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Windows Executable
Windows Application (Windows XP and later)
Walkthrough and map
by David Welbourn
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Gun Mute

by C.E.J. Pacian profile

Western
2008

(based on 152 ratings)
15 reviews

About the Story

Step into the shoes of Mute Lawton, a lone cowboy who must stop an execution set to occur at noon by shooting his way past dangerous cyborgs and mutants in a post-apocalyptic western setting. (From the IndieGames.com review.)

Gun Mute is intended as an Interactive Fiction shoot-em-up. Each location presents you with a simple puzzle which you must solve before you can progress to the next location and, in contrast to the Inform parser's famous default response, violence usually is the answer. (From the ABOUT text.)


Game Details


Awards

Nominee, Best Game; Nominee, Best Writing; Nominee, Best Story; Nominee, Best Setting; Winner, Best Puzzles; Nominee, Best NPCs; Nominee, Best Individual Puzzle; Nominee, Best Individual NPC; Nominee, Best Individual PC; Nominee, Best Use of Medium - 2008 XYZZY Awards

22nd Place - Interactive Fiction Top 50 of All Time (2011 edition)

32nd Place - Interactive Fiction Top 50 of All Time (2015 edition)

29th Place - Interactive Fiction Top 50 of All Time (2019 edition)

Editorial Reviews

The Independent Gaming Source
That Pacian can craft some tricky puzzles around such a limited set of actions is a testament to his abilities as a game designer. But it's the narrative, set in a far-out futuristic Western, that keeps you hooked until the final, climactic showdown. Games like this really show off why interactive fiction is such a unique and exciting genre. Superb work!
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Play This Thing!
Shooting Gallery in Text
Gun Mute is my favorite of this small new genre: it's got a charming story and setting, the puzzles are fair and rational, and there are lots of colorful side characters. If we were using genre titles borrowed from other media, I'd have to put it on its own tiny shelf labeled "post-apocalyptic western gay romance" -- but since we're not, I can just call it a successful combat puzzle game, and leave it at that.
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Member Reviews

5 star:
(48)
4 star:
(73)
3 star:
(28)
2 star:
(3)
1 star:
(0)
Average Rating:
Number of Reviews: 15
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Most Helpful Member Reviews


24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
Shotgun Shack, March 12, 2008

In the world of linear game design, it would hard to get much more linear than this: your travel options are limited to f (forward) and b (back), as you follow a path to your appointment with destiny. At each stage, you confront those who would stand in your way, which usually means relying on your six shooter.

I would expect Gun Mute to appeal to people who enjoyed the recent combat-puzzle games Slap That Fish or Attack of the Yeti Robot Zombies, but I think it is a bit better-designed than either of those. The puzzles generally seemed fairer than the ones in Slap That Fish, and it's clearer from the outset what the player is supposed to be doing. Meanwhile, the environment is more richly imagined than AotYRZ, not only because the player is allowed to look around and examine objects, but also because some care has been put into developing a coherent setting. This is a strange vision of a post-nuclear society which has gone back to old-west manners and mores, except with a somewhat more modern view on acceptable romantic pairings. There's also more of an overarching plot: nothing very complicated, but satisfying for the size of game this is.

It's not a long game (and the gameplay premise would probably wear thin if it were), but I found Gun Mute novel and enjoyable.

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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
A futuristic western fable, July 15, 2008
by Clare Parker (Portland, OR)

Mute Lawton, the tongueless sharpshootin' hero of "Gun Mute" ploughs through his post-apocalyptic hometown with the ruthless persistence of the Man With No Name. Mute is driven by the love of one man, Elias, doomed to hang at noon, and no pistol-packing, shotgun-toting, laser-eyed, mutant posse members will stop him.

"Gun Mute" offers a fantastic little glimpse at a grimly strange future world. The characters that Mute must defeat are all stereotypes from western and sci-fi pulps, but the twisted character types make for interesting targets/allies. All the enemies have names prefaced by adjectives, my favorite being Glow-in-the-Dark Earl.

None of the puzzles are too difficult, although there are a number of learn-by-dying puzzles. Some puzzles require extremely tight timing. (Spoiler - click to show)I can't imagine anyone getting past Atomic Alice without being crushed at least once. I never found this frustrating, however. Even the best gunman gets outshot sometimes. Given the situation, this serves as an effective tension builder, not as a pointless irritant. The game mechanics in general create a feeling of urgency and a need to continue on. "Gun Mute" uses only "forward" and "backward" instead of the usual compass directions. I found this inspired a powerful urge to go onward, ever onward, even when I realized that I had forgotten to do something in a previous level. Although the game itself is not timed, I could still practically feel that clock ticking towards noon.

There are one or two minor changes that, in a perfect world, I would like to see in "Gun Mute". A counter of how much ammo I had left at the top of the screen would have been quite handy (Spoiler - click to show)and would have spared Mute a couple of needless deaths. My other quibble involves the plot. Although I have no doubt that Elias is innocent and Mute's mission just, I cannot help but wonder what Elias's alleged crime is. So far as I can tell, no explanation is given for his death sentence. However, these are minor points in an otherwise wonderful and original game.

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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
Rails done right, July 29, 2008

A cute, graceful post-apocalyptic mute gay cowboy romance shooter. The game flows smoothly through a series of pleasantly campy shooting puzzles in which your only options are to shoot and take cover. This works better than one might think; the lack of obstruction provides very mild challenges, but does not distract from solid writing that sparkles with beautiful flourishes. Don't expect length or difficulty - this is worth a couple of plays to see and do everything, but it could be drained dry in half an hour. Compares favorably to the sillier and slightly more difficult Attack of the Yeti Robot Zombies.

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See All 15 Member Reviews

Gun Mute on IFDB

Recommended Lists

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Polls

The following polls include votes for Gun Mute:

Romance Games by Molly
In honor of Valentine's Day, I'm looking for games that deal with romance and relationships.

I am new to interactive fiction, could anyone recommend a game for me? by Urtikor
Hello, I just recently came across interactive fiction and I want to try it out and see if it's my kind of thing. I tried Dreamhold for maybe half an hour, but even though it seemed well written, solving puzzles isn't interesting for me....

Games Theoretically but not Practically Beatable on First Attempt by Floating Info
I'm looking for a very specific level of difficulty: a game where you theoretically could beat it on your first attempt, but you won't. At some point in the game you'll fail, but that point may vary from person to person, and when you...

See all polls with votes for this game




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