Parents' Guide to Space Marshals 3

Space is often thought of as the last unexplored frontier, so it's easy to imagine it as a sort of sci-fi version of the Old West. Space Marshals 3, as with the previous Space Marshals games, leans heavily into this setup, delivering on the classic cowboy adventure with a fun (and funny) futuristic twist. While the game doesn't have the deepest plot, its tongue-in-cheek humor is mixed well together with its storytelling to deliver an entertaining yet bite-sized tale that's easy to digest.

Where Space Marshals 3 starts to shoot blanks is in its gameplay. The touchscreen controls seem intuitive and easy to use, but their responsiveness leaves a lot to be desired. It's bad enough that it often feels like the movement is slow and sluggish; it's even worse when your thumbs slide slightly out of position in the heat of battle, causing even more movement malfunctions. But the biggest issue with the game probably comes with the high bounty one needs to pay to play the full experience. The early parts of the game are free to try, but to get into the game proper, players need to buy each of the three chapters à la carte at five bucks a pop or via a bundle that shaves a couple of extra dollars off. While episodic games are nothing new, here it feels instead like you're stuck with an installment plan for a complete game.