There has been a specific itch I’ve wanted to be scratched in my wish list of video games, one of which is a fantasy steampunk action game. In comes “Evil West,” published by Focus Entertainment and developed by the team behind the “Shadow Warrior” series, Flying Wild Hog. Not only is the steampunk esthetic here for sure, but with the awesome addition of hunting vampires. A cool western style game killing vamps should be an awesome recipe for a really fun game, so consider me very intrigued. Upon actually playing this third person action (sort of a hack/slash) game, I couldn’t help but feel a level of confusion, this game checks a lot of boxes I like, but there’s just something not quite fulfilling about my overall enjoyment.
Set in an alternate history 18th century old west, you play as Jesse Rentier, a member of the Rentier Institute directed by his father. This institute is essentially an undercover vampire hunting agency with some really cool steampunk weaponry to get the job done. Unfortunately, the story is very surface level and I never really connected to any of the characters. While playing “Evil West,” I was constantly being reminded of games I used to play in the early 2000’s, primarily the ones that were based on comic book movies coming out at the time or ones to that extent. For the most part those games are often bad, while this title isn’t bad, it feels like one of those mid-budget, rushed, action adventures that seem to have checked enough boxes to appease the gamers for a handful of hours.
Unlike those awful mid-tier games, the gameplay in “Evil West” can be quite fun. Having just played a lot of “God of War: Ragnarök,” I couldn’t help but notice this game was trying to do similar things, but just not nearly as successful in a way. It is a third-person game where you can do a bunch of combos and level up skill trees, but the overall game design in the combat just didn’t feel nearly as fulfilling. The level of difficulty always felt pretty easy and when I realized some attacks multiple times are more effective than doing a more varied combo, I often settled with just doing the same thing over and over again. Doing this caused me to notice all the levels of repetition in the game. The level designs are also verry funneled and linear, always moving you into the next circular looking arena to fight the next hoard of enemies. The boss battles were also frustrating in the sense that you are shown off as a unique looking creature, but once it’s defeated, you end up seeing that boss as regular enemies you will need to fight in the next level. When I noticed this, it just made me dread what I had to look forward to going forward. Which is a shame, because the creature designs are actually cool and if they were unique to just being around for the boss fights, I would have appreciated it more.
The big winner for me in “Evil West” is the art style, I’m a sucker for gothic vibes and steampunk. This being a story in the past involving vampires, I couldn’t help but want to read Scott Snyder’s “American Vampire” comic series again, I loved reading that series. I know I’m fairly harsh on this title, but it’s mainly because I personally feel a little disappointed by it with my own expectations, objectively speaking though, there isn’t anything technically wrong with it. The combat, while repetitive, is fun. The setting and designs look well done and polished. This is a game where you can kill a few hours into and not feel bad about it for sure. I just see a lot of missed potential here, perhaps with a sequel and a bigger budget to really ramp up their good ideas and turn them into great ideas we would get a pretty badass new series in gaming. I don’t know if I’d recommend buying this at full price, but if you have an Xbox, it is on Game Pass, and it’s absolutely worth checking out on there, even if you may not have the desire to play its full 12-hour campaign, you may get some good time out of it.
7/10
Evil West is available for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.
For more information, visit: https://store.focus-entmt.com/us/evilwestgames
Related: Reviews by Nick Navarro
Gaming since I was given an original Nintendo as a kid. I love great storytelling and unique ingenuity. When both collide in a single game, I'm a happy gamer. Twitter/IG @NickNavarro87
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