WILD WEST SEYMOUR By: Codemasters Download: seymour2.zip Hints & Tips After establishing himself as a famous movie star in the first game Seymour returns to star in his next feature film, a western. Wild West Seymour is the sequel to the excellent Seymour at the Movies, but is it a better game or will it ironically follow the rule of films that the first is always better than the second?

The idea which Codemasters must have had for Seymour games is to base each one on a movie theme depending on what film Seymour was staring in. This game had a cowboy setting but future graphic adventures could have included puzzles based on say sci-fi or horror. Alas these games never saw the light of day as the Amstrad died.

The game itself is pretty similar to the first. The graphics are the same with the exception of the Seymour sprite which now wears a hat. This means the game is well drawn with a cartoony feel but using few colours. The sound like in the previous Seymour outing is rather limited. Sonics consist of a repetitive background tune and little else.

In terms of gameplay very little has changed. Seymour goes back and forth collecting up to three objects at a time to solve puzzles. You get three lives and an energy bar although you probably won't need to use them as the game is quite easy. You start off at the Codemasters headquarters and need to find the missing movie equipment to shoot the film and a copy of the script as the original was destroyed. This won't take long and soon you will progress to the next level. That will be more of the same with Seymour trying to solve the problems which the filming will encounter. It seems like some nasty character calling himself "El Bandeeto" is hell bent on sabotaging the film.

Yes that is right, I said "next level." It seems like Codemasters listened to complaints that the first game was too big to finish in one sitting. This time round they have opted to break down the game into four levels which the player can access by entering a password they get when a level is finished. A fine idea but it doesn't quite work. It's nice going to a different level but finishing one large game world is more satisfying. Each level is too short and the puzzles very simple. Many in fact just involve repeating the same task more than once. In fact the puzzles are so easy that you could easily finish the entire game in one go meaning that separate levels weren't needed.

That in fact is the main complaint I have with the game. It is far too easy. A big disappointment for those who enjoyed the first and wanted more of the same. You'll finish the game so soon that it leaves you with a sense that the programmers were making the game and suddenly got told to finish off wherever they were. In the last level you'll solve a simple puzzle and then discover that "the film is complete." It seems incomplete, especially as Seymour doesn't ever discover who El Bandeeto is (although it's fairly obvious).

I recommend this game to someone new to the graphic adventure scene as it isn't too taxing. Anyone else would probably be better off playing a Dizzy game. No doubt fans of the first will try this out but I fear they will finish it and be wanting more. I guess that if this was a chocolate it would be a milkybar.

Rating: 77%