Full video review: https://youtu.be/i4SMtORbZrE
So the founder of Arkane Studios - the devs behind the popular Dishonored series - decided to leave and form a new company a few years ago and this game is the result of that. I liked Dishonored and I like Westerns, so why not?
Overview
Weird West is basically a top-down CRPG set in a western-dark fantasy world. The combat is done in real-time, but there are abilities and such that can slow that down. The game world is large and there is plenty to explore, a bunch of side quests to complete, and a lot of perks to unlock too. The game loop revolves around completing “journeys” which are basically campaigns that let you play as one of five characters. These are played in an enforced order and are tied together by an overall story.
Combat and Controls
Weird West is a bit... weird in some ways. For example - the combat. Ranged weapons? Completely fine. Melee weapons though? Absolute pain to use. You have to hold a key to prime the melee weapon and then just spam left click as fast as possible, missing about half the time due to a combination of evasion chance and the game just straight up not connecting hits.
The controls in general never quite clicked with me - and this is with me playing on mouse and keyboard. I made some adjustments to attempt to make them more intuitive, but frequently found myself not activating the abilities I wanted to, pulling out the wrong weapon, and crouching when I did not want to. Yeah, some of that may be me, but I play a ton of games like this and generally don’t have these issues, so I’m not really sure what’s going on here.
When the combat works though - it’s some great stuff. The different guns are simple, yet fun to use, the difficulty is well-balanced on normal, and I always love games that include good stealth mechanics. I’m the type of guy that always plays the sneaky, pickpocketing thief - the one that knocks out enemies, drags off their body to some hiding spot, and finds a way in without anyone ever knowing. All of that is possible here and then some.
Exploration and Loot
As the guy that likes to sneak around and steal stuff - I like me some good loot, and unfortunately, Weird West is not the most accommodating there. I mean, there are a bunch of buildings and containers TO loot, but about 90% of that loot is just some flavor of junk - whether that be a pack of cigarettes, a sheriff’s badge, or a pocket watch - so it is a bit disappointing to spend all this time looting and walking away with maybe one or two cool things out of 100 or so.
Sneaking around and exploring was way more rewarding when you came across side content, of which there is a good bit. Sometimes my sneaking would lead me into a trap door in which I find an imprisoned gunslinger who, if freed by me, will be in my debt and come help me during future shootouts at random. Sometimes I found little notes or other letters that added to the lore and sometimes these contained instructions on where to find even better loot. There’s usually a couple of these things per area, so exploring is almost always worth it even if the loot may not be the best.
Story
It’s not the most involved story, but what is there is somewhat weak. The main thing is this supernatural mystery binding five characters together, but the actual character writing itself isn’t that strong. The first character, for example, is a former bounty hunter whose husband gets killed and - many hours later after completing that journey - I still knew little about this husband or felt any sort of attachment to what was going on. To me, it felt more like a driving force for the gameplay - which may not even be a bad thing for most.
Overall
I have some more minor complaints - like the iffy graphics, but that pretty much sums up my experience with Weird West. I may have gotten sucked in early on and dumped hours into it, but I also cannot deny it does have numerous faults, such as the melee combat and the loot system.
So while I recommend the game, I’d say it’s only a light recommendation. If you’re into this genre? Well worth a look. However, there are better picks out there and this is probably one best left for a sale. That or give it a shot on Game Pass - it’s pretty much the perfect Game Pass kind of game.
So the founder of Arkane Studios - the devs behind the popular Dishonored series - decided to leave and form a new company a few years ago and this game is the result of that. I liked Dishonored and I like Westerns, so why not?
Overview
Weird West is basically a top-down CRPG set in a western-dark fantasy world. The combat is done in real-time, but there are abilities and such that can slow that down. The game world is large and there is plenty to explore, a bunch of side quests to complete, and a lot of perks to unlock too. The game loop revolves around completing “journeys” which are basically campaigns that let you play as one of five characters. These are played in an enforced order and are tied together by an overall story.
Combat and Controls
Weird West is a bit... weird in some ways. For example - the combat. Ranged weapons? Completely fine. Melee weapons though? Absolute pain to use. You have to hold a key to prime the melee weapon and then just spam left click as fast as possible, missing about half the time due to a combination of evasion chance and the game just straight up not connecting hits.
The controls in general never quite clicked with me - and this is with me playing on mouse and keyboard. I made some adjustments to attempt to make them more intuitive, but frequently found myself not activating the abilities I wanted to, pulling out the wrong weapon, and crouching when I did not want to. Yeah, some of that may be me, but I play a ton of games like this and generally don’t have these issues, so I’m not really sure what’s going on here.
When the combat works though - it’s some great stuff. The different guns are simple, yet fun to use, the difficulty is well-balanced on normal, and I always love games that include good stealth mechanics. I’m the type of guy that always plays the sneaky, pickpocketing thief - the one that knocks out enemies, drags off their body to some hiding spot, and finds a way in without anyone ever knowing. All of that is possible here and then some.
Exploration and Loot
As the guy that likes to sneak around and steal stuff - I like me some good loot, and unfortunately, Weird West is not the most accommodating there. I mean, there are a bunch of buildings and containers TO loot, but about 90% of that loot is just some flavor of junk - whether that be a pack of cigarettes, a sheriff’s badge, or a pocket watch - so it is a bit disappointing to spend all this time looting and walking away with maybe one or two cool things out of 100 or so.
Sneaking around and exploring was way more rewarding when you came across side content, of which there is a good bit. Sometimes my sneaking would lead me into a trap door in which I find an imprisoned gunslinger who, if freed by me, will be in my debt and come help me during future shootouts at random. Sometimes I found little notes or other letters that added to the lore and sometimes these contained instructions on where to find even better loot. There’s usually a couple of these things per area, so exploring is almost always worth it even if the loot may not be the best.
Story
It’s not the most involved story, but what is there is somewhat weak. The main thing is this supernatural mystery binding five characters together, but the actual character writing itself isn’t that strong. The first character, for example, is a former bounty hunter whose husband gets killed and - many hours later after completing that journey - I still knew little about this husband or felt any sort of attachment to what was going on. To me, it felt more like a driving force for the gameplay - which may not even be a bad thing for most.
Overall
I have some more minor complaints - like the iffy graphics, but that pretty much sums up my experience with Weird West. I may have gotten sucked in early on and dumped hours into it, but I also cannot deny it does have numerous faults, such as the melee combat and the loot system.
So while I recommend the game, I’d say it’s only a light recommendation. If you’re into this genre? Well worth a look. However, there are better picks out there and this is probably one best left for a sale. That or give it a shot on Game Pass - it’s pretty much the perfect Game Pass kind of game.
I have no doubt there's an incredible game here, I can feel the bones of it in the couple of hours I've played of it.
But doing so on a controller is horrific. Truly an unpleasant experience. Controls like absolute dogshit.
But doing so on a controller is horrific. Truly an unpleasant experience. Controls like absolute dogshit.
Saçma sapan vampirler kurtadamlar zombiler olmasa güzel olcakmış. Çok kötü lan... gidin rdr 2 oynayın bunun yerine daha iyi xD
Not masochistic enough to repeat almost same grind with 4-5 characters in a setting that promises choices and freedom yet extremely lackluster rewards for them.
(~80% "shared" skilltree that resets with each bloody character?!)
(~80% "shared" skilltree that resets with each bloody character?!)
Un juego que empieza muy potente con la idea de un juego de Arkane en isométrico que se acaba desinflando a mitad y tras eso solo va cuesta abajo. Han dedicado tanto tiempo a hacer sistemas chulos interconectados entre ellos que el diseño de niveles y todo lo demás son flojísimos. La historia es normalita y tampoco hace que tengas muchas ganas de jugarlo, pero es que el contenido secundario está por estar.
Una buena idea que puede mejorar MUCHO con una secuela.
Una buena idea que puede mejorar MUCHO con una secuela.
i volunteered to QA test in a private beta and the game was pretty baller, excited to play the full release when i finish some other games first
I really enjoyed my time with Weird West. The comic style illustrated art direction is a great choice in visual presentation for something that plays largely like a twin-stick shooter CRPG, and the central conceit for the story is really great. You play through 5 unique short stories as different characters, and they vaguely overlap and affect each other and all contribute to the overarching narrative at play.
"Starting Fresh" is something that could have really brought this game down a lot when it comes to the character builds/progression. But you're never really starting completely fresh. One of the progression systems goes with you across the stories, so you're always getting better at some things across the game. The other progression system is unique to each character, but this potential problem of feeling like your power gets taken away is alleviated in that once you're in a new character you're able to track down previous characters you played as and recruit them to your posse. They bring with them all the upgrades you gave them during their playthrough, as well as all of the items they had on them when you completed the story. In practice it's a system that feels really great, and in some ways made sure I was more connected to each of the characters.
The immersive sim components in terms of environmental mechanics that you can use to your advantage are pretty decent. I didn't engage with all of the mechanics but they seemed pretty powerful when I did choose to use them on the odd occasion.
Something that surprises me with this game is it seems like there's going to be an update roadmap with potential new content. For instance they just added a zombie plague event that I assume with only be around for a few weeks, and perhaps this will just be something that rotates consistently. It seems an odd game for these kinds of events, but maybe it means that if I return to it six months or a year from now, all sorts of weird new events will change how I play the game and give me an almost new experience again.
Buy it if you can, but if you have GamePass you kinda owe it to yourself to play it.
"Starting Fresh" is something that could have really brought this game down a lot when it comes to the character builds/progression. But you're never really starting completely fresh. One of the progression systems goes with you across the stories, so you're always getting better at some things across the game. The other progression system is unique to each character, but this potential problem of feeling like your power gets taken away is alleviated in that once you're in a new character you're able to track down previous characters you played as and recruit them to your posse. They bring with them all the upgrades you gave them during their playthrough, as well as all of the items they had on them when you completed the story. In practice it's a system that feels really great, and in some ways made sure I was more connected to each of the characters.
The immersive sim components in terms of environmental mechanics that you can use to your advantage are pretty decent. I didn't engage with all of the mechanics but they seemed pretty powerful when I did choose to use them on the odd occasion.
Something that surprises me with this game is it seems like there's going to be an update roadmap with potential new content. For instance they just added a zombie plague event that I assume with only be around for a few weeks, and perhaps this will just be something that rotates consistently. It seems an odd game for these kinds of events, but maybe it means that if I return to it six months or a year from now, all sorts of weird new events will change how I play the game and give me an almost new experience again.
Buy it if you can, but if you have GamePass you kinda owe it to yourself to play it.
Weird West is a very unique game that is trying a lot and succeeding at a lot. There are quite a few shortcomings in its execution, but I still had a good time playing through it.
Weird West is a top-down, action heavy, immersive sim. It doesn't have the most expressive systems in terms of actions the player can take though. You can essentially just be stealthy or shoot your way through a situation. There aren't a lot of character abilities or opportunities to explore the world in different ways and I don't think the game plays cleanly enough that this would work anyway.
Most of the immersive sim nature here comes from broader action (kill someone or not) and dialog (reveal someone's secret or not) choices you make. This works well, since the narrative here is very compelling and your character's choices and their companions are interesting. There are a couple of instances where allies do things or betray you in ways that don't feel that motivated, but this isn't too jarring.
The combat feels very rough and chaotic. Most of the control during combat feels unreliable and unsatisfying. Melee was basically broken every time I used it, which is really a bummer for the story with very melee heavy abilities. Aiming your guns works most of the time, but the mouse control can get squirrelly and I often ended up fighting the camera as much as the enemies. Special ability key-bindings are awkward and context based, which makes them hard to use. There is basically no feedback on anything, so for most of the direct, combat based abilities I never really knew if they were working.
I also didn't find much that was compelling about the abilities themselves. I found nothing that really compared to using your energy to dive in slow motion and kill 3 people.
The combat itself is very easy, so none of this really gets in the way, but the game definitely stops being very fun when a fight breaks out.
The world and narrative is the true star here and is what compelled me to complete the game. You have seen these tropes before -- werewolves, spirits, cannibals -- but Weird West throws them all together so effectively that I wanted to keep playing just to see what strange thing would be around the corner.
The story you are playing through stays mysterious throughout, but there are a couple of things you can piece together as you play. It was satisfying to see things fall into place and I liked where it ended up.
The writing supports both the world and the narrative really well. There is a narrator talking over most of the game, which adds a lot to the atmosphere and gives it an authentic western feel.
The lack of a new game + is a real bummer, since I would love to play through some of the chapters again to try different things out. It is so obvious an addition that I would be surprised if it isn't in a future patch.
I had a good time playing Weird West, despite its flaws. If you want a cool story in a cool world that is well presented and provides you with some immersive sim-style control over the story, it is worth checking out.
Weird West is a top-down, action heavy, immersive sim. It doesn't have the most expressive systems in terms of actions the player can take though. You can essentially just be stealthy or shoot your way through a situation. There aren't a lot of character abilities or opportunities to explore the world in different ways and I don't think the game plays cleanly enough that this would work anyway.
Most of the immersive sim nature here comes from broader action (kill someone or not) and dialog (reveal someone's secret or not) choices you make. This works well, since the narrative here is very compelling and your character's choices and their companions are interesting. There are a couple of instances where allies do things or betray you in ways that don't feel that motivated, but this isn't too jarring.
The combat feels very rough and chaotic. Most of the control during combat feels unreliable and unsatisfying. Melee was basically broken every time I used it, which is really a bummer for the story with very melee heavy abilities. Aiming your guns works most of the time, but the mouse control can get squirrelly and I often ended up fighting the camera as much as the enemies. Special ability key-bindings are awkward and context based, which makes them hard to use. There is basically no feedback on anything, so for most of the direct, combat based abilities I never really knew if they were working.
I also didn't find much that was compelling about the abilities themselves. I found nothing that really compared to using your energy to dive in slow motion and kill 3 people.
The combat itself is very easy, so none of this really gets in the way, but the game definitely stops being very fun when a fight breaks out.
The world and narrative is the true star here and is what compelled me to complete the game. You have seen these tropes before -- werewolves, spirits, cannibals -- but Weird West throws them all together so effectively that I wanted to keep playing just to see what strange thing would be around the corner.
The story you are playing through stays mysterious throughout, but there are a couple of things you can piece together as you play. It was satisfying to see things fall into place and I liked where it ended up.
The writing supports both the world and the narrative really well. There is a narrator talking over most of the game, which adds a lot to the atmosphere and gives it an authentic western feel.
The lack of a new game + is a real bummer, since I would love to play through some of the chapters again to try different things out. It is so obvious an addition that I would be surprised if it isn't in a future patch.
I had a good time playing Weird West, despite its flaws. If you want a cool story in a cool world that is well presented and provides you with some immersive sim-style control over the story, it is worth checking out.
abandonei pq a gameplay é um lixo, única coisa que parece bacana é a lore do mundo
Discovering that Weird West is kinda jank is like learning that Snoop Dogg smokes weed. Like, no fucking way, the new, ambitious, semi-indie immersive sim/WRPG thing from the co-founder of Arkane is a bit rough? I'd almost be dissapointed if it wasn't.
Ambition is the real kicker here, and probably the game's greatest issue. Weird West is a reasonably short game but it's also vast, with dozens of locations, and it's also going for telling 5 character's stories, each of which with their own set pieces and locations and artwork. Barring a dev cycle that lasted until the heat death of the universe, something has to give, and it does.
There's just a real lack of stuff in Weird West. I appreciate that its a relatively short game, but even if you're rushing only the main quest, it's lack of breadth in nearly every department is stark. There's a real element of every area feeling like a procgen version of each other, with one template for town, dungeon, temple and fields put on different floor textures - with every story gets basically one location each that feels hand-made. Combat, whilst actually fairly fun and certaintly above most WRPGs, quickly becomes repetitive. Each character gets only 4 unique skills on top of about 20 shared ones, which only in the werewolf campaign feel very different - and otherwise behave mostly identical. Random events across the west get quite repetive to the end, and sidequests of any substance are extremely limited.
But again, if you're signed up for Weird West, if you know the context - you were probably expecting something along those lines. But the story and the worldbuilding will be good, there'll be some really cool shit to make up for it, the quest design will be great or something - right?
And there is, but there is a twist in the tale, and in my opinion it's what makes Weird West a game I think could be very divisive. Normally, good Western RPGs with a similar smorgasboard of problems actually make sure to do all they can to make sure you don't just miss the good stuff. Take New Vegas, a game that despite being ostensibly open world, funnels you in a general direction and makes most of it's really good questlines cross your path at some point or another.
Meanwhile, if you follow the path of least resistance in Weird West, do everything you're told to and keep an eye on that objective marker, you will have probably the most miserable time possible. You will experience the least interesting versions of the stories available, have the worst gameplay experience, because it'll all be pretty basic and the game wont really be responding to what you do.
To get the juice out of Weird West you need to squeeze it. Mess with the narratives, do weird shit like kill your husband for no reason, make vendettas, truly test how far you can push the narrative and choices until the game stops you. Usually, it'll go further than you think, and it's great. The game in general is extremely good at giving the player's actions long term consequences, both in major story decisions and in gameplay ones. Even in the next life, the actions of previous characters resonate through the west, leaving a world changed, be it in the ghost towns, or the peoples in it. This stuff is fantastic, especially as the events and people of the world itself is interesting - so getting to influence it in a noticeable manner that you get to interact with is satisfying.
Gameplay also benefits greatly from throwing a spanner into the works. Whilst the core systems are pretty basic - it's twin stick shooter with some stealth elements and skills basically - things like environmental effects, third party enemies/wildlife, friendly fire and such add up to make a system that quickly descends into chaos, which is where it thrives. Going into NPCs estate to negotiate for a thing, failing, deciding to steal it, getting caught and then quickly getting involved in a fireight that leads to a dozen dead, including the mayor and the rest of your posse, with you having gained a bounty and a vendetta - that's a good encounter. And when those posse members can be major NPCs, and these encounters can significantly change the world, it makes rolling with the chaos massively enjoyable and unpredictable. It helps that the flat out gunfights where everything is on fire is by far the best way to get fun out of the gameplay.
When the game's played like this - wild and chaotic - the world of weird west, story and gameplay and world, integrate so well. Far gone from those ten UE Marketplace assets placed over the map 90 times, it becomes a thick, cruel world, where death lies around every turn, stories come from nothing and the supernatural wraps around it all like a thorny rose.
The game ends well, to boot, with a satisfying conclusion that answers the right questions, even if the final Oneirist story is probably the weakest without it. And again, at about 12-15 hours, it knows when to end.
But you have to put your own effort in, and possibly stretch your sense of disbelief a bit, for it to work. And I think it is perfectly reasnable for the game's myriad problems to really not make that worth it for many. Hell, I myself am not really sure how to score or truly think about it, and i'm a veteran of enjoying kusoge through it's faults.
Ultimately it's miles better than anything Arkane have put out since dark messiah, and probably the best Western RPG since New Vegas - if you can put the legwork in to get the juice.
Ambition is the real kicker here, and probably the game's greatest issue. Weird West is a reasonably short game but it's also vast, with dozens of locations, and it's also going for telling 5 character's stories, each of which with their own set pieces and locations and artwork. Barring a dev cycle that lasted until the heat death of the universe, something has to give, and it does.
There's just a real lack of stuff in Weird West. I appreciate that its a relatively short game, but even if you're rushing only the main quest, it's lack of breadth in nearly every department is stark. There's a real element of every area feeling like a procgen version of each other, with one template for town, dungeon, temple and fields put on different floor textures - with every story gets basically one location each that feels hand-made. Combat, whilst actually fairly fun and certaintly above most WRPGs, quickly becomes repetitive. Each character gets only 4 unique skills on top of about 20 shared ones, which only in the werewolf campaign feel very different - and otherwise behave mostly identical. Random events across the west get quite repetive to the end, and sidequests of any substance are extremely limited.
But again, if you're signed up for Weird West, if you know the context - you were probably expecting something along those lines. But the story and the worldbuilding will be good, there'll be some really cool shit to make up for it, the quest design will be great or something - right?
And there is, but there is a twist in the tale, and in my opinion it's what makes Weird West a game I think could be very divisive. Normally, good Western RPGs with a similar smorgasboard of problems actually make sure to do all they can to make sure you don't just miss the good stuff. Take New Vegas, a game that despite being ostensibly open world, funnels you in a general direction and makes most of it's really good questlines cross your path at some point or another.
Meanwhile, if you follow the path of least resistance in Weird West, do everything you're told to and keep an eye on that objective marker, you will have probably the most miserable time possible. You will experience the least interesting versions of the stories available, have the worst gameplay experience, because it'll all be pretty basic and the game wont really be responding to what you do.
To get the juice out of Weird West you need to squeeze it. Mess with the narratives, do weird shit like kill your husband for no reason, make vendettas, truly test how far you can push the narrative and choices until the game stops you. Usually, it'll go further than you think, and it's great. The game in general is extremely good at giving the player's actions long term consequences, both in major story decisions and in gameplay ones. Even in the next life, the actions of previous characters resonate through the west, leaving a world changed, be it in the ghost towns, or the peoples in it. This stuff is fantastic, especially as the events and people of the world itself is interesting - so getting to influence it in a noticeable manner that you get to interact with is satisfying.
Gameplay also benefits greatly from throwing a spanner into the works. Whilst the core systems are pretty basic - it's twin stick shooter with some stealth elements and skills basically - things like environmental effects, third party enemies/wildlife, friendly fire and such add up to make a system that quickly descends into chaos, which is where it thrives. Going into NPCs estate to negotiate for a thing, failing, deciding to steal it, getting caught and then quickly getting involved in a fireight that leads to a dozen dead, including the mayor and the rest of your posse, with you having gained a bounty and a vendetta - that's a good encounter. And when those posse members can be major NPCs, and these encounters can significantly change the world, it makes rolling with the chaos massively enjoyable and unpredictable. It helps that the flat out gunfights where everything is on fire is by far the best way to get fun out of the gameplay.
When the game's played like this - wild and chaotic - the world of weird west, story and gameplay and world, integrate so well. Far gone from those ten UE Marketplace assets placed over the map 90 times, it becomes a thick, cruel world, where death lies around every turn, stories come from nothing and the supernatural wraps around it all like a thorny rose.
The game ends well, to boot, with a satisfying conclusion that answers the right questions, even if the final Oneirist story is probably the weakest without it. And again, at about 12-15 hours, it knows when to end.
But you have to put your own effort in, and possibly stretch your sense of disbelief a bit, for it to work. And I think it is perfectly reasnable for the game's myriad problems to really not make that worth it for many. Hell, I myself am not really sure how to score or truly think about it, and i'm a veteran of enjoying kusoge through it's faults.
Ultimately it's miles better than anything Arkane have put out since dark messiah, and probably the best Western RPG since New Vegas - if you can put the legwork in to get the juice.
Well this sure is a... WEIRD one snare drum laugh track. In all seriousness though, it's alright. It manages to build an in-depth isometric immersive sim, and on top of that provides an altogether decent story. Yet there really isn't much else on top of that foundation. The majority of side content is Bethesda style randomly generated fluff. Combat never really evolves past firing wildly into crowds. There's very little reason to explore beyond the critical path. A lot of the systems (particularly upgrades) go unused. Controls are awkward whether you're playing on Keyboard or with a controller. Don't get me wrong, it's a good game, great even, and I'll never turn down a new immersive sim. I just wish there was a bit more immersion to the simulation.
27horas de gameplay perdidas por conta de save corrompido, foi a gota d'água.
Overall the game has a great setting and interesting enough plot and art direction, however at it's core it's just not super fun in it's current form. The shooting(the key component) just doesn't feel good and the immersive sim part is lacking.
Pretty disappointed. It's not bad by any means but not engaging enough narratively or gameplay wise to keep me going passed 5 hours. The game starts off with your son dying and husband being kidnapped but its not set up for you to actually care about it. Then the gameplay got old pretty fast. I did a couple bounties and the map was pretty much identical. Im sure when you are fully kitted out with cool abilities you can have some crazy fights. But eh. I don't want to invest more time.
Has all the hallmarks of a huge timesink and doesn't feel good enough in the hands to justify it.
A great concept brought down by weak gunplay and stealth.
Weird West has a fantastic premise and story beats that get you interested in its world but its ultimately ruined by its gameplay mechanics.
Shooting never feel good, accurate or satisfying. Going for a slow as molasses Stealth approach requires patience fit for a saint since the NPCs all react erratically and your crouched movement is way too slow (even after upgrades). The immersive sim mechanics are fine. Your actions have some sort of consequence, making the world feel alive. The game shows promise and begins to get interesting but then you're brought down when you start to play it.
A disappointment. I can stomach a great story if the gameplay is at least average, but this game just isn't fun to play.
Weird West has a fantastic premise and story beats that get you interested in its world but its ultimately ruined by its gameplay mechanics.
Shooting never feel good, accurate or satisfying. Going for a slow as molasses Stealth approach requires patience fit for a saint since the NPCs all react erratically and your crouched movement is way too slow (even after upgrades). The immersive sim mechanics are fine. Your actions have some sort of consequence, making the world feel alive. The game shows promise and begins to get interesting but then you're brought down when you start to play it.
A disappointment. I can stomach a great story if the gameplay is at least average, but this game just isn't fun to play.
I am always craving for more things in the Weird West genre, and here we have a game that is named after the genre, so I was very hyped for it. Along with the fact it was going to be an immersive sim from one of the Arkane co-founders, it was setting up to be probably really cool. However, I could not bring myself to play anymore than a couple hours.
Most immersive sims are first person with cleverly designs levels with multitudes of ways to figure how to progress. Weird West does have many ways to figure something else, but it lacks the same interactivity that first person I-sims usually have. A lot of the the levels however feel similar to overworld asset reuse, some of them are probably well thought out, but the ones I saw don't reach the heights of its peers.
With the camera being top down it definitely seems like they were trying to be more CRPG/ARPG, and it shows. I don't hate trying to fuse I-sims and the top down perspective, but the gameplay just feels really clunky. Switching weapons feels really weird, along with using powers. Melee is just downright unfun to try to do. All that not even mentioning the most basic combat action of shooting feels terrible.
The story also never really dragged me in. I can see I-sim protags being a blank slate for your many options and paths you choose, but most of the ones I have played, Corvo in Dishonoured 1 is the only real blank slate that I can remember. I only got to the first character in this game and they are literally nothing.
Overall the idea is really fucking solid, but it just plays so clunky with an uninteresting story.
Most immersive sims are first person with cleverly designs levels with multitudes of ways to figure how to progress. Weird West does have many ways to figure something else, but it lacks the same interactivity that first person I-sims usually have. A lot of the the levels however feel similar to overworld asset reuse, some of them are probably well thought out, but the ones I saw don't reach the heights of its peers.
With the camera being top down it definitely seems like they were trying to be more CRPG/ARPG, and it shows. I don't hate trying to fuse I-sims and the top down perspective, but the gameplay just feels really clunky. Switching weapons feels really weird, along with using powers. Melee is just downright unfun to try to do. All that not even mentioning the most basic combat action of shooting feels terrible.
The story also never really dragged me in. I can see I-sim protags being a blank slate for your many options and paths you choose, but most of the ones I have played, Corvo in Dishonoured 1 is the only real blank slate that I can remember. I only got to the first character in this game and they are literally nothing.
Overall the idea is really fucking solid, but it just plays so clunky with an uninteresting story.
Raphaël Colantonio’s decision to leave Arkane stemmed from wanting to get away from the bloated-ness and inefficiency of AAA game development – he often used the example of how chairs would take 2 days to model during the making of Prey 2017, while during the days of Arx Fatalis it was closer to 2 hours. So how’s his first experiment in scaling down to the indie realm gone? Pretty well, all things considered. I’ve felt for a long time now that Colantonio is one of the best game directors currently working and I’m happy to say that Weird West is another solid attestation to that, with the caveat that it takes a good while before it clicks.
For anyone who’s familiar with immersive sims, the most immediately offputting part about Weird West is its camera perspective. I almost fell prey to this myself, but once you become more comfortable with the game, you’ll start to realise that all the juicy emergent goodness that makes this design philosophy (or, if you dare, this genre) tick is still there, even if you’re not witnessing it from the same point of view as your character. More than once, I set off an unintended chain reaction of events via independent but interlinking gameplay systems that ended up revealing a new path through an area or which allowed me to complete a quest in a roundabout, unscripted way, and these sorts of organic, player-directed experiences are what Looking Glass Studios ultimately predicated the term upon in 1997. Where so many games popularly touted as living up to the definition just don’t, Weird West surely does.
Environmental interactivity arguably doesn’t quite approach the craziness of Prey 2017, but Weird West’s integration of status effects into its physics engine gives it a leg of its own to stand on. I’m a huge fan of how soaked containers dynamically fill up with water for loads of reasons, but special mention also goes to the sheer amount of stuff you can set on fire, because there’s nothing quite like accidentally burning down an entire farmstead or patch of forest in the process of fending off an ambush. I like how these properties are applied to character abilities too because of the room for experimentation it allows, especially when you combine several at once. I particularly enjoy secreting poison pools as the Pigman and then setting them alight with explosive shotgun shells to make a porky mini-nuke on demand, but the beauty of games like this is that I'll probably look back on a current favourite tactic like that and eventually think of it as rudimentary compared to what's possible when you dig deeper into its systems.
Weird West’s story is more interesting than it’s being given credit for on here, but I don’t blame anyone for tapping out before it gets to the point where you can say that. I get the need to ease people into an unorthodox setting with a vanilla premise, but Jane Bell’s narrative hook goes beyond vanilla and pivots itself on something that you as a player have no reason to care about. Jane might be fussing about where her husband is, but I’m not. Who is he to me? It runs the risk of driving a wedge between the player and their character, but the other four protagonists (especially the one immediately after Jane) more than make up for this in terms of intrigue and how elegantly they fill the “blank slate player avatar” role, albeit not quite as perfectly as Morgan Yu.
In terms of niggles, the movement comes to mind. Dishonored 1 and Prey 2017 have some of the most liberating, intrinsically satisfying movement in the medium – you explore every nook and cranny of Dunwall and Talos I not because you're told to, but because it feels so good to do it that you naturally want to. Despite the impressive size of its world, I never felt that same enticement in Weird West because its movement options are so paltry in comparison. And how’s about those character portraits not matching their models? Like, at all? I’m willing to chalk this up to a case of “small indie company please understand,” because I can’t imagine anyone actively wanted lean, bearded, grizzled veteran gunslingers to share the same in-game appearance as (oddly abundant) overweight, alcoholic Asian women. It’s true that this camera angle allows for some mental abstraction on the player’s part – Fallout 1&2, both big influences on Weird West, use one animation for loads of different stuff – but past a certain point, I feel like I’m being asked to deny what’s in front of my eyes. Or even what’s happening around me, sometimes, considering how often my companions would try attacking invincible children or be rendered immobile by an ankle-high step, the deadliest of all the west’s creatures.
In the grand scheme of things, though, issues like these are probably worth looking past. Immersive sims have been around for longer than I’ve been alive, and in that time, there's not been nearly as many breakout hits or unambiguous commercial successes as you'd assume from the notoriety of examples like Deus Ex or System Shock; we’re pretty fortunate to still be getting any new spins on the formula at all. And as a new spin on the formula, Weird West’s definitely an impressive first showing for WolfEye, but also one with more than a few holdovers of the days when its staff were still under the watchful eye of Bethesda’s investors – hopefully their newfound freedom permits them to become a bit bolder and weirder from here on out.
For anyone who’s familiar with immersive sims, the most immediately offputting part about Weird West is its camera perspective. I almost fell prey to this myself, but once you become more comfortable with the game, you’ll start to realise that all the juicy emergent goodness that makes this design philosophy (or, if you dare, this genre) tick is still there, even if you’re not witnessing it from the same point of view as your character. More than once, I set off an unintended chain reaction of events via independent but interlinking gameplay systems that ended up revealing a new path through an area or which allowed me to complete a quest in a roundabout, unscripted way, and these sorts of organic, player-directed experiences are what Looking Glass Studios ultimately predicated the term upon in 1997. Where so many games popularly touted as living up to the definition just don’t, Weird West surely does.
Environmental interactivity arguably doesn’t quite approach the craziness of Prey 2017, but Weird West’s integration of status effects into its physics engine gives it a leg of its own to stand on. I’m a huge fan of how soaked containers dynamically fill up with water for loads of reasons, but special mention also goes to the sheer amount of stuff you can set on fire, because there’s nothing quite like accidentally burning down an entire farmstead or patch of forest in the process of fending off an ambush. I like how these properties are applied to character abilities too because of the room for experimentation it allows, especially when you combine several at once. I particularly enjoy secreting poison pools as the Pigman and then setting them alight with explosive shotgun shells to make a porky mini-nuke on demand, but the beauty of games like this is that I'll probably look back on a current favourite tactic like that and eventually think of it as rudimentary compared to what's possible when you dig deeper into its systems.
Weird West’s story is more interesting than it’s being given credit for on here, but I don’t blame anyone for tapping out before it gets to the point where you can say that. I get the need to ease people into an unorthodox setting with a vanilla premise, but Jane Bell’s narrative hook goes beyond vanilla and pivots itself on something that you as a player have no reason to care about. Jane might be fussing about where her husband is, but I’m not. Who is he to me? It runs the risk of driving a wedge between the player and their character, but the other four protagonists (especially the one immediately after Jane) more than make up for this in terms of intrigue and how elegantly they fill the “blank slate player avatar” role, albeit not quite as perfectly as Morgan Yu.
In terms of niggles, the movement comes to mind. Dishonored 1 and Prey 2017 have some of the most liberating, intrinsically satisfying movement in the medium – you explore every nook and cranny of Dunwall and Talos I not because you're told to, but because it feels so good to do it that you naturally want to. Despite the impressive size of its world, I never felt that same enticement in Weird West because its movement options are so paltry in comparison. And how’s about those character portraits not matching their models? Like, at all? I’m willing to chalk this up to a case of “small indie company please understand,” because I can’t imagine anyone actively wanted lean, bearded, grizzled veteran gunslingers to share the same in-game appearance as (oddly abundant) overweight, alcoholic Asian women. It’s true that this camera angle allows for some mental abstraction on the player’s part – Fallout 1&2, both big influences on Weird West, use one animation for loads of different stuff – but past a certain point, I feel like I’m being asked to deny what’s in front of my eyes. Or even what’s happening around me, sometimes, considering how often my companions would try attacking invincible children or be rendered immobile by an ankle-high step, the deadliest of all the west’s creatures.
In the grand scheme of things, though, issues like these are probably worth looking past. Immersive sims have been around for longer than I’ve been alive, and in that time, there's not been nearly as many breakout hits or unambiguous commercial successes as you'd assume from the notoriety of examples like Deus Ex or System Shock; we’re pretty fortunate to still be getting any new spins on the formula at all. And as a new spin on the formula, Weird West’s definitely an impressive first showing for WolfEye, but also one with more than a few holdovers of the days when its staff were still under the watchful eye of Bethesda’s investors – hopefully their newfound freedom permits them to become a bit bolder and weirder from here on out.
Interesting setting and has potential in how your actions affect the world and plot, but let down by it's mechanics. Combat is too imprecise and frantic, and there's not enough of the promised immersive sim interactions.
I was only on the second chapter with the Pigman and it was enough to convince me that this probably wasn’t worth continuing playing for the time being. There’s a lot of stuff to like and appreciate here so far; the immersive sim elements layered onto the real-time isometric combat can be pretty fun at times, the presentation is pretty slick and bold, and the setting itself has some decent potential. But what hampered my experience the most, aside from the story not really doing too much for me, is the gameplay. The real problem comes down to the strict bird’s eye isometric camera view which doesn’t gel well with the real time shooting. It often becomes a battle between the camera and the player which doesn’t feel enjoyable. Considering this is meant to be an immersive sim it was probably intentional to show how unconventional the combat really is, and how you need to look for other ways to overcome obstacles. Mostly through environmental means like picking up candles and tossing them at enemies to light them on fire, pouring gasoline on them to slow them down and light them easier, or throwing explosive TNT barrels at them in a bullet crossfire. While this is a pretty cool idea on paper, and even in the game there are mild strokes of genius to show how effective this can be, it becomes too much of a hassle to appreciate fully.
You’re probably better off getting this off from gamepass rather than buying unless it really scratches that specific niche for you. Might give it another shot in the future.
You’re probably better off getting this off from gamepass rather than buying unless it really scratches that specific niche for you. Might give it another shot in the future.
I was excited for Weird West based on the pedigree of the developers at WolfEye Studios. I never watched any trailers or read any previews. The only pre release I saw was games coming out in March, which described this game as an old school CRPG, which it ended up not being.
So with no expectations, I went in blind and found a pretty good game. It's an immersive sim with a unique story telling device. The world and characters are great. I loved exploring, and it didn't bother me that most locations were reused. It made the unique locations stand out more.
There is a learning curve to the combat, but when it clicks, it feels mostly good. Though changing weapons always felt clunky for some reason. Stealth also takes time. It's a slow process that requires patience and a little luck. NPCs have an almost preternatural ability to turn around right before you knock them out. I enjoyed that unlike other stealth games that NPCs would change patrol routes and wouldn't stick to the same route when reloading a save. Some times it was frustrating, but mostly made the stealth more fun by being unpredictable.
The overarching story is okay, but the strength is more in the five individual stories that make up the whole. The main characters are mostly blank slates with their own pasts and concerns to deal with. I loved the mysterious supporting characters and wish they were in the game more. I unfortunately found a recurring character's story to have a slightly disappointing end, but overall, I enjoyed the characters and stories.
Weird West is a great first game from a new studio. It was a game that I didn't know I wanted. There are flaws that may be fixed with patches down the line. There are other flaws that are part of the design that won't be fixed. Ultimately, I enjoyed this game and eagerly await the next game from this studio.
So with no expectations, I went in blind and found a pretty good game. It's an immersive sim with a unique story telling device. The world and characters are great. I loved exploring, and it didn't bother me that most locations were reused. It made the unique locations stand out more.
There is a learning curve to the combat, but when it clicks, it feels mostly good. Though changing weapons always felt clunky for some reason. Stealth also takes time. It's a slow process that requires patience and a little luck. NPCs have an almost preternatural ability to turn around right before you knock them out. I enjoyed that unlike other stealth games that NPCs would change patrol routes and wouldn't stick to the same route when reloading a save. Some times it was frustrating, but mostly made the stealth more fun by being unpredictable.
The overarching story is okay, but the strength is more in the five individual stories that make up the whole. The main characters are mostly blank slates with their own pasts and concerns to deal with. I loved the mysterious supporting characters and wish they were in the game more. I unfortunately found a recurring character's story to have a slightly disappointing end, but overall, I enjoyed the characters and stories.
Weird West is a great first game from a new studio. It was a game that I didn't know I wanted. There are flaws that may be fixed with patches down the line. There are other flaws that are part of the design that won't be fixed. Ultimately, I enjoyed this game and eagerly await the next game from this studio.
Es una verdadera pena que este juego no haya tenido más presupuesto o un equipo más grande.
La premisa es muy buena, el mundo que plantea, el rpg es muy aceptable, pero se queda corto en todos los sentidos.
Muchas de las mecánicas que parecen atractivas al principio resultan siendo inútiles después. Misiones secundarias insípidas, habilidades que son prácticamente inútiles, poca evolución de armas/equipo en general...
Realmente podría ser un buenísimo juego, como digo, si tuviera algo más de recursos.
La premisa es muy buena, el mundo que plantea, el rpg es muy aceptable, pero se queda corto en todos los sentidos.
Muchas de las mecánicas que parecen atractivas al principio resultan siendo inútiles después. Misiones secundarias insípidas, habilidades que son prácticamente inútiles, poca evolución de armas/equipo en general...
Realmente podría ser un buenísimo juego, como digo, si tuviera algo más de recursos.
a game doomed to be confused with two or three other games that nobody wants to play either
Something kept holding me back on this one for the first couple of hours but it hooked me in eventually, really liked this game.
Weird West is fantastic. I have been in love with everything Arkane has made and it's amazing to feel that love follow some Arkane vets over into this game.
The level of freedom and player choice, the layers of interaction between systems. It made the game fun through out its runtime, even if some locations were duplicated or certain encounters were on paper repetitive, I just loved the minute to minute gameplay that I wasn't bothered.
I wish the game had full voice acting as I felt it hard to connect to certain characters and it made what was otherwise an immersive world feel too quiet at time. With that being said, going on 5 adventures as separate characters and the way it's all tied together into one package is impressive and had me captivated from start to finish.
I cannot wait to see what WolfEye does next because Weird West is the exact kind of game I want to play.
The level of freedom and player choice, the layers of interaction between systems. It made the game fun through out its runtime, even if some locations were duplicated or certain encounters were on paper repetitive, I just loved the minute to minute gameplay that I wasn't bothered.
I wish the game had full voice acting as I felt it hard to connect to certain characters and it made what was otherwise an immersive world feel too quiet at time. With that being said, going on 5 adventures as separate characters and the way it's all tied together into one package is impressive and had me captivated from start to finish.
I cannot wait to see what WolfEye does next because Weird West is the exact kind of game I want to play.
All time shit controls in combat. Enjoyed the setup and style, but can't keep playing.
Apesar de utilizar de mecânicas sistêmicas e prezar pela criatividade do jogador, típico de immersive simulators, Weird West nada, mas morre na praia com um sistema desconfortável e recheado de bugs.
O uso do stealth é de certa forma bem implementado, mas ocasionalmente sofre com os bugs mencionados, perdendo imersão ou causando falhas inesperadas.
A parte desconfortável reside no combate. A mecânica de tiro não é satisfatória e, apesar de funcional, bem como o gameplay melee, é um tanto desagradável de executar, com um feedback insatisfatório e inconsistente.
A escrita, por seu lado, é muito bem feita, com uma trama cheia de ocultismo e temáticas mais adultas, dando espaço pra diversidade e pluralidade de histórias, dando uma variedade incrível para personagens e histórias, sem se aprofundar demais.
Tudo é infelizmente um tanto superficial, deixando um pouco a desejar em aprofundamento. Mecânicas, roteiros paralelos e diversos diálogos de missões menores todos ficam com um gostinho de simplório demais.
A sensação geral infelizmente é de repetição e mais do mesmo o tempo todo, mesmo que haja uma troca de protagonistas. Apenas o roteiro se mantém fresco, atiçando a curiosidade e desenvolvendo a trama e os personagens principais.
Pra piorar, tive um bug que travou meu avanço e deteriorou completamente minha vontade de prosseguir.
O uso do stealth é de certa forma bem implementado, mas ocasionalmente sofre com os bugs mencionados, perdendo imersão ou causando falhas inesperadas.
A parte desconfortável reside no combate. A mecânica de tiro não é satisfatória e, apesar de funcional, bem como o gameplay melee, é um tanto desagradável de executar, com um feedback insatisfatório e inconsistente.
A escrita, por seu lado, é muito bem feita, com uma trama cheia de ocultismo e temáticas mais adultas, dando espaço pra diversidade e pluralidade de histórias, dando uma variedade incrível para personagens e histórias, sem se aprofundar demais.
Tudo é infelizmente um tanto superficial, deixando um pouco a desejar em aprofundamento. Mecânicas, roteiros paralelos e diversos diálogos de missões menores todos ficam com um gostinho de simplório demais.
A sensação geral infelizmente é de repetição e mais do mesmo o tempo todo, mesmo que haja uma troca de protagonistas. Apenas o roteiro se mantém fresco, atiçando a curiosidade e desenvolvendo a trama e os personagens principais.
Pra piorar, tive um bug que travou meu avanço e deteriorou completamente minha vontade de prosseguir.
I covered this game as part of my coverage of the Xbox Game Pass for April 2022
A bit too boring for me.
Weird West asks “What if the Wild West has monsters” and that’s a good question, but before you run with the idea, Weird West also stumbles with it. Yes, monsters exist in the Weird West and you will eventually get to fight or even play as a couple of them. That is an interesting concept. The problem though is so much of the game isn’t weird. The first couple hours are purely fighting human enemies, not humanoid, but human.
The Wild West always evokes ideas of big gunfights and shootouts and while those do occur in Weird West here, it’s usually better to use stealth, at least early on. Unfortunately, the stealth here feels a bit overpowered to the point that it’s foolish to have those big awesome gunfights. I’ve also heard the areas and enemies do get repetitive, and there’s not a lot of change in the gameplay over time. Which is a shame. This could have been something unique.
Pick this up if you just gotta have a Wild West game. But after playing this for a couple of hours, I wasn’t even that interested in going on. The game also grinds to a halt after a couple of areas because you are forced to farm money instead of going on and encountering your first monster. That’s exactly what people wanted. Ugh.
If you want to see the video this was taken of, or more from me on the Xbox Game Pass, check out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ntlfep_luQw
A bit too boring for me.
Weird West asks “What if the Wild West has monsters” and that’s a good question, but before you run with the idea, Weird West also stumbles with it. Yes, monsters exist in the Weird West and you will eventually get to fight or even play as a couple of them. That is an interesting concept. The problem though is so much of the game isn’t weird. The first couple hours are purely fighting human enemies, not humanoid, but human.
The Wild West always evokes ideas of big gunfights and shootouts and while those do occur in Weird West here, it’s usually better to use stealth, at least early on. Unfortunately, the stealth here feels a bit overpowered to the point that it’s foolish to have those big awesome gunfights. I’ve also heard the areas and enemies do get repetitive, and there’s not a lot of change in the gameplay over time. Which is a shame. This could have been something unique.
Pick this up if you just gotta have a Wild West game. But after playing this for a couple of hours, I wasn’t even that interested in going on. The game also grinds to a halt after a couple of areas because you are forced to farm money instead of going on and encountering your first monster. That’s exactly what people wanted. Ugh.
If you want to see the video this was taken of, or more from me on the Xbox Game Pass, check out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ntlfep_luQw
I love weird west as a genre so this was an instant buy for me. I thought it was really neat how they managed to make it western but also a bit more modern with a female head hunter for example who saves her husband(!) from a siren (a monster that is traditionally female but in this case is not). The other characters are more traditional but still fun. But she was my highlight. It felt like someone finally took advantage of the fantasy aspect that makes the Western so Weird and honestly - finally some fresh air. Very nice. Very appreciated.
I wish I was more into the game play. D: Had a hard time with it bc it was definitely not for me but that's fine, I just ran around hacking at people with a machete regardless of whom I played. Not very elegant but effective. As long as I have fun I don't care.
I also really liked the overall story because it was NOT about revenge for a change. Woho!
Seriously, the writers really gave the world more than just a passing thought and it shows!
I wish I was more into the game play. D: Had a hard time with it bc it was definitely not for me but that's fine, I just ran around hacking at people with a machete regardless of whom I played. Not very elegant but effective. As long as I have fun I don't care.
I also really liked the overall story because it was NOT about revenge for a change. Woho!
Seriously, the writers really gave the world more than just a passing thought and it shows!
disappointment but good game.