In ‘Evil West’, you are Jesse Rentier, whose goal is to rid the world of vampires and other monsters. (Flying Wild Hog pic)
Cowboys. Vampires. Familiars. The Wild West.
Are you keen on embarking upon a wild adventure that delivers 12 to 15 hours of pure, unadulterated and mindless entertainment? If your answer is yes, then you would do well to pick up video game developer Flying Wild Hog’s new release “Evil West”.
The premise is simple: you are Jesse Rentier, scion of William Rentier, the director of the Rentier Institute – a government-sanctioned, undercover monster-hunting organisation that specialises in getting rid of vampires and other menacing creatures.
A surprise attack on the Rentier Institute’s headquarters has left you with no choice but to hunt down a new breed of Sanguisuge, as these monsters are called – one that is far more powerful than what you have ever come across, and is hell-bent on destroying humanity to preserve its race.
“Doom” had its Cyberdemon, Cacodemons, mancubus, and imps: memorable, hellish creations that seared the collective consciousness of the gaming world until today. “Evil West”, unfortunately, has the forgettable likes of the Boo-Hag, Leechers, Nagals, and Highborns, which start to look really generic after a few rounds.
Even though the game features a wide roster of enemies, it might have been nicer to go up against different types of blood-suckers instead of insectoids, lycanthropes, and weird “Resident Evil”-like mutants.
In fact, you end up not bothering about the lore behind these creatures; they are merely on the list of enemies to be vanquished so you can progress further.
The Rentier Rifle is ideal for sniping enemies from afar. (Flying Wild Hog pic)
As is the norm, there are different difficulty levels that allow you to walk through the game asleep in Story mode, enjoy what the developers would like you to experience in Normal, or tear your hair out with Hard and Evil, where each has its specific number of trophies and achievements.
Handling the enemies one at a time is a snap, but it gets really tough when a bunch of them gang up on you simultaneously. You can always turn down the difficulty notch when the going gets tough, but there is the possibility that some of your trophies or achievements might be lost upon doing so.
While primarily a single-player title, you also get to enjoy cooperative gameplay with friends. This will see your health and damage scaled according to the enemies of the host’s game for a fair and balanced feel.
Should you perish in battle, fret not – your teammates can resurrect you. And although it would have been fun to have a monsters-vs-humans mode, co-op gameplay lets you and your teammates barrel messily and satisfactorily through hordes of enemies.
At your disposal is a powerful gauntlet as well as Western firearms with their respective perks and upgrades as the game progresses. Unfortunately, only the host will progress in the story, so you cannot play through the entire game as a team.
‘Punch, gut, kill, and repeat’ is the primary mantra of ‘Evil West’. (Flying Wild Hog pic)
The game looks great on the PC, where a 6GB RTX 3060 graphics card is more than capable of handling the highest settings without any slowdown or frame stutter. Each bone-crunching punch can be clearly heard as the innards of your target get pummelled.
Every level carries a very different look and feel, from hot and dry deserts to deserted canyons, dark mines and lush jungles.
The cutscenes are extremely well rendered to convey a sense of realism, despite the lip-syncing failing to impress. Still, you are not here for the story, as the primary reason in “Evil West” is to kill all monsters in the most gratuitously violent manner possible.
Using a single approach – either gauntlet or pistol only – works when there is just one enemy on screen, but you are most effective when you mix up different attack moves and weapons, despatching them quickly. This is reminiscent of “Doom Eternal”, bringing in the strategic aspect of first-person-shooter combat.
Oh yes, all weapons in “Evil West” have unlimited ammunition, so be adept at cycling through your arsenal to maximise the damage.
Is it worth picking up?
A shooter that takes place in a forgotten era that blurs the line between dark fantasy and reality… what is there not to like? As Jesse Rentier, on a mission to save the world as well as the honour of the family’s top-secret monster-hunting institute, it really feels as though you are the only one who can rescue the free world from the tyranny of vampires on steroids in this alternate universe.
A brief respite from monster-hunting action at the grounds of the Rentier Institute. (Flying Wild Hog pic)
Ultimately, it is one fast-paced battle to the next, and perks are unlocked in a timely manner to aid you in your quest. It does feel a bit too short at the end of the game, but stretching gameplay length just for the sake of more monster slaying would have been counterproductive.
In short, this is an enjoyable no-brainer shooter that is easy to pick up, fun enough to be played in spurts (until you arrive at the next automatic checkpoint), and put off until the next session without having to recall what the whole story is about.
“Punch, gut, kill, and repeat” – that’s the primary mantra of “Evil West”.
‘Evil West’ is available on Steam for the PC, as well as on the PS4/PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S platforms.
Edwin Kee dreamt of being a pro-gamer only to have circumstances mould him into a programmer in a past life. He has since moved on to write about consumer electronics and other topics. Check out his blog at manatau.com.
