WEST OF DEAD Review for Xbox One

Upstream Arcade and publisher Raw Fury have absolutely outdone themselves with their new game, West of Dead. Everything from the gritty environment and shaded cells, to the twin-stick gunplay, to Ron Perlman’s tough-talkin’ narration was an absolute blast. With the modern state of video games feeling somewhat oversaturated with battle royale titles and multiplayer first-person-shooter games, it seems like finding single-player gems is becoming more and more challenging. I assure you that if you feel this way, West of Dead is the elixir that you’ve been craving.

West of Dead is like a mix of a tactical shooter and a dungeon crawler that follows a mysterious gunslinger as he traverses the crypts of purgatory that are filled with a number of shotgun-toting baddies and demons. This game is somewhat of a permadeath game from the perspective that once you die, you start a new “run” over and must begin again with level 1 guns, abilities, and attributes. I felt like I was completely lost on my first several runs until I got the hang of slides, taking cover, ability cooldown times, and weapon damage when I started to feel like I was Ghost Rider just running and jumping around, throwing dynamite, and hitting crazy shots from across rooms. This aspect of West of Dead was actually one of my favorite things about it because I feel like the issue with many single-player games is the lack of a skill-gap, but West of Dead has the components and mechanics that allow for one to become “good” at the game as opposed to other single-player games where you pretty much just accumulate XP and level-up until you become unstoppable.

The style of this game is one of its biggest draws in my opinion as the unique animation style oozes cool and sets an ominous tone for the game as a whole. The importance of lighting in particular was fantastic since enemies are frequently hiding in the shadows and can only be seen once lanterns are ignited, stunning enemies in the process and giving you the opportunity to quickly attack and clear the room before you get a mouthful of unholy buckshot. I loved the brooding style of this game and thought that all of the details of its design were just wonderful. The writing, animation, crisp gunplay, lighting, and unique concept gave a fresh take on games that I really appreciated and that truly enhanced my overall experience.

Purgatory also has its own unique economy, which is comprised of iron and sin. The player accumulates these two currencies by fighting enemies and looting chests that they encounter along the way. Iron can be used to buy new weapons and abilities from the mysterious trader that the player encounters by chance every once in a while. Sin is much more difficult to accumulate but is also much more valuable as it is the only aspect of this game that carries over between runs. Sin can be spent with “the witch” who is also occasionally encountered and can be used to gain certain abilities like health potions that carry over between runs. Sin can be accumulated across runs and be added to certain abilities to increase player attributes over time. The player can also enhance their character by finding “growth” stations, which allows the player to increase their level of health, weapon damage, or ability cooldown/effectiveness or by looting chests that can be found around the map.

Overall, I would say that West of Dead is one of the best games of the year as it encourages exploration and creativity while simultaneously offering something fresh and challenging. Upstream Arcade clearly put so much work into making West of Dead the best game that it could be and I really loved how they did not (as far as I could tell) cut any corners in development. This is the type of game that has incredibly high replay value as no singular run will be exactly the same as another. I strongly recommend that anyone reading this invest in this game if they’re looking for something they’ve never seen before. West of Dead will only leave you wanting more lootin’, more shootin’, and of course… more Perlman.

Rating: 9/10

Check Out the West of Dead Launch Trailer:

For more info, visit https://westofdead.com.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Hayden Vassey

+ posts

I've been playing video games since I got a Playstation 2 when I was about 5 or 6 years old. The original Star Wars: Battlefront series and the Spyro series initially ignited my interest in gaming, but it wasn't until I got older that I truly appreciated the subtle details that make video games such a unique form of entertainment. My favorite type of video game would have to be any lengthy and plot-driven open world game, with my favorite games of all time being Batman: Arkham City, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Assassin's Creed: Revelations, and Firewatch.

• DYSMANTLE Review for Xbox One
• Omen of Sorrow Review for Xbox One
• TRIGGER WITCH Review for Xbox
• Pile Up! Review for Xbox One