At a glance, Weird West could easily be mistaken for a pretty standard action-RPG set on the American frontier. As you mosey down its dusty main street in the boots of a bounty hunter, you can visit a blacksmith for weapon upgrades, scout the saloon for potential posse recruits, and spy “Wanted” posters outside the sheriff's office for potential side quests. Toss in a Diablo-like isometric camera perspective, and it would appear we're indeed treading familiar territory.
Stick with Weird West past its initial interactions and activities, however, and you'll quickly understand where it gets its name. Exit the opening town of Grackle and you'll soon find yourself battling a variety of fantastical foes, from wraith-conjuring cultists and mutated pig-men to sirens with maws full of razor-sharp teeth. And while you'll pour plenty of hot lead into thugs in ten-gallon hats and gun-slinging mercenaries, you'll spend equal time taking on these more menacing, mythical monsters.
You'll face these otherworldly threats from behind an impressive arsenal of standard firearms, but perks and abilities complement the combat with everything from electricity-spewing bullets to charms that temporarily turn foes to friends. Of course, the real game-changer is Weird West’s immersive sim elements. Its world is highly dynamic, reactive, and driven by the player's actions and choices, so with a little imagination and experimentation, seemingly anything is possible.
Our first siren encounter, for example, left us with just a sliver of life and a looted limb from the defeated creature; so we set-up camp, cooked the flesh over a fire, and consumed it for a health boost. We accidentally got too close to the flames though, and again found ourselves knocking at death's door...until we spotted a nearby stream.
The game's absolutely brimming with these sort of emergent scenarios, encouraging you to try things you'd never consider attempting in more scripted titles.
Just as the water doused the deadly flames, nearly everything in Weird West reacts as you'd expect, or in some surprising way you might not see coming. Free a prisoner during a quest and the grateful NPC could show up hours later – during a battle you're about to lose – to save your bacon. Rather play the bad guy? Kill the prisoner and steal his loot for a short-term reward or simply let him rot in his cell.
The game's absolutely brimming with these sort of emergent scenarios, encouraging you to try things you'd never consider attempting in more scripted titles. One of our favourite, albeit despicable, discovered exploits saw us saving money on med-kits by sneaking through the window of the doctor's office after dark and stealing them. But it gets worse. One evening we stumbled upon the sleeping physician – who's usually out and about when the sun's up – and pick-pocketed her to the tune of $500. We weren't proud of the deed, but justified it as necessary to help fund the rescue of our abducted-by-witches husband.
Beyond its supernatural threats and immersion-ratcheting gameplay, Weird West scores points for its twisty – and twisted – storytelling. While players begin as the bounty hunter, they'll ultimately assume the roles of five different protagonists, including one of those aforementioned pig-men. These characters all carry their own tales, but also connect in some bizarre, unexpected ways that'll keep you engrossed throughout a surprisingly lengthy adventure, spread across a sprawling map.
If you're craving a fresh, freaky take on the action-RPG genre, Weird West is well worth saddling up for.