Evil West Review

Developed by Flying Wild Hog and published by Focus Entertainment, Evil West is the highly talked about vampire hunter game set in a Wild West environment. Not just vampires, of course, there are all kinds of beasts including zombies, werewolves and even dragon-like creatures. The style of this game feels quite retro as it is super linear and amazingly coincidental in how you traverse the map. But if done well linear games can be awesome – not everything needs to be open world.

                You play as Jesse Rentier who is with the Rentier Institute, a corporation run by his family as a defence against the monstrosities that are all around them. Where the vampires and others beasts just see humans as food, the humans are fighting back developing interesting weaponry to fight back and keep the monsters at bay. But the vampires and other monsters are aware that the humans are starting to get the upper hand in the ongoing war between them and so they are taking the offensive bringing a lot of trouble to Jesse’s doorstep.

                The first thing to notice about this game is that it is visually quite brilliant. There is a combination of styles which makes it quite a scene to take in. The over-the-shoulder view feels like you are playing Gears of War, and you get the western feel in the clothes and the voice acting which is similar to that in the Red Dead games. Then along with those styles is a chunk of steampunk thrown in with a lot of mechanical gears and electricity in the weaponry like your special gauntlet.

                The gameplay is a bit of a mixed bag depending on your preferences. Evil West is broken up into chapters/levels and each of these is linear with very little room for exploration. You can look around the level for collectables and money but you can never veer off the correct path. There are also coincidental shiny objects on the screen to help you navigate the path. These shiny objects let you know where you need to climb, drop down, squeeze through or whip rope your way over. It’s not complicated but it is all a setup to the main guts of the game which is the combat. Once you see that you are entering a large circle clearing you know to expect enemies.

                The combat is where the game’s main focus is and initially it made me feel like what Gears of War would be if it was melee focused as Jesse is quite a hulking figure with an oversized gauntlet. The enemies that Jesse and others refer to as Ticks come in all different shapes and sizes and there is plenty of joy to be had in pummelling these beasts. The game starts you off with very limited moves which I thought was risky as this combat can become quite repetitive which could have been a turn-off.

Thankfully as you level up and progress all manner of different fighting choices are available.  You can choose to apply a perk in many different skill trees to enhance every fighting style you choose to play. You also collect money scattered around the level in boxes and chests which can be used to purchase upgrades to your arsenal as well which are very useful.

So with fighting styles, you have your close-quarter combo melee attack which is mapped to the right bumper button which took a little getting used to. You can uppercut enemies in the air and do various juggling moves like sending them flying, shooting them whilst they are in the air or even using an electric attack to slam them on the ground and do some splash damage to nearby enemies. You can also take a ranged approach of spray firing with a revolver or you can use your rifle for some more accurate shooting. You only have limited ammo in each gun before you reload but you have infinite ammo so that’s one less thing to worry about.

                But don’t think the game is like a hack and slash as it is far from it. In some areas, you have to play very tactically as there is usually a mix of smaller and bigger enemies. The smaller enemies pose little threat unless they swarm you but the bigger enemies can do big damage if you don’t keep your eye out for them. Generally, they are quite slow and it is easy to read their attacks but they are not so easy to take down and require either a well-timed kick to break their strong attack, a parry to stun them in place or attacking them from distance with your gun. In a lot of these circular battlegrounds, there are usually environmental objects that can be used to your advantage. These can be explosives that you can lead enemies to and then roll away and shoot the explosives to kill a cluster of enemies. Or it could be a spiky wall where if you line up an enemy you can uppercut them and launch them into the spiky wall for an instant kill. This can also work on some of the larger enemies.

                The enemies are quite varied but after a while, you don’t notice some of the differences between them. You have your standard Ticks which are humans that have been converted into different abominations that attack you mainly via melee. You have the Familiars which are humans who work for the Ticks in hopes to be converted and who always have guns and try to shoot you. Then you have some random ones like the screeching Devils who are these giant flying wasp/bat hybrids that fire projectiles at you or these giant mole human abominations that burrow underground to try and pop up and attack you.

                Each level seems to follow the same sequence of dialogue to setup up the chapter. Running through narrow channels searching for collectables until you get to a large opening where you know combat is coming. Then rinse and repeat a few times until you get to a boss fight at the end. The layout is pretty simple but the combat is gruesome carnage that is quite enjoyable. The story and voice acting are also on point and do a great job of setting the mood. The game can take about 12 hours to complete which is probably about right for a game like this as the repetitive nature could begin to grind if any longer. There is also a multiplayer option to play with a friend – but only with a friend. There is no playing with strangers here which I thought was odd to exclude.

Conclusion

Evil West was recommended to me months back as a potential blockbuster. A game set in the Wild West where you are a monster hunter that you can play with a friend sounds pretty awesome. It delivers all of that with an interesting storyline that feels quite Van Helsing at times and stunning graphics. The linear layout coincidental traversal of maps is a very retro way of playing a game now but I quite enjoy it as that simplicity is quite refreshing at times but could be repetitive for others.

This game was reviewed based on Xbox One review code, using an Xbox Series S|X console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.

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