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'Sheriff Sam' Shoots Up Sand Sharks in the Wild West

by Ben Deitz on November 9, 2010 at 05:45 PM

Sheriff Sam
Although holiday stress might evoke visions of carpet-bombing Thanksgiving traffic instead of dancing sugarplums, try not to go postal! Game designers know that everyone needs to digitally unload a clip from the safety and comfort of their computer, so we've selected a fresh crop of shmups to let you blow off that pre-December steam. Recall these trigger-happy games when dealing with in-laws or making harried gift purchases -- as they just might be the key to saving your sanity.

'Sheriff Sam' lives in a world that, while terrifying, we would simply love to spend some well-armed time exploring. It's a world in which lone gunmen like Sam face off against viciously ridiculous enemies, from UFOs and zombies to the dreaded, almighty sand shark. You'll spend the game fending off waves of foes as they attack Sam and his wounded horse, Argo (a popular name for horses in video game land). You control Sam's movement to and fro with the WASD keys, and his puny pea-shooter with the mouse. Thankfully, you'll be able to upgrade your weapon at the end of each wave, giving it faster reload times and firing rates. These upgrades are necessary if you're going to have any hope of taking down the multitude of baddies that, for some reason, desperately want to snack on you and your equine compatriot. With its pixelated, 'Space Invaders' feel, 'Sheriff Sam' is the kind of game that'd sweep the nation in some alternate universe -- one in which the Atari 2600 was still the console of choice, and sand sharks, not buffalo, roamed freely.

Sheriff Sam


Tags: flashgames, gamesonthego, gaming, SherrifSam, shmups, TimeWaster, top, videogames, WildWest

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