Take aim at the undead in the demo for wild west platformer Shot in the Dark

(Image credit: Possum House Games)

Oh, so it's zombies, I thought, disappointed. And then I played more of stylish platformer Shot in the Dark. Yes it is zombies, in the opening area at least, but it doesn't take long for the enemy design to become more and more inventive.

You play as a lone gunslinger in a moody version of the wild west: it's all black and white and splashes of (blood) red, with shadows that hide both platforms and, quite often, enemies. Luckily, you're a dab hand with a revolver, which you use by aiming with the mouse and clicking to fire. As you have to reload after each shot, you'll need to time your shots pretty precisely. Take one hit and you have to begin the area again.

This demo for the as-yet-unfinished Shot in the Dark had me when the rival gunslingers arrived. Yep, it's not just zombies, or even the ghostly creatures that [REDACTED TO PRESERVE SURPRISE]. Soon, you'll battle other shooters, whose crosshairs will slowly advance on you, as you hunt them down. Shoot them first and you'll live. It's tense, quick, and it feels like an authentic gunfight, despite taking place in just two, noir-drenched dimensions.

For more great free experiences, check out our roundup of the best free PC games.

Tom Sykes

Tom loves exploring in games, whether it’s going the wrong way in a platformer or burgling an apartment in Deus Ex. His favourite game worlds—Stalker, Dark Souls, Thief—have an atmosphere you could wallop with a blackjack. He enjoys horror, adventure, puzzle games and RPGs, and played the Japanese version of Final Fantasy VIII with a translated script he printed off from the internet. Tom has been writing about free games for PC Gamer since 2012. If he were packing for a desert island, he’d take his giant Columbo boxset and a laptop stuffed with PuzzleScript games.