Mad Dog McCree is the first live-action laserdisc video game released by American Laser Games. It originally appeared as an arcade game in 1990.
It gained considerable attention for its live-action video style, bearing similarities to contemporary Hollywood westerns.
Storyline
The player assumes the first-person role of the game's silent protagonist, a nameless individual addressed only as "stranger". The stranger rides into an unnamed Old West town and is approached by an elderly prospector, who appeals to him for help. He tells the stranger that the mayor and his daughter have been kidnapped by a gang of outlaws led by the notorious "Mad Dog" McCree, and when the sheriff tried to stop them, they locked him up in the jail. Two of the gang appear to silence the prospector, but the stranger shoots them. The prospector then tells him that One-Eyed Jack holds the keys to the jail, and is in the saloon. For the remainder of the game, the exact order of events depends on the player's decisions.
The stranger enters the saloon, where One-Eyed Jack and his cohorts are making trouble. The stranger defeats them and takes the jail keys. He visits the jail and frees the sheriff. The stranger and sheriff set out to stop Mad Dog, but are ambushed by three of his gang outside the jail. They defeat them, but the sheriff is fatally shot. With his dying breaths, he tells the stranger that the map to Mad Dog's hideout is hidden in the local mine, and that he should consult the prospector before going there.
The stranger sees that the bank is being robbed by Mad Dog's men. After he stops the robbery, a thankful boy advises him not to enter Mad Dog's hideout from the back entrance (sometimes, he'll advise not to take the front entrance). He finds the prospector has been tied up to a pile of live explosives by Mad Dog himself, and saves him by severing the fuse.
After finding the map in the mine, the stranger follows the path to the hideout. He shoots out the smokestack, forcing Mad Dog's gang out as the hideout floods with smoke. He shoots them down as they come out and saves the mayor. However, McCree himself has escaped with the mayor's daughter, leaving behind a taunting note for the stranger.
The stranger confronts Mad Dog in a final quick-draw showdown. Forewarned that Mad Dog wears a bulletproof vest, the stranger defeats him by shooting both his hands. The mayor then unties his daughter. As the townsfolk congratulate the stranger, Mad Dog recovers, and is seen riding a horse off into the distance.
Gameplay
In a series of stages, the player must shoot enemies before they fire, avoid shooting innocent bystanders, and reload each time their six-round revolver is depleted of bullets. Shooting a bystander or getting hit by a gunfighter results in the loss of one life out of three and is followed by a clip showing the town doctor commenting on the player's actions.
However, this traditional light gun shooter gameplay is interspersed with "showdowns", which are fast draw duels that play the same as American Laser Games's later release Fast Draw Showdown. The arcade version is equipped with a specialized light gun which can detect whether or not the player had properly lowered the light gun at the beginning of the duel. Home versions of the game attempted to simulate this mechanic by having the player's gun unloaded at the beginning of the duel, and not allowing it to be reloaded until the same moment when the arcade version would allow the player to draw.
The home versions allow the player to choose from three difficulty modes.
Development
American Laser Games filmed all the footage for the game in its home state, New Mexico, and used local actors to fill all the roles. Ben Zeller, who plays the prospector, went on to have major roles in two further American Laser Games productions, Mad Dog II: The Lost Gold and Space Pirates.
Release
The arcade edition of the game has been released with four different hardware setups, using a laserdisc player. Home versions were released for the Sega CD, CD-i, 3DO and Microsoft Windows. Mad Dog McCree was the first in a series of American Laser Games releases to be reissued by Digital Leisure with updated video and sound quality in 2001 for DVD, playable with a standard DVD remote.
In 2009 the game was released for the Nintendo Wii as part of the Mad Dog McCree: Gunslinger Pack. Included in this collection are its sequel Mad Dog II: The Lost Gold and The Last Bounty Hunter. In 2011, it was released for iOS. On June 14, 2012, it was released on the Nintendo eShop for the Nintendo 3DS. Sony revealed on January 21, 2013 that the game would be released for PlayStation 3 the following day. The PlayStation 3 version features remastered video presented in 720p and a new interface.
Sequel
A sequel was released entitled Mad Dog II: The Lost Gold.
Reception
Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the 3DO version a 5.5 out of 10, commenting that the video quality is poor by 3DO standards and that the controls are so bad with the 3DO gamepad that the game is almost unplayable. They noted that the game might be better with the upcoming 3DO Gamegun, but that no 3DO light gun or mouse was yet available. GamePro praised the video footage of the arcade game for its amusing cowboy stereotypes, but similarly rated the 3DO version as an unacceptably bad port, citing load times that break the player's immersion and the abysmal control when not using the yet-to-be-released 3DO light gun. Reviewing the Sega CD version, they noted that the video is so grainy that the manual diagrams one of the levels because the important items in it are indiscernible. They nonetheless assessed it as the best home version of the game to date, due to the ability to play it with a light gun. They were much more approving of the later CD-i version due to the high quality live action video and the bundled Peacekeeper Revolver, commenting that "This slick-looking revolver handles well and sports a hair trigger that'll make a Dirty Harry out of anyone."
References
External links
- Mad Dog McCree at MobyGames