Marksman: Long Range

Developer: Andy Campbell

Cost: 1 dollar

One of the benefits of Xbox Indies is that one can release very niche titles and have them do quite well because they tap an untapped market. The Lacrosse games are one such example. Marksman: Long Range is another.

Marksman is a game that simulates real target shooting. You just can’t aim the cross hairs and expect to hit. No in order to correctly hit, you must steady your aim, steady your breathing(right stick) and take into account wind speed and gravity.  The game does give people a break, however. While real marksman have to do complex ballistic equations to find the correct shot adjustment, the game does the calculating for you, all you have to do is adjust. Having to calculate ballistics in Police Quest: SWAT was an instant turn off and it would’ve been here too if I had to calculate.

While the game mechanics are complex, the experience is very simple. There are four separate modes, time-attack, rifle golf(shoot five separate targets using the least ammo), zombie horde(shoot zombies targets in the head), and free play mode. You have 8 real life rifles to choose from, each handles differently. There are three difficulty levels, which increase the wind speed, distance and steadying you have to do. The game isn’t flashy, but it wasn’t trying to be, and it works.

Not a replacement for a real-live gun range, but this will do for many.

Finally, what I really like about Marksman the most is that it has a very helpful tutorial that explains the features and what you need to do to shoot correctly. This allows newbies like me to get more out of the title. So while Marksman: Long Range is a very niche title made for a very niche audience, I think this can be appreciated by a wider audience.

Crosse Studios can learn a lesson for this.

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