Evil West reviewed by David Jagneaux on PC, also available on PlayStation and Xbox.
This refreshing blast from the past from the developer of Shadow Warrior 3 nails the most important parts of its old-school, vampire-hunting action. The combat is smooth and its weapon options are ludicrously entertaining, but low enemy variety and overly similar level layouts can grow somewhat monotonous after a while. This is far from the most complex or innovative action shooter, but every so often you just want to have some fun smashing in monster skulls.
#EvilWest
You come on When I think about what the real world Would be like if it were overrun by a Vampires werewolves and zombie-like Shambling corpses that imaginary Apocalypse doesn't evoke nearly as much Maniacal cackling for me as the one in Evil west from the Tesla inspired Electricity weapons to the gratuitous Gore and bloodshed this old school Action game was some of the most fun Monster murdering I've done in a while Unfortunately its formulaic structure Also make it some of the most repetitive Evil West's roughly 12-hour linear Campaign is spread across 16 different Missions that all follow the same format Each level has a clear start and Endpoint with Collectibles sprinkled Along the way broken up by throngs of Enemies that assail you until you get a Dialogue break during the next cut scene While you're technically free to explore Levels a bit to find lore items or gold Pouches AKA bucks for purchasing your Upgrades their Crux of your adventure is Walking from one fight to the next and Eventually capping missions off with the Big boss battle fortunately the Environments between each combat Encounter are truly sights to behold With enough picturesque backdrops that Range from the outlandish to the Beautiful to make even the most
Grumpiest Cowboy shed a tear the formula For evil West levels is rarely mixed up Save for a few unique situations such as A wacky Minecart segment or the handful Of times you walk around the base camp While being spoon fed Exposition its Story puts you in control of Jesse Rinciere from The rentier Institute to An organization founded by Jesse's Father to hunt down and eradicate all Men are vampires and other foul beasts Developer Flying Wild Hogs really latch Onto the whole wild west but weird idea And ran away with it screaming you've Got illuminati-esque floating pyramids Blood drenched towns and demonic little Girls with skin crawling voices The tree is about to leave the station It's a tale riddled with entertaining Expletives and truly distinct characters Such as the fiercely opinionated doctor Emilia Blackwell so there's never a dull Moment I just wish the story as a whole Was more sophisticated than Jessie Simply chasing down some bad people for Revenge what now you're too scared to Face me in your old flesh over the Course of evil West you'll gradually Unlock new weapons powers and upgrades That Ultra Jesse's abilities and fun new Ways for example you can increase the Number of shots your pistol gets off in A single magazine augment your rifle With electrical damage and even
Incorporate new abilities like ground Pounds and aerial combos to continue Evolving Your Arsenal the way combat is Always expanding helps break up the Otherwise monotonous layouts of evil West levels there is rarely a stretch of Time longer than say 20 minutes in which You won't either unlock a new ability Augment an existing weapon with a fresh Effect or find an entirely new gadget For dismember enemies in glorious ways In addition to that constant Evolution Combat has a frantic flow that feels Great in motion you can zoom across the Map and stun enemies then rack up a Melee combo uppercut them into the air And jump up to smash them back down into A pool of blood and guts or he can Charge up your rifle with a high-powered Beam of electricity the ricochets Between enemies before unleashing your Flamethrower to finish them off it's a Ludicrous selection of Weaponry that's Easy to switch between on the Fly since Nearly every piece of gear has its own Dedicated button and cooldown timer no Ammo or bullets to keep track of you can Just wait for stuff to recharge while Using something else and as a result I Did prefer Using a Gamepad over keyboard And mouse which just felt kind of clunky [Music] The one part of the combat that did grow A bit dull by the end of evil West was a
Lack of enemy variety slow-moving Zombies with heavy wind-up swings never Pose a challenge and even the most Aggressive hulking monstrosities Wielding Shields like oomph after the First few fights it can even be Difficult to tell what's going on during The most chaotic battles because every Enemy bleeds together pun intended and They all end up looking like the same Tones of blood and mud it doesn't help That the notification Arrow to let you Know someone is attacking is relatively Subtle and easy to miss in the thick of Things enemy reuse is particularly Noticeable when it comes to larger Health sponge enemies too as evil West Likes to copy paste baddies that were Once bosses into later levels as many Bosses sometimes these enemies even Attack in packs on subsequent meetings Which is pure chaos and admittedly a True Symphony Of Violence but since Every combat encounter is basically just A circular Arena you dodge and strafe Around as you fight that gaggle of large Health bars could wear my patience then After a while with no jump button or Variety in how combat encounters are are Laid out every fight ends up feeling Like the same mushy puddle of Goo even With the creative Arsenal at your Disposal that doesn't mean hopping Around in that goo gross wasn't fun it
Just means that this is simply the kind Of game you boot up when you don't want To think it's repetitive predictable and Unoriginal in a lot of ways but I found Myself not caring because I was enjoying Killing monsters so much anyway in that Regard evil West shares a lot of the Same DNA as flying wild hogs previous Chaotic action romp Shadow Warrior 3. Even if the genre is entirely different Both games double down on what matters Most to obsters gate plenty of other Areas that are lacking Evo West has a refreshing blast from the Past that Nails the most important parts Of its old school vampire hunting action The combat is smooth and its weapon Options are ludicrously entertaining but Low enemy variety and overly similar Level layouts can grow somewhat Monotonous after a while this is far From the most complex or Innovative Shooters I've ever played but every so Often you just want to have some fun Smashing in Monster skulls for more Twisted fun check out the latest videos On Warhammer 40K dark tide in the Kalisto protocol and for everything else Stick with IGN
