Weird West | PS4 Review
Weird West, developed by WolfEye Studios and published by Devolver Digital, is a wacky, weird, and wild immersive simulation with some RPG aspects included. It is currently available on Windows PC, PlayStation, and Xbox and for the purpose of my review I was playing the PlayStation 4 version.
Weird West opens to the scene of a farm homestead where we see some pursuers kill a young boy and then kidnap a man who we soon discover is the boy's father. Here enters your character; the man's wife, the boy's mother - Jane Bell - as she sets out on a twofold mission to rescue her husband and avenge the life of her young son. Jane receives a tip off from a nearby town that the kidnappers are cannibals who are attempting to summon some form of ancient occult power. Weird West very much combines many themes that we don’t commonly see together: the wild west and the occult. As you progress through the map, you’ll begin to learn everyone else's stories and experiences and you’ll gradually be introduced to groups of witches, werewolves and more. Each individual story is incredibly well told and leaves the player with various options.
Weird West adopts an isometric camera view which required a bit of adapting to for me personally. However, you can adapt and tweak the camera angle slightly to benefit you when trying to plan your route through various areas. I never really considered myself a fan of this camera angle and I think my problem usually is that there's just not enough given visually, and I feel like the isometric view generally harms a game; however, lately I’ve been proven to be very wrong as I’ve found myself really enjoying Weird West and I couldn’t really picture Weird West being any other way.
I was on my toes throughout and the game kept me interested and confused in equal measures. I found myself feeling really invested in each character and what their story held, and that interest was held in even the NPC characters you can hire to come alongside you and help you. Unfortunately, these poor souls didn’t quite know what they were letting themselves in for when they agreed to work for me as death truly is final in Weird West and I quickly found myself with a long list of names who had perished after they innocently offered their services to me, not knowing the inevitable perma-death that would befall them. This was a struggle for me because I often find myself making silly decisions whether it be through story choices or poor ideas during combat so these guns for hire quickly ended up in a big hole in the ground. As well as the guns for hire you’ll also randomly have NPC’s show up on your travels who need help and later in the game they could crop up and help you with a fight to repay your previous kindness. All your actions matter in Weird West so make sure you really think things through, unlike what I do.
The combat throughout was fun and engaging with lots of different ways to approach a scenario. Whatever your playstyle is - consider yourself catered for. Do you like to sneak around and cause minimal hassle? Do you want to kill everything in sight and go flying in gung-ho? Or are you like me who tries to be subtle but is more like a bull in a china shop? Whatever your choice the game will be fun and provide its own challenge and enjoyment allowing you the diversity to become who you want to be within this weird world.
Weird West was a quite unique experience and one that I think many would enjoy. It felt like so many things; but distinguished itself as its own game so easily without becoming a carbon copy of anything else. I’d love to see more of this unique universe, maybe in the form of some DLC as there's still so many directions that the game could go in.
Lj’s Rating: 4 out of 5.
For more information on Weird West please use the following links...
WolfEye Studios - Developer | Facebook | Twitter | Website
Devolver Digital - Publisher | Facebook | Twitter | Website
Many thanks to Indigo Pearl for the Review Key.
Weird West | Windows PC | PlayStation | Xbox
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