Table of Contents
Run 'N' Gun: A History of On-Foot Shooters is the latest hefty tome from the UK’s Bitmap Books and its series of popular genre roundups. Like its siblings, it is stunningly presented and printed on super-high-quality stock, and weighs in at just under 500 pages.
The genre covers almost the entire history of video gaming, so it’s interesting to chart the development of technology as the games improve on each other and innovate over the decades. Like all the books in the series, it also acts as a general history of video gaming and popular culture, with run n’ gun games being particularly popular avenues for action movie IP in the 80s and 90s.
Due to the nature of the games and the period covered, Most of the screenshots are pixelated, but they come up beautifully crisp and vibrant. With over 300 games covered, it is the sort of book that you would likely read in multiple settings, or dip in and out of as a coffee table book. Given the inclusion of so many games, you are getting everything from the biggest games of their time to the most obscure releases, some of which have never been released in the West.
Bitmap Books has nailed the format for this series, with individual games given their own space (half a page to four pages each), divided up into decades, each with its own summary of the industry during that period.
Certain, more influential games are given additional pages covering tactics, boss encounters, weaponry etc., providing a deeper dive into interesting aspects of the genre.
How author Dave Cook wrote reviews for more than 300 (often very similar) games without going mad is beyond me, but it's a credit to his dedication. He’s clearly a fan, and has amassed a huge amount of knowledge which is clearly conveyed to the reader, whether casual or hardcore.
The text is generally great except for the seemingly irresistible urge to add in some soy boy comments about how certain things wouldn’t be accepted by the gaming journalist collective of 2024. In this respect it’s not as bad as I’m Too Young To Die: The Ultimate Guide to First-Person Shooters 1992–2002, which made this aspect a central theme of the book.
Overall, interest in the book is largely going to depend on your age and whether you’re a fan of these types of games. It is very much nostalgia bait all the way through, but in the best way. A beautiful, informative reference book and one of the best gaming industry books around.
