished up, Atari’s tongue-in-cheek yarn brings a bygone age nicely to life. Players slip into the saddle of El Tejón, a former gunslinger with the legendary outlaw posse The Nine, who now seeks bitter revenge on the other eight gang members who have betrayed him.

El’s quest takes him to every clichéd location in the book, from echoing saloon bars and red velvet-lined brothels to deserted mining towns and sun-baked desert canyons. Every new dusty setting calls for more energetic sharpshooting, whether picking off an angry mob or firing at targets from horseback. At the start of every level a poker card game allows you to gamble on ammunition for ensuing missions.

The graphics are rich, but heavy, and while the PC version lacks great definition, the pared-down Xbox outing seems more playable. The solo game is fast-moving, while multiplay online allows for deathmatch, team death- match, posse and bounty challenges for up to eight players.

The Wild West theme lends itself well to the FPS treatment, and the primitive weaponry brings an almost liberating freedom to the gameplay. Given the game’s fairly tame content, its 16+ age rating seems harsh.

Tim Wapshott