You drew your last card, amigo.
- We called ourselves The Nine. And we shook the pillars of heaven when we walked.
We were led by a cold-blooded killer named Tennessee Vic. And together, we cut a path of blood and destruction across the territory.
We took what we wanted. And we didn't let the laws of men or gods stand in our way...El Tejon
Dead Man's Hand is a First-Person Shooter action game developed by Human Head Studios and published by Atari for the Xbox and PC.
Set in 1800s Mexico, the Player Character and heroic outlaw, El Tejon, was a gunslinger and notorious bank robber, and a member of The Nine, a group of bandits terrorizing the West. But El Tejon is a man of honor, who seeks fame as a gunslinger but is against immoral acts like harming innocent civilians - and his principles bites him in the ass during a raid on San Coahuila where El Tejon's refusal to gun down women and children leads to his gang betraying him, with The Nine's former leader, Tennessee Vic, shooting El Tejon and leaving him for the dead.
Surviving the attempt on his life, only to be captured by San Coahuila's corrupt governor, General Blanco, El Tejon befriends Iago, an elderly prisoner, and escapes during an attack from revolutionaries. Obtaining firearms and breaking out of prison, El Tejon now seeks revenge on his former gang.
Unrelated to the book.
I wanted out, but the gang have other ideas...
- Abandoned Mine: One of the levels, where the outlaws are using as their hideout. El Tejon spends the whole stage navigating his way through shafts and hopping above platforms besides shooting mooks, and there's even a minecart chase segment.
- The Alcoholic: Paulo Sanchez, the first boss, is quite the heavy drinker, with El Tejon confronting him in the local pub which he took over with his mooks. It makes him a slow shooter at that, befitting a Warm-Up Boss.Sanchez: You'll die for interrupting my morning Tequila!
- Amazon Brigade: The all-female team of gunslingers who serves the Madam boss.
- Anti-Hero: El Tejon may be a ruthless outlaw and gunslinger, but he's against killing innocents. His refusal to massacre the civilains of San Coahuila in the backstory is what causes his gang to betray and attempt to murder him.
- Badass Native: Flat Iron, the second boss, a renegade Comanche who attacks exclusively with flung blades which he seems to have an unlimited supply of.
- Big Bad: Tennessee Vic, the ruthless leader of The Nine and the main catalyst behind El Tejon's predicament. He's also the Final Boss of the game.
- Boss-Arena Idiocy: "Big Guns" Grissom is fought near his mill, and will constantly stray near the structure. The best way to take him down? Target the mill's boiler with dynamites and let the subsequent explosion take care of the boss. Ironically, this is one of Grissom's Boss Banter quotes:I'll show you who is stupid!
- Boss Banter: All the bosses will taunt El Tejon in-between battles.
- Blood Knight: All members of The Nine, except the hero El Tejon, given they have no issues slaughtering even innocent people to cover their tracks.El Tejon: They liked the money. But they liked the killing even more... they thrived on fear, and blood, the blood of lawmen, the blood of women, and even the blood of children...
- Bloodstained Glass Windows: The boss battle against Father Zeke, a preacher who's secretly a member of The Nine who hustles his congregations of their savings for himself, is fought in a church. El Tejon firsts fight him on ground level, but then he flees to a higher balcony and lock the door behind him, and El Tejon needs to take cover between the pews while shooting back.
- Car Chase Shoot-Out: The chase scene in a valley has El Tejon on horseback, shooting at bandidos also on their steeds. Certain enemies may suffer What a Drag when they're shot off their horses and their spurs are caught in the saddle.
- Deliberately Monochrome: Cutscenes in-between stages and before boss battles are in black-and-white (and with some static), emulating old-timey film reels. The opening FMV and gameplay averts this.
- Disney Villain Death:
- Numbers, one of The Nine, is shot off a ravine to his demise.
- Subverted in the final confrontation between Tennessee Vic and El Tejon. It ends with the former's train falling into a ravine, off an exploding bridge. Vic somehow survives his fall, and shows up as the Final Boss.
- Dual Boss: The Twins, two members of The Nine who attacks El Tejon together. Their Twin Telepathy allows them to work in almost perfect unison in cornering El Tejon during their boss battle. They're even depicted together on a single "Wanted!" Poster!
- Dumb Muscle: "Big Guns" Grissom, The Brute among the villains. His vocabulary is limited and he doesn't have any strategy beyond spamming dynamites, but when confronted up close he can take plenty of damage before going down. But then again, Boss-Arena Idiocy kicks in...
- Exploding Barrels: Wooden barrels of gunpowder tends to show up in several areas, and mooks, in true Artificial Stupidity fashion, will linger close within proximity. The subsequent explosion from shooting barrels clears areas of mooks faster.
- Fat Bastard:
- BlackJack, one of the optional bosses (not associated with The Nine), an overweight brute with a rifle. And racist, to boot.
BlackJack: Who the hell are you? We don't allow no Mexicans here! [cocks rifle]Maybe I should teach you a lesson!
El Tejon: I'm from Tejas note , you idiota!- The Madam, who runs a brothel and serves The Nine and attacks El Tejon as one of the bosses is quite portly herself.
- The Generalissimo: The corrupted Governor of San Coahuila, General Blanco, who rules the town with an iron fist. It's during a civilain uprising in the first level where El Tejon escapes, and in a later stage El Tejon joins the San Coahuila in fighting General Blanco's soldiers, with Blanco himself serving as one of the bosses (and among the few bosses unrelated to The Nine).The Nine left me to die in the streets. Then General Juan Jacinto Blanco left me to rot in a cell. But as the people of San Coahuila rise up against the General's iron fist, my chance for freedom and revenge will come soon...
- Gotta Kill Them All: After being betrayed, it's El Tejon against the rest of The Nine, each member serving as a boss which he needs to kill before reaching Tennessee Vic.
- Hat Damage: In typical Western manner, some mooks have hats that can be shot off. Shooting off their hats without killing them even grants El Tejon bonus points.
- Hunter Trapper: Trappers hired by the villains are an enemy in one stage, where they're slightly more competent than regular mooks. They can be identified by their bear pelts.
- Locomotive Level: A Wild West game without a stage on an old-timey locomotive? Nope, this game has one too right at the end when El Tejon confronts Tennessee Vic.
- Molotov Cocktail: They're called "whisky bombs" in-game, and uses whisky instead of petrol, but function-wise it's the same. One stage where El Tejon faces trappers have them throwing these against him resulting in a small pile of flames where it lands, and El Tejon can collect their supply for use in later stages.
- Nemean Skinning: The Trapper mercenaries El Tejon faces in one stage wears hoods made from bear pelts.
- Playing Card Motifs: Befitting the title, El Tejon's Life Meter is displayed as poker cards. In-between levels he can also play a Blackjack Mini-Game which rewards him with health.You have Four of a Kind! [Health Up]
- Shooting Gallery: The San Coahuilo prison has one, right outside El Tejon's cell, shortly after El Tejon finds a rifle. It's there for players to practice the game's shooting controls and reload before going out in real gunfights.
- Shout-Out: One of the stages is called "Sunset Rider", referencing an older, classic game also set in the Wild West. Some of the game's bosses are also stand-ins to those from the arcade game, like Flat Iron being one for Chief Scalpem (a Native American who fights exclusively with flung knives in a valley, while running all over the place), "Numbers" to Simon Greedwell (accountant for the bad guys, greedy assholes who cares only for loot), "Big Guns" Grissom to Paco Loco (Dumb Muscle, uses predictable attack patterns, gets an explosive death) and the Twins to the Smith Brothers (outlaw brothers Dual Boss who fights in unison)
- Sinister Minister: Father Zeke, a priest who's secretly a member of The Nine. His Boss Banter are even Bible quotes.You will die for your sins! [says the priest who swindles his congregations]
- Sniper Rifle: The Whitworth rifle, which allows El Tejon to target enemies with a scope and shoot them from a distance.
- Step One: Escape: The first level of the game revolves around El Tejon's escape from San Coahuila prison, in the middle of an ambush from the resistance opposwing General Blanco. Said level is quite easy and devoid of enemies, since the prison's soldiers are busy fighting outside.
- Title Drop: In the opening FMV, when Tennessee Vic decide to execute El Tejon."Kid, my game plays to win. And you can't keep straight cards in a loaded deck. Looks like you just drew the Dead Man's Hand."
- Track Trouble: Tennessee Vic tries escaping on a trail. However, El Tejon already rigged the bridge where it's going to pass and blows it up, causing the train to crash into a ravine. Against all odds, Tennessee Vic somehow survives the fall - cue Final Boss battle.
- Unexpected Gameplay Change: Two stages, the canyon chase and mine shaft, where El Tejon is on a horse he couldn't control. He collects extra ammo, health and bonuses by shooting at them, akin to a Rail Shooter (think Lethal Enforcers II: Gun Fighters or Gunfighter: The Legend of Jesse James instead of an FPS).
- "Wanted!" Poster: The game's bosses are depicted on a series of these posters in the opening FMV, which also serves as a Boss Tease as El Tejon will need to fight them all eventually. Heck, even the game's developer, Human Head Studios have it's logo on one such poster!
