Throughout the storyline, players mainly assume the role of bounty hunter Red Harlow, but in some levels they get the chance to control other characters, such as English trick-shootist Jack Swift, rancher Annie Stoakes, Mexican Army General Javier Diego, Red's Native American cousin Shadow Wolf, and an African American soldier known only as the "Buffalo Soldier".
Each playable character has a unique signature weapon, such as Red's revolver, Jack's twin pistols, and Shadow Wolf's bow and arrow.
When the targeting sequence ends, the player character automatically fires to all marked locations in very quick succession, dealing high amounts of damage.
In the 1870s, prospectors Nate Harlow (Kurt Rhoads) and Griff (Bert Pence) find gold in an area called Bear Mountain and celebrate by crafting two identical revolvers, each taking one.
Diego instructs his right-hand man, an American mercenary calling himself Colonel Daren (Dennis Ostermaier), to kill Nate and his family in order to conceal the gold's location.
After slaughtering a gang of outlaws led by Bloody Tom (Christian Tanno), he takes their bodies to the town of Widows Patch for the bounty on their heads.
In Brimstone, Red meets local lawman Sheriff Bartlett (Gene Jones), who offers him several bounties on vicious outlaws plaguing the area.
At the Brimstone Bank, Red overhears local rancher Annie Stoakes (Carrie Keranen) mentioning the gold his parents were killed over.
Bartlett arrests Red, but quickly releases him upon learning he is Nate Harlow's son, and reveals the circumstances surrounding his parents' murder.
After cutting their way through the governor's bodyguards, Jack sacrifices himself to buy Red enough time to kill Griffon in a duel, while Annie finds and rescues Buffalo Soldier.
Honouring his promise to Annie, Red tells the sheriff to give the gold to her and Buffalo Soldier, and leaves with Griffon's revolver, saying that “it was never about the money."
Angel Studios began working on Red Dead Revolver under the oversight and funding of Japanese video game publisher Capcom in 2000.
[13] The troubled development led to that unplayable state of the game, with it missing both the 2002 European Computer Trade Show and the 2003 Electronic Entertainment Expo,[14][15] Okamoto then left Capcom,[6] which eventually cancelled the title in August 2003.
[25][26] The Times gave it four stars out of five, saying that it "has a strong, coherent storyline that whisks Red from novice gunslinger to competent bounty hunter in what proves to be the mother of all shooting practice games.
"[40] Maxim similarly gave it four stars out of five, saying that "Show-offs can even stealthily duck behind cover and shoot at foes' feet to make 'em jig like Michael Flatley sans Ritalin.
"[43] Entertainment Weekly gave it a C and said that "The game misses its mark: Instead of the gritty, scrub-brush humor of a Sergio Leone pic, Revolver feels like a rootin'-tootin' Disneyland ride.