In a line-up of hardcore RTS titles and Grand Strategy games, Lead and Gold stood out as something refreshingly different at this year's Paradox showcase in Stockholm. But how does Fatshark's Spaghetti Western-themed third-person shooter measure up when compared to the many other online multiplayer delights jostling for your attention?

Using GRiNs Diesel engine, the game looks extremely robust.

Lead and Gold's remit is an incredibly simple and straightforward one, but in offering such uncomplicated team-based action, the game has been built with the intention of appealing to a wider audience looking to tote pistols at dawn without having to be a gaming quickdraw.

Available for download this April, Lead and Gold will primarily consist of short but intense objective-based matches such as a capture the flag mode called Greed which involves grabbing a bag of gold from a vault before returning it to your base.

Sadly, there's only one other person playing on the server when we get round to going hands-on with Greed on the Prospector's Peak map, so while the combat wasn't quite as intense as it should have been, it still gave us ample time to sample the four character professions (Trapper, Gunslinger, Blaster and Deputy), each of which has been carefully balanced with various unique traits and team buffs.

Here's some rootin, but where is the tootin?

Opting first for the reliable Gunslinger, we're introduced to Lead and Gold's robust, responsive controls and fast-paced gameplay tinged with just the right amount of tongue-in-cheek humour conveyed in the Team Fortress 2 style visuals.

“Yeah, we get that a lot,” says Fatshark CEO Martin Wahlund when we mention Lead and Gold's similarity to Valve's multiplayer classic .
“We did play a lot of Team Fortress 2, but we're not ashamed of the comparison at all. We're actually proud of it!”

The similarities are really only skin deep though, with Lead and Gold adopting a few mechanics of its own like the team flag, which can be carried as a mobile spawn point enabling your allies to stay close and share the collective perks of each player's buff.

Fatshark has also taken great care to keep things authentic without leeching fun from the formula, keeping the rifles and pistols realistically feeble, so lining up a perfect headshot from distance isn't necessarily an ironclad kill.

Well-balanced, smooth and intuitive to pick up and play, Lead and Gold is shaping up to be a decent time sink for hardcore and casual players alike. Temporary ranking up during matches ensures that skill is rewarded over hours invested, which should work out well for everyone.