WANTED: A Wild Western Adventure puts you in the cowboy boots of quick-draw Fenimore Fillmore. Fillmore’s mission is to start a revolution in a small dusty western town, and to help the local farmers defend their land against a big-rancher by the name of Starek. Starek has forced most of the farmers out of work and is essentially in control of the town. But when Fillmore trips his way into a squabble between some goons and one of the few remaining farmers, he is chosen to lead the uprising and bring down the villain.
This is where you say déjà vu right? Yes, the story is just as cliché and stereotypical as the characters that are found in it. But that is a bit of the charm of this game. You will interact with more than 30 different characters from the local Sheriff, to the female interest school teacher, and of course Starek and his men.
The puzzles of WANTED are unique and a refreshing change to the standards seen in most adventure games of today. On top of that, the puzzles are typically non-linear, so you don’t necessarily need to win at the “Spicy Sarsaparilla drinking duels” in order to start collecting the tools and weapons to defend the town. This is also a nice change from other adventure games, because if you get stuck in one part of A Wild Western Adventure, instead of not making any progress in the game whatsoever, you can go and take care of another task -- though eventually you will have to come back to that troublesome spot.
Another interesting (though at times annoying) dynamic that has been added to this adventure game is the need for money and carrots. You need money in order to pay for the tools and farm-protecting equipment, and you need carrots to feed your Horse in order to move between major locations. As you explore, you will find dollars of varying denominations in drawers and cabinets throughout the game. You will also find tilled land where a few buckets of water from the local well or pump will sprout five or six carrots. Thankfully, if you feel like it that is, you can stock-pile these necessities as you go. If you are in a place with a garden and you have a couple of empty buckets, it might do you well to fill them up a few times to build up your carrot supply.
Like I said, this was an interesting change in the standard adventure model, but at times the task of having to find carrots or money made WANTED: A Wild Western Adventure a tedious game.