C&VG


West Bank
By Gremlin
Commodore 64/128

 
Published in Computer & Video Games #66

West Bank

Why are you reading this when you could be playing West Bank?

Here in South Dakota men are men, women are women and reviewers are reviewers. A man lives by the gun and if you don't watch your lip you're gonna eat lead and bite the dust.

Gold fever is in the air and there's a mean bunch of pesky varmints out to get their thieving hands on your gold.

West Bank

West Bank has twelve doors. You must get the money deposits from each of these doors. Three doors appear on the screen at any one time.

The doors open in random order. A figure appears. You must make a snap decision: Is that person a baddie or innocent? You have to control your itchy finger. Shooting the innocent does you no good whatsoever. If a baddie appears in the door don't shoot too soon. Wait for him to draw before opening fire.

Get the money from the first three doors and you can then move onto the next three, all the way up to twelve. Survive and you move onto the next stage.

Between each stage you have to fight a duel with three paid assassins. Again, wait until they draw before firing.

It's pretty nerve-wracking to find yourself facing three killers, waiting to see which one will shoot first. Even if an innocent person appears in the door don't let your guard down. Baddies have been known to push them suddenly aside and blast you.

The people you'll meet are Green Jordan, a good-guy farmer; Jack Vicious, a swindler; Daisy, the beautiful daughter of the city jeweller; Alfred and Joe Dalton, both meanies; Bowie, a dwarf, whose hats make ideal target practice - except that one may contain a bomb; Mackeyham, another villain; Julius, he may shoot or give you gold. There is a final mystery character.

The graphics in West Bank are highly detailed and realistic. There's real tension in the air as you wait for the door to swing open.

Excellent fun and excellent value. Buy it and you won't be disappointed.