Evil West is an action-adventure game set in the old Wild West and brimming with vampires and other monsters. It's a classic Gothic Western gunslinger, appearing like a mix of Darkwatch and God of War. The presentation at Gamescom 2022 has left us wanting more and shown a game that doesn't always take itself too seriously.
As Jesse Rainier, a cowboy who works for vampire hunters, you face off against evil in the Wild West. In the singleplayer mode you're on your own, while in the online co-op mode you can play together with a friend. Evil West's story is said to offer 10 to 15 hours of gameplay.
What we know about the story
In a nutshell: You are a cowboy who fights against different monsters. Apart from that, there were of course first game impressions, which, however, start directly in Chapter two.
In Chapter two of the game you see Jesse Rentier and his cowboy colleague Edgar Gravenor carry a coffin into a crypt. In the coffin is a tied up vampire, who relaxes with the duo despite the circumstances. There are always jokes in the prologue and a relaxed to amused atmosphere arises.
After the cutscene it goes through a destroyed city into the underground. There a boss fight awaits and Jesse has to give everything and come out of it alive. The gameplay of Evil West is story driven and the game world is explored more linearly.
There are coins and information to be found off the main path. To move around in the world, a grappling hook is also used and not every way is immediately recognizable as such.
The combat system of Evil West
As things start to calm down for Jesse, new opponents appear. The combat system is reminiscent of a combination of God of War and Devil May Cry. Close and long-range combat alternate with each other and you can try different fighting styles. For long-range combat, Jesse has a flamethrower in addition to his rifle to roast the opponents. The game world can also be used and exploding barrels can disable a group of opponents faster than killing each one individually.
In close combat, Jesse kicks and punches his opponents to the ground and with particularly strong blows opponents even explode. Also in close combat, the game world can be used as a weapon. Opponents can be pushed into deep ravines or into barbed wire traps.
To counter the increasingly strong opponents, there is a skill tree with differently upgradeable skills. These include improvements to existing attacks, shorter cooldowns for abilities, and learning completely new attacks.
The charm of Evil West lies in its action-packed and well-animated fights and an exciting story. This could make Evil West a real success for developer Flying Wild Hog.
Evil West will be released on November 22, 2022 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox One and Series X/S.
