Last year, I played Westward II. Since I enjoyed it, I decided to give Westward III: Gold Rush a try. For some reason, this storyline didn't seem to progress as quickly as the second one did. It took a long time to get through the tutorial, much longer than it did before, and then the game seemed to just dump you. I spent a lot of time wandering around the borders trying to figure out where I was supposed to go next. (Well, 'next' in the storyline after the tutorial. The game sticks you in a new area and leaves you there.)

However, there were some interesting changes. Instead of just finding food laying around, you now have to hunt for it. You don't have to aim your gun like you did in Oregon Trail but it's still requires a bit more interaction from the player than just finding a bundle of food. Sadly, I did not make it far in the demo of the game. There is a possibility that it gets better later on but it's difficult to see how it will.

A couple of weeks ago, I played Westward II: Heroes of the Frontier. This was another type of Sims game but with a wild west touch to it. You play one of three characters trying to turn a patch of desert into a thriving western town. Despite failing miserably during my few first attempts at the game, I had way too much fun playing it. Combining the variety of challenges with the 'open sandbox' type of play, you can do just about anything you want to with your town. If you want to put your farm far apart from where the townspeople live, you can. Obviously you need to put your lumberjacks near trees and your gold mine on top of a gold vein but other than things like that, you are completely free to do what you want to. I think this makes the game a lot more fun than if they had laid everything out for you and you just have to complete what they tell you. I'll be buying this game in the near future!