The Lawless

The Lawless is a typical Wild Western tale of family, murder, and revenge. Players step into the tasseled boots of a man whose brother has been murdered at the hands of a notorious gang, and thus sets off on a vendetta to take them down one by one.

What follows is a series of quick-time set pieces as players tap to take down gang members with a flurry of gunshots. The Lawless is truly a cinematic experience; the incredible graphics and realistic sound effects make for some tense shootouts. There are just two main problems: it's too easy, and it's just nowhere near long enough.

There may be a 'hardcore' mode available, but the fact is that this is the type of game that's never going to require much skill. Tapping on a series of targets while avoiding the glowing red ones is simple enough, especially on the larger screen of an iPad. The whole easiness thing would be no problem if the game was long enough — I would just concede that the story and overall experience makes up for the length — but I can't see how players can be expected to pay the price of $1.99 for only 3 more levels. There are of course some achievements and leaderboard glory to play for, but will that make players want to replay the same short levels again and again? I'm willing to bet that it won't.

Overall, I really enjoyed playing The Lawless, but I wanted more than what was available (i.e. the anti-climatic story mode). The first two levels are definitely worth a try — just don't expect the others to provide enough bang for the bucks paid.