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"Unclassifiable, unforseeable, UNBEATABLE!!!"

Ah, 1985. Remember back in the day when companies would actually try something NEW?

The setting was the old west, and you're the sheriff of a small town plagued with violence. Your goal is to try to keep some law and order in the town.

You encounter people one by one in showdowns like on a western movie.
This may sound like your everyday ''shoot everything that moves'' game, but there is MUCH more to it than that.

You have to find out what's the best solution to each problem. Because gun-slinging is not always the way.

Every type of person from the old west you can think of greets you. Here are the ten levels (computer characters) in exact order:

THE OUTLAW: he's a plump guy dressed in brown pants and a blue shirt- he's quite a felon.
However, he acts very innocent when he sees you, being polite and all.

THE LADY: this lady that simply sports a red dress is more of an insult thrower than anything else. She knows a lot about outlaws and robbers but won't give any information on them unless your VERY persuasive (that's not EITHER one of the methods you're probably thinking about now)!

THE MEXICAN OUTLAW: this rather stereotypical character is dressed in black pants and a red Mexican jacket- you can tell he's not scared at all. He has a very bad @## attitude, as if he's sure a gunfight is about to take place.

THE SHOTGUN MAN: he has a 100% black suit, and he just brought a brand new shotgun that's bigger than any other on the game. He acts as if he wants to ''test'' it.

THE DOCTOR: this town doctor in black just wants to see the sheriff in person to see what he's REALLY like. He has some pretty sarcastic lines (like ''kill any more people lately, sheriff?'').

THE BOY: this boy dressed in white has a secret and he won't tell! Unless you're diplomatic enough.

THE DEPUTY: your right-hand man that sports yet another black suit.......... But he knows that when YOU kick the bucket, he can take your place! Don't worry too much about that, because he's an overall nice guy.

THE WOMAN: dressed in a completely purple dress and shirt, she's the kindest character on the game; she just wants a date with the sheriff.
If you were mean to her kid, she will have a COMPLETELY different attitude!

BELLE (THE FEMALE OUTLAW): dressed in brown clothes, and a hat like a sheriff, she's not an easy character to avoid fighting with.
She's pretty mad at you threatening to arrest her on a preceeding day.

THE LAST CHARACTER: do you really think I'm going to spoil this cool climax? Let's just say that has a mission..........

In between the stages, you fight three robbers; one at a bank, one at a stage, and one at a train station. Provided you can get the info out of some characters.

Here's how the gameplay goes; the charater walks out from a door or something, and he greets you with an opening line in a subtitle at the bottom of the screen.
Then, you have the four choices in which to select a line line you say in reaction to the other character's line. Then the other character responds to that one, and so on.

Let's take the man with the big shotgun for example: he gives the malignant opening line of ''So, how do you like my new shotgun, sheriff?'' then out of the four choices of your response you have.....

THE CASUAL APPROACH: ''Hmm, where did you get that thing from?''

THE LAW-ABIDING APPROACH: That thing isn't allowed around here.

THE ''DON'T TRY MY PATIENCE'' APPROACH: ''Drop that gun- NOW!''

And..........

THE YELLOW-BELLIED APPROACH: ''Well..... Gee..... It's err..... Real..... Nice.....

If you take the fourth approach, he'll respond, ''What's the matter sheriff, are you scared?''

If you take the third approach, he'll say, ''Want to try to MAKE me?'' You respond with lines that are usually between the four approaches. You can continue the tough-guy way or you can completely change your approach with something like, ''I'm sorry, you can keep it''.
However, if you have a Jekyll and Hyde attitude like that with any armed character, you're VERY likely to end up in a gunfight!

OVERVIEW I

GAMEPLAY: 9+

The gameplay goes like this; someone walks up to you and greets you in his special way. Then you respond to that in whichever tone you choose to do it in. And so on.
After you give 4 to 6 lines to eachother a piece, there will be one of three climaxes; the other person will either walk away, drop his gun and get arrested, tell you the word on the latest robberies, or DRAW!

To draw your gun, you just tap diagnally up-forward twice. There is a target sign you move around to see where you're shooting. The control of the drawing needs a bit of improvement, but the aiming is just fine.

You can't see anybody's gunshots, but then again, you shouldn't!

With some of the guys, if you scratch their egos, they'll walk away..... Then about five seconds later, the dishonorable ******* will pop up in the window of a saloon or something and try to shoot you by surprise!

I'll say more about the gunfights in the challenge section.

GRAPHICS: 10 (for a Commodore game, anyway)!

The graphics are very nicely detailed.
You (the sheriff) are dressed in blue pants, a dark brown shirt, and a black hat. The sheriff is in a view so you can only see the sheriff's right arm and leg (complete with gun holder), plus half of the back of his face and body.

While you take up a three or four inch radius of the left side of the screen, The enemies are tiny as a Belmont.

In other words, it's designed to look JUST LIKE a western!

The screen is 3D and the computer characters walk in and out from almost anywhere they want.
The character's bodies and clothes all look fine, and their faces are pretty detailed too- like the mustache on the shotgun guy and the smile on the face of the kid. Their mouths also move whenever their lines appear on the screen.

The foregrounds have bars and other old west places for characters to walk in and out of.

In the backgrounds, there are shadowy people walking around and riding in carriges. If anyone shoots, they move away MUCH faster. That's some superfluous albeit appreciated realism.

SOUND: 5+

No joke, there are only TWO sounds in the game- your gun firing sound that goes ''PGGGGGGHHH'' and the higher pitched enemy gun sound that goes ''PHHHEEE''.

Overall, the two gunshot sounds are just a notch above average.

MUSIC: 10!

Not much music either. Only the theme song and ten 30 minute intro songs for each computer character.

The music often sounds like it came straight from a western movie.

Most of it goes very well with the characters. The third guy's theme song sets the mood perfectly for the showdown likely to come up.
The first guy has a theme song that sounds like it was done on a western piano. The little boy has an equally fitting theme song that sound's like it came from a TOY piano.

I wouldn't have asked for more or less music for this game. It's just fine.

LEVEL DESIGN: 10+!

It can't be beaten! Everything about this game is like an interactive western! The saloons are there, the bars are there, the banks and everything are there!

The selection of dialoge is perfect too- you can be whatever kind of sheriff you want to be!
A fun way I like to play is by saying whatever I'D say if I was in the predicament (I got in a LOT of gunfights that way). Or if you want, you can play through as a nice guy sheriff, an EVIL sheriff, or a law abiding sheriff (the one you'll get the most points for).

Sometimes, however, the outcomes can be totally unexpected. or example, if you act cowardly through all the exchanges with the shotgun wielding guy until the last one, he'll say something like, ''You know sheriff, you have much reason to be scared- get my drift?'' then you can suddenly answer with ''I've taken out twenty men in gunfights, what's one more?'', then he'll say, ''okay, maybe I was being a bit hasty'' then walks away!
That's only ONE of the hilarious things you can do on the game!

Of course, it's also full of trademark witty dialoge from westerns, too, but I've given enough examples.

CHALLENGE: 9

At the end of the game, a final score is added up by how good of a sheriff you are. You get the most points for arresting people (but some of them WON'T be taken alive!), you get the second highest amount by stopping a bank/train/stage robbery, you get a decent amount for avoiding fights but you lose points if you shoot before it's time to draw.

Which brings me back to the gunfights; they can be quite unfair sometimes. You'll lose points if you draw a gun at the wrong time (everyone says ''put that gun away, mister!'').
But what's really unfair is when a guy shoots you before you can get off one shot.

There's no dodging in this game, just drawing. The only characters on the game that can move while fighting are the robbers.
However, a lot of shots fired by enemies just won't hit you.
While it is a bit luck based, the aim of some characters are clearly better than that of other's. Some enemies couldn't hit the broad side of a barn (like the first guy) while others can mow you down before you even finish reading their responses (like Belle)!

Luckily, if you can afford to get shot three times (if you're nice enough). After you get shot, the screen turns completely black except for sentences appearing like ''he shot the sheriff (I'll resist any Bob Marley jokes)!''. Eventually, the doctor will patch you up and you'll have a band-aid on your shoulder for the rest of the game. But you DO lose points when you get shot.
It's extremely hard to get the highest possible score. It will take you quite a months upon months. Maybe even years!

REPLAY VALUE: 10!

Non-linear gameplay at it's BEST! Not only is there the selection of stuff to say in itself, there are also some things you can do to change how other people will be!
For example, if you're belligerent to the doctor (or if you just shoot him), he WON'T patch you up if you get shot! Therefore it will become a one hit wonder.

Plus, the characters are so distinct from eachother in personality (and aim) that you'll want to play until you see every combination of dialoge on the game!
You might even find yourself making silly goals like me and my brothers used to (scare everyone away, make friends with everyone, etcetera)!

OVERVIEW II

YES!!! The non-linear gameplay (I DON'T use that term loosely!), the amusing dialoge, and the originality.

NO!!! The gunfights are a bit on the luck based side. No big deal.

SAY WHAT? On the back of the package of this mid 80's game, it says ''this game contains very realistic violence and mild profanity- not suggested for young children''.
It's actually worse than Mortal Kombat (that's not saying much) to me, because you say and do some pretty naughty stuff to the kid, the woman and the doctor!

OVERALL: 10!

This is hands-down the most unique game I've EVER played! No one's ever even tried anything close to it!
Get this game if you can find it! It's worth any price you pay for it and then some!
No fancy polygons, no mindless and blistering firing, no special moves- just a top-notch game!



Reviewer's Score: 10/10 | Originally Posted: 10/08/00, Updated 10/08/00

Life in the good ol' Wild West sure was tough, what with all them bank robberies and shoot-outs and evil Hombres running about the place causing havoc. Accolade's Law of the West gives you the opportunity of finding out just now wild the West really was. As Sheriff of Gold Gulch, a small but by no means peaceful town, it is your duty to protect the innocent, quell the very naughty, and generally keep law and order until sundown.

There are eleven different situations to put your integrity and efficiency as a lawman to the test and each takes the form of a brief encounter with a particular character. Your problems start outside the saloon with the appearance of a burly gunslinger who strolls casualty out onto the street and asks: 'You the Sheriff of this stinkin' town?' to which you can offer one of four replies, shown at the bottom of the screen, ranging from pleasant and sycophantic to authoritative and aggressive. The choice of reply affects the mood of the character in question and it is best not to cross the nastier types, for you may find yourself eating a main course of lead with dirt for desert.

However, you are provided with a suitable weapon -- a powerful six-shooter is at your disposal, should you wish to use it, along with a seemingly infinite supply of ammunition. Useful for preventing the occasional bank raid or stage coach robbery. If you do resort to gunplay though, it is wise to have the Doctor on your side as he can turn an inconvenient flesh wound into a terminal case of death with a quick sip of the bottle and slip of the scalpel. Other townsfolk include the iniquitous Miss Rose, the 'hostess' with the mostest who works behind the bar in the local saloon, and the Mexicali Kid, who's very keen to shoot up the local Sheriff if given the chance. Oh, there's also little Willy, a boy with a secret that he won't tell unless suitably persuaded.

When your stint as Sheriff finally comes to an end, through either loss of life or daylight hours, a full evaluation of your prowess is given, detailing how well you maintained your authority and fared romantically amongst other things. You are also told your overall score.

Beneath the very pretty and instantly appealing graphic exterior of Law of the West there lies little in the way of lasting challenge. Though some pleasure was derived from the first few plays, I soon became bored due to the limited and repetitive nature of the game. It's a nice idea that has been well executed, but unfortunately it doesn't hold anything other than short term interest, with effectively so little to do. There is an excellent atmosphere generated when playing the disk version, but this is lost using cassette as it takes time to load individual scenes. Law of the West is essentially a good game, but only for a short while.

Presentation 76%
Some pleasant touches but generally nothing outstanding.

Graphics 85%
Four superlative backdrops and some well defined sprites, but little else.

Sound 79%
A variety of jolly tunes and a few sufficient FX.

Hookability 90%
Initially very absorbing to play, although loading from cassette does ruin the excellent atmosphere generated.

Lastability 71%
Despite a large range of responses and the challenge of improving upon your score, the game soon proves boring to play as the situations get sussed.

Value For Money 72%
It has instant visual appeal, but the lack of depth makes it a bit over the top in price.

Overall 78%
A highly atmospheric and initially enjoyable game with exceptional graphics, but lacking in sufficient variety and true depth to enthral for any great length of time.