Law of the West

The Good
The Commodore 64 and Apple II versions of this game are nearly identical. The C64 version was more colorful and higher-resolution, however, as was true for most games for the platform. The completely joystick-driven gameplay was easy to use and the chance to shoot dead a bad guy was fun. These encounters were actually few, however, and since they were always preceded by a social banter, you were sometimes able to talk the bad guy out of his misdeeds.

The variety of situations was also nice--you weren't always shooting bad guys. You also had to try to get a date for the dance and other non-law related situations. In these cases, you talked with characters via stock phrases. Learning to know what to say when, you could accomplish your desired goal.

The Bad
The fact that usually you just have to know what to say to other characters and when is probably the biggest drawback of the game. Once you know what to say to them, the gameplay is pretty redundant. Since there are so few characters and, actually, few gunfights, this game can get old quickly. I learned to ace this game in one afternoon--kind of disappointing for a brand-new game.

For gunfights, the gun moved too slow for my tastes. Since it is essentially a "quick draw" contest, you'd expect the gun to move faster. I was still usually able to win with the poky gun, but a more responsive gun would have been nice.

The Bottom Line
An initially engaging old-West lawman simulation. Fun for a while, but ultimately too short.