Previous Next

The Software Invasion fanfare and logo make an impressive start to this wild west simulation. The creators liken it to a cartoon and certainly the humour and visual impact give it the feel of a comic strip. The simple instructions are displayed while the main body of the program is loaded. Keys A and Z control the angle of the gun which our hero (though dressed in black) wields so readily. Keys ; and : shift him from side to side.

At the very beginning of the program you are given the opportunity to turn off the sound, an unusual but useful feature for a games program. You soon find out how useful. Actually during the gunfighter's contest the sound effects are very good, especially the shots themselves, which are right out of your favourite old cowboy film.

The whole scene is stereotype wild west town complete with jailhouse and saloon bar. The gunfighter enters from stage right and takes up a determined stance at the bottom left hand of the screen. At this point he comes under your manual control and faces imminent danger from a (probably as yet unseen) adversary. This is a white uniformed gunman who appears at random amongst the buildings in the background. He pops up all over the place, behind the store, on top of the hotel and so on. He is also a good shot. He won't miss more than a couple of times unless you dodge about. The game in fact turns out to be fairly difficult. As soon as you kill one gunman another instantly appears, so keep your eyes skinned.

One criticism is that the static display might eventually become boring, not that I found it so while I was playing - I was concentrating too hard on staying alive. All in all a very successful game with helpful instructions and every care taken with the layout and use of colour. Plus, of course, the excitement of a wild west shoot out.

Dave Reeder