Weird West

Overview

Weird West is basically a top-down CRPG set in a dark western fantasy world. Combat is done in real-time, but there are skills and such that can slow it down. The game world is huge and has a lot to explore, a bunch of side quests to complete, and lots of perks to unlock.

The gameplay revolves around completing “journeys” which are basically campaigns that let you play as one of five characters. These are played in a compelling order and linked together by an overall story.

Combat and Controls

Weird West is a little… weird in some ways. For example – war. Are weapons lined up? Totally good. But melee weapons? Uses the absolute tense. You have to hold down a key to target the melee weapon and then spam the left button as much as possible, wasting half the time due to the mix of chances to escape and the game just not returning straight to hits.

The controls usually don’t stick with me at all – and that’s with me playing on a mouse and keyboard. I made some adjustments to try to make them smoother, but I often found myself not activating the abilities I wanted, pulling out the wrong weapon, and cutting myself when I didn’t want to. Yeah, maybe some of it is me, but I play a lot of games like this and usually don’t have these issues, so I’m not really sure what’s going on here.

When the war works – it’s some great stuff. The various weapons are simple but fun to use, the difficulty is well balanced on normal, and I always like games that feature good stealth mechanics. I’m the kind of guy who always plays a sneaky, chip-pocket thief – the one who takes out enemies drags their bodies to a hidden location and finds a way out without anyone knowing. All that is possible here and then some.

Search and Loot

As a guy who likes to sneak around and steal stuff – I love me some good loot, and unfortunately, Weird West isn’t the most accommodating out there. I mean, there’s a bunch of buildings and containers to loot, but 90% of that loot is just some junk flavor – whether it’s a pack of cigarettes, or a sheriff’s badge, or a pocket watch – so that’s a bit much. it’s disappointing to spend all this time looting and walk away with maybe one or two cool items out of 100 or so.

Sneaking around and exploring was much more rewarding when you came across some side content that had a good bit. Sometimes he sneaks me to a trap door where I find a captive gunman who, if freed by me, will remain in my debt and come to my aid randomly during future shootings. Sometimes I’d find little notes or other letters that added to the lore and sometimes these included instructions on where to find even better loot. There are usually a few of these items everywhere, so exploring is almost always worth it even if the loot isn’t the best.

Story

It’s not the most complex story, but it is a bit weak. The key is the supernatural essence that binds the five characters together, but the actual character writing itself isn’t that strong. The first character, for example, is an ex-bounty hunter whose husband is killed, and—many hours later after completing that journey—I still knew little about this man or felt any sense of connection to what was happening. To me, it felt more like a driving force for gameplay – which may not be a bad thing for most.

Overall:

I have some minor complaints – like the iffy graphics, but that pretty much sums up my experience with Weird West. I may have been too early and poured hours into it, but at the same time, I can’t deny that it has many flaws, such as the melee combat and the loot system.

So when I recommend the game, I will say that it is only a mild recommendation. If you are in this genre? Well worth a look. However, there are better options out there and this is probably the best one left for sale. That or give Game Pass a shot – it’s pretty much the perfect Game Pass game.

System Requirements of Weird West Game