HIGH The buildup to the second boss fight.

LOW The actual second boss fight.

WTF “Little guys for big jobs” is a profoundly weird way to describe bullets.

There’s nothing slick about Blood West.  It’s a slow, lumbering thing – an exercise in patience, demanding to be taken on its own terms. 

My first forays into this stealth focused, first-person shooter were mired in frustration, while my seemingly interminable failures put the main character’s immortality to the test.  However, once I was willing to abandon my preconceived heuristics and fully lean into Blood West’s loop, I loved every second of it.

Recently resurrected by a talking cow skull of dubious origins, the player takes control of an unnamed, undead gunslinger tasked with defeating a great evil corrupting the land.  Structured as small open-worlds, players will explore haunted canyons, swamps, and mountain ranges across the American old west.  Light RPG elements allow for some character customization, but make no mistake, spirits, mutants, and gaggles of gun-toting birdmen offer stiff resistance to incautious players, and maintaining a low profile is crucial.

Impulse and quick reflexes find no purchase in Blood West – every action must be carefully considered, with a solid contingency plan in place should things go awry.  Stand-up fights netted poor results for this spooky cowpoke, and each encounter turned into a tactical calculus.

Take the simple act of equipping weapons – players are only able to swap between two at a time, one large and one small.  Is it more prudent to take the bow, able to stealthily dispatch weaker enemies from afar?  Or is it better to knife them in the back, relying on the close quarters fury of a double-barreled shotgun should that colossal wendigo stomping in the background take notice?  These questions become existential as health is fleeting, and death is severely punished on the plains of Blood West.

Each defeat (and subsequent resurrection) results in a “soul flaw” — a semi-permanent status effect that negatively impacts a core stat such as health, stamina, or sneaking ability.  These compound with each death, worsening up to three times. While they can eventually be remedied, these flaws do nothing to make the hostile world of Blood West any easier.

While Blood West is punishing when approached as a typical first-person shooter, it is immensely rewarding as a tactical stealth experience.  Its open-ended structure offers players abundant freedom in tackling objectives, and most areas can be approached from any direction.  I came to organize my play into discreet sorties, probing further into the wilderness and systematically clearing areas of enemies before returning to base camp to trade treasure with the merchant and heal up.  Defeated enemies stay dead until the player rests or resurrects, and I began to feel a measure of control over my environment when I realized I could stay alive much longer with the most important tactic of all – knowing when to cut bait. 

Eventually, I came to realize the majority of my deaths in Blood West were a result of my own hubris – deciding to take a snap headshot without properly scouting the area, accidentally alerting a horde of monsters in the process, or pressing into uncharted territory despite a depleted health bar.  Individual enemies are generally not difficult on their own, and most can be outrun should they become overwhelming.  That’s not to say that every death is the player’s fault, but I rarely felt Blood West was unfair and often found my own stubbornness and inattention to be the source of any frustration.

Careful attention is not only important for combat but also exploration.  Whether it’s a moored steamboat off the beaten track or a lonely cabin on a hilltop, there is sure to be loot worth finding.  As I began to explore the more far-flung corners of the map, I found powerful, unique items that literally changed the way I approached Blood West – a rifle that heals forty health with every headshot, or a trinket that offered a twenty percent boost to health, stamina, and experience points.  Some of these items shaped my play for hours to come, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that I might not have rolled credits in Blood West without them.

There is one area where Blood West falls short, however – the boss fights.  Each act is structured around tracking and exterminating an evil entity, and the narrative revolves around the buildup to these encounters.  Unfortunately, these battles are uniformly disappointing and rely on mechanics that stray from Blood West’s strengths.  Whether it’s dexterity-based dodging or battles of attrition, gone is the emphasis on thoughtful, strategic play that forms Blood West’s foundation.  While certainly a letdown, these criticisms amount to little more than quibbles in the wake of all that Blood West does right.

Blood West won’t be for everyone, but those willing to go along with its demanding play and deliberate pacing will find an engaging experience that celebrates the player’s wits as much as reflexes.  I won’t soon forget the feeling of being low on ammo, even lower on health and deep behind enemy lines, knowing I should turn back, but forging ahead anyway, intoxicated by what treasure could be around the next corner – because more than likely, it’s worth it.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Buy Blood West: PS5 – Xbox – PC

Disclosures: This game is developed by Hyperstrange and published by New Blood Interactive LLC. It is currently available on PC, PS5, and XBX/S.  This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PS5. Approximately 30 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the primary campaign was completed, but the DLC campaign was not completed. There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M and contains Blood, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence. This game is definitely not aimed at children.  While the visuals are generally low fidelity and rendered in a cartoony, non-realistic fashion, there is plenty of blood and gore.  Enemies can be killed with various firearms, knives, and swords.  When killed, enemies will spray blood out and can be partially dismembered with certain weapons.  Alcohol and tobacco can be consumed as power-ups.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game only offers subtitles in certain instances.  Primary dialogue between characters is fully subtitled, but the player’s character makes many comments throughout gameplay that are not subtitled at all. While this game offers two options for text size, this only applies to certain menus and did not impact the text in subtitled dialogue. This game relies heavily on stealth, and when playing without sound I found it more difficult to remain unseen and, consequently, died more frequently due to enemy noises that are not represented visually. The missing in-game subtitles combined with the lack of visual indicators for key contextual noises means this game is not fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls.

The post Blood West Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Great variety of playable characters with interesting abilities. Tense combat.

LOW Some poor AI. Hard to track some enemies. Lackluster ending.

WTF The big bad had relations with robots???

Legend tells of the Drifter — a spacecraft appearing to those in need, offering passage to a paradise known as the Homestead. The ship has decided to gather up an infamous gang known as the Wild Bastards, but why it wants them and the truth of where it’s going are a mystery. All the Bastards know know is the evil Jebdiah Chaste (hater of all things alien, robot, and criminal) is hot on their tails, looking to end them permanently.

Wild Bastards is an amalgamation of FPS and tactical roguelike play brought into existence by the same crew responsible for 2019’s Void Bastards. Players are tasked with traversing multiple star systems on the hunt for missing members of the Wild Bastards gang, of which there are 13 playable in total, each with unique abilities and playstyles. 

The basic gameplay loop is broken up into three distinct phases — a navigating-the-galaxy map portion, a turn-based tactics portion, and finally an FPS portion. While all the phases have randomized elements, the basic loop follows a consistent formula.

Things start on a galaxy map. As the player’s ship enters a new system, they must choose a path through a series of waypoints in a style similar to other roguelikes of the current era, evaluating each stop along the way for potential threats such as dangerous weather conditions or increased enemy damage. Each planet has a maximum number of characters who can beam down to the surface, forcing the player to strategically assemble their away team based on the characters’ abilities and possible synergies. accordingly.  Overuse of a particular character increases their exhaustion level, which nullifies certain abilities until they rest or are healed with beans (it makes sense in context.) 

Once on the surface, a turn-based tactical map opens.  As with similar isometric tactical titles, players direct their Bastards to locations where they may be able to find temporary upgrades such as increased damage or better armor, as well as permanent “Aces.” These act like a tech tree for permanent abilities or buffs.  Players are given a finite number of movement points each turn, and then enemy forces on the surface (representing Chaste’s bounty hunters) take their turn.

When the Bastards are forced to deal with enemies, combat ensues. and this is where the FPS portion of kicks in. Once combat starts, the only way to successfully complete an encounter is by finding and eliminating all enemies. A handy counter keeps tabs of the number of baddies hunting the gang, allowing players to know how badly outnumbered they are, or how close they are to winning a fight.

In FPS mode, players control one Bastard at a time, though they travel in pairs when they can.  It’s possible to swap between teammates at the push of a button, based on personal preference or on which character’s abilities work best in a given situation.  For instance, Hopalong (my favorite) has a lasso that freezes opponents while dealing DPS and an ability where he can freeze every enemy on the map for a short period. In contrast, Casino’s special ability instantly kills a random foe. 

Each Bastard also has distinctive movement rates, sneakiness levels (how easily they’ll be detected by enemies) and weapons such as Billy’s custom six-shooters, Judge’s sniper rifle, and Roswell’s “mason ray” — basically, their fancy name for a big, honkin’ laser cannon.  Learning the ins and outs of each character’s attacks and abilities takes some time, but makes combat encounters easier once mastered. 

If a combat encounter is successful, the team can continue exploring the planet.  However, there’s some risk/reward here — if a team stays too long, strong foes begin appearing.  Each one is increasingly difficult to defeat, and if the team keeps defying the odds, the final foe is literally indestructible. This mechanic means players wont be able to hoover up 100% of the loot and should wisely beam back to the ship at opportune moments rather than face these enemies. 

Adding to Wild Bastards‘ difficulty is that some characters might refuse to work with others while on a run. These fallings-out are random and might put a crimp in the player’s strategic plans. On the other hand, characters members may also become pals, which grants them additional boosts in battle — the Bastard known as Smoky will incinerating any enemy who damages his friend, as an example.

Overall, combat is fast and satisfying.  The weapons are a joy to use, and the array of abilities cater to any playstyle.  there are a few small hiccups with enemy AI, though. Once in a great while, the AI forgets to move an enemy around, leading to some incredibly easy kills and sometimes it’s difficult to locate the final enemy on a map, leading to some less than inspiring searching. However, the overall feeling of being both hunter and prey is exhilarating.   

In terms of narrative, Wild Bastards tells an interesting story about loyalty, betrayal, and even the nature of faith.  It deftly uses humor in even the most serious situations to keep the overall tone lighthearted — it’s a bit like an extremely profane, old-timey Western. The interactions between characters were also a treat, such as Sarge’s pontificating about his war record, or Preach’s sermonizing/lusting after Roswell.  I just wish there had been a more definitive final battle, as the ending sequence was a bit too abrupt to be a satisfying conclusion to the tale, and despite the roguelike nature of the gameplay, there are definite objectives and a clear endpoint along the way.

Wild Bastards was a joy to play.  Despite a few small rough spots with enemy AI and the general scourge of RNG, I looked forward to each play session. Even after the campaign credits rolled, I found that the game offered a staggering number of challenge mode missions, and I plan to put more time into it as the completionist in me looks forward to unlocking the achievements while conquering every map and mission.

Wild Bastards sounds like it shouldn’t work. Its foundation is a patchwork of different genres frankensteined into a single title and the frenetic FPS portions are broken up by long stretches of slow-paced tactical movement and galactic navigation. Despite all this (and the damned RNG) I can’t deny that it all works. The story is filled with fascinating and funny (if not likable) characters I wanted to see succeed. The tactical portions present interesting choices, and the FPS sections are fast and furious. if there was ever a game where the whole was more than the sum of its parts, it’s this one — and it comes highly recommended!

Rating: 8 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed by Blue Manchu and published by Maximum Entertainment.It is currently available on XBX/S, PS5, Switch, and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PC. Approximately 16 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M and contains Strong Language, Violence. The official description reads: This is a first-person shooter in which players assume the roles of surviving members of an outlaw space gang on the run. Players travel from planet to planet completing quests, recovering lost gang members, and engaging in firefights with enemies (e.g., other outlaws, robots) across western-themed towns. Players use laser pistols, shotguns, blaster rifles, and explosives to kill enemies in fast-paced combat. Battles are accompanied by realistic gunfire, explosions, and cries of pain. Enemies disappear amid smoke and colorful light effects when killed. The words “f**k,” “c*ck,” and “c*nt” are heard in the game.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles cannot be altered and/or resized. Story-based dialogue is completely subtitled.  In game, a visual signal indicates the direction from which enemy movement/speech can be detected, but in-game dialogue does not have subtitles. This dialogue does not affect gameplay, but it does represent banter between characters that assists with world-building. The indicator is not always on screen, but upon detecting an enemy’s movement or speech, a second indicator appears on the player’s compass, approximating the direction of the enemy’s location.  Despite these two indicators, it is possible to be surprised by enemies.  The game is not fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: Certain functions are remappable. Keyboard controls are completely remappable, but controller functions are not remappable.

The post Wild Bastards Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.