Gun Club 3: Virtual Weapon Sim is a feature rich shooting range game for your Windows Phone. It not only has a weapon simulator for dozens of weapons but you also have a firearms range experience that has you battling Zombies, tossed in the middle of a World War II battle and trying your hand at long distance shooting with sniper rifles.
Gun Club 3 has rather nice graphics, the weapons handle with a good amount of realism and the range courses are challenging. Navigation can be a little overwhelming with the many options available but if you like shooting galleries, Gun Club 3 is a Windows Phone app worth trying.
Gun Club 3 layout
When you launch Gun Club 3, you are presented a menu screen with options to view your gaming statistics, review your player profile, access the gaming options and jump to the gaming menu.
The game's statistics will break down your use of each weapon. If my count is correct, there are thirty-four different firearms that you can use with Gun Club 3 that include handguns, assault rifles, shotguns and sniper rifles. Gaming options cover your control layout, audio and sound effects. Your player profile will display your achievements and level ranking.
As you first start the game, Gun Club 3 will walk you through a series of tutorials on game play. Everything from basic weapons operation to the various courses of fire you can run through.
Gun Club 3 has two main gaming menus that you will be operating from. The first is an armory menu where you can choose which weapon you would like to use, upgrade your weapons, buy new weapons and run the weapons simulator (more on this in a second).
The weapons simulator is a neat feature that lets you manipulate and fire the various weapons you own. The simulator covers everything from moving the slide back and loading the weapon to recharging its magazine and firing the weapon. If you have any accessories for the weapon, the simulator covers those as well. The only downside to the simulator is that you can only tinker with the weapons in your arsenal. It would be nice if the full armory was available in the simulator but this gives you something to work towards.
Then next menu will be where you choose which course you want to shoot. The three courses with Gun Club 3 include:
- Alley: A more traditional target range where you face off against paper targets.
- Warehouse: This is more of a Hogan's Alley set-up where you will have multiple targets popping up from behind crates, out from shadow and from catwalks.
- Allied: This is an interesting firearms course that places you in a World War II setting and using World War II weapons. These courses are restricted to time specific weapons so you cannot drop in a modern assault rifle into the mix.
Each course has a number of events that are progressively unlocked and progressively more difficult. It appears that there are about 100 different events, each re-playable, for the Warehouse and Allied courses.
While the Alley course is basically target shooting, the Warehouse and Allied courses have a few options to choose from that include:
- Pistol Courses: You shoot from a stationary position at a series of targets that pop-up.
- Action courses: These courses have you moving about, taking out targets as they appear.
- Daily courses/challenges with loaned weapons
- Marksman courses (rifle courses)
- Zombie attack: You have to shoot the Zombie targets before they eat your brain.
- Competition (against computer players)
Throughout the menus, across the top of the screen, you will see your current level, ammo count and cash/gold coin count. Each course will require a unit of ammo and the ammo units will replenish automatically, one unit every eight minutes.
Cash and coins are earned during game play and is used to buy new weapons, upgrade weapons or buy ammo. If you want to get a jump on things, In-App Purchases are available to buy cash, coins or ammo units ($2.99 to $99.99). Just tap the cash/gold coin display to pull-up the IAP options.
Game Play: Lock and Load
Your gaming screen is fairly consistent throughout Gun Club 3, only varying when the weapon type dictates. Prior to the start of each course, you will have to tap the screen to begin the game.
Across the top of the game screen you will find your score, a timer and your current ammo count. You have a series of on-screen weapons controls that include a fire button that sits behind the weapon, a reload button that sits adjacent to the weapon and a sight picture button that sits on the opposite side of the screen to the weapon. The sight picture button will pull the weapon up to the screen as if you were aiming down the barrel of the firearm.
Targeting is done by touch. Tap and slide a finger across the screen and your point of view and weapons movement will correspond accordingly. Weapons will automatically reload but if you anticipate and reload manually, it will save you a few seconds. Seconds that could cost you the game.
Marksman courses are a little different in that you are shooting a rifle through an optics scope. Targeting movement is done using your Windows Phone tilt sensors. You can disable this feature and go to a touch method like the one you use with other weapons but the tilt movement adds to the challenge and, to a degree, the realism of the game.
Courses do have goals such as a set number of targets or time limits. Each successful run of a course will earn you experience points and cash.
Overall Impression
I was very skeptical of Gun Club 3 when we received the suggestion to review the game. I was concerned that Gun Club 3 was like other weapons simulators that relied on graphics and (poor) sound effects to simulate the weapons. It was nice to see that Gun Club 3 went beyond the basic simulator and presented an entertaining Windows Phone game.
The weapons action is rather accurate in both mechanics and reaction when shot, sound effects work (although not as loud as the real thing) and the courses of fire challenging enough to keep you interested.
I don't mind the IAP options or that you have to use an ammo credit to shoot a course. You start the game with plenty of ammo credits to keep you busy for a while and if you pace your game play, the only reason for the IAP's is if you get impatient and want to buy a certain weapon sooner than later.
Shooting may not be everyone's cup of tea but if you are looking for a feature rich, entertaining firearms simulator Gun Club 3 should be on your short list. Gun Club 3 is not available for low-memory devices and while there isn't a Windows 8 version, I could see this game working out really well when played from a tablet.
- Gun Club 3: Virtual Weapon Sim - Windows Phone 8 - Free - Store Link 512 MB devices not supported
