Expending considerable ammunition, six or eight shooters can get their limits, often from the same ledge, by midmorning — if not through
shooting skill, then by the
sheer numbers of eiders swinging over their decoys.
Add to that the
sheer number of things to do (skill rankings, outfits, primary story missions, mini games, bounty quests, etc) and amazingly entertaining ambient behavior (watching people get mauled from their horses by mountain lions, hearing the prostitutes around town say things like, «I hate to see a dry pecker» and trying to line - up the perfect sniper
shot when suddenly being attacked by a Grizzly...) and you had a game that truly defines an era.