Evil West is just simply a fun game that comes from the developers of the recent Shadow Warrior trilogy. It has been on my radar since it launched but thanks to PS Plus Essential it jumped up my list and after playing it I’d like to grab a physical copy. It’s a western/horror beat ‘em up with guns and it feels like something from the 360/PS3 era, in a good way.

Evil West is set during the 1800s in an alternate universe where the American frontier needs to be protected from a supernatural threat. That’s where the Rentier Institute comes in. This organisation and their agents fight against vampires and their familiars. You play as one of these agents, Jesse Rentier. The humans are doing quite well thanks to the advancing technology and one vampire sees this as a threat to the continued existence of his kind, so he declares war. From here shit obviously hits the fan and let’s just says you’ve got a lot of monsters to kill. The world and lore of Evil West is surprisingly really cool. There is easily potential here for a prequel or sequel. The story and characters are enjoyable in a B horror movie way and it mostly moves along at a good pace, with some detours. The dialogue is fun with performances well suited to the characters and the type of game this is. There are also collectables along the way that flesh things out a bit more.

The presentation is spot on for this type of game. The cutscenes are in widescreen, with film grain and a slightly worn out look to suit the old western and horror movie style. I think they should have gone further though and carried this through more into during the gameplay too. The locations and the variety of the locations are just fantastic. There’s so many different ‘western’ locations here from rail yards, to towns, swamps, sawmills, mountains, mining areas and oil fields, with many places pushed beyond the norm into something hellish. Each location has its own distinct personality while still fitting perfectly into this world. I love all the details too, like the spiders and webs and the bats and the huge full moon filling the sky. The characters and monsters look very good too. They’ve done such a good job with this games look and with how well they blended the horror, sci-fi and western elements together. Unfortunately though the more you venture into this game the more cracks appear. Technical problems and a lack of polish here and there bring things down a bit. The worst thing I encountered was a boss that completely disappeared from the stage we were fighting in, giving me no choice but to restart the fight.

One thing that looked off to me at first was the glowing chains that signify that this is something to interact with. But not long after I realised they fit in just fine as Evil West is such a game-y game. It’s broken into chapters, each one being a narrow linear path that regularly opens to larger circles, so you always know when a fight is coming. It even has a couple of mine cart rides. There are things to find just around the corner or by looking up or around. Usually it is chests or boxes that burst into a shower of shiny coins that are used for upgrades. The upgrades and perks are very straight forward but progression is constant and satisfying with the game constantly throwing new things at you. By the end you’ll be an electrically charged powerhouse, with a ridiculous arsenal, which you use to tear apart the enemies in gory, messy style. It’s absolutely a game-y game and it is kind of glorious but also formulaic and would be too monotonous if it wasn’t so good at putting a smile on your face.

One of the reasons for that smile on your face is going to be the combat. It’s an over the shoulder, third person shooter blended with a beat ‘em up. You get a couple of main guns for precise shooting, grenades and a revolver you unload from the hip, a shotgun as well for quick, close, heavy damage and a couple more fun surprises. The melee part is punch combos, launching uppercuts and slams. You get a cool electric gauntlet that lets you stun and pull yourself to enemies or pull the stunned enemies to you. For defence you have a block, a kick that interrupts and a quick evade that if pressed twice you will fully roll away. There are a couple of special things you can do too that I won’t give away. It works, and works really well for the most part. You’ll be zipping around, punching faces and blasting away as you try to manage the bloodthirsty creatures all around you. But this sea of blood, carnage and fun does trip up and fall short in some ways.

Evil West shares the same problem as God of War (2018), which is a close over the shoulder camera limiting your view, with enemies, attacks and ranged enemies all around, at least Evil West is more fun than God of War though. Evil West handles this issue with on screen indicators and sounds but you will still find yourself getting smacked by attacks coming from off screen every now and then and it might even lead to a death here and there. This issue compounds with another problem which is just how busy the screen can get, resulting in obscured action. As you can probably guess there’s a bit of frustration to be had with the combination of these problems. The difficulty actually kind of helps fix this but is also another fault. The game is just too easy on normal, things don’t get going until towards the end and you can easily not die for most of the game. Playing the game on Evil difficulty, new game plus felt like the sweet spot, once you get past a simple start. During this second play through I had all the tools and previous experience but it kept the tension up. I was on my toes and punished for mistakes. Frustration did kick in a bit towards the end of my Evil difficulty play through and it highlighted the combats flaws. Some other things you may encounter is getting a bit stuck between the enemies and environment, the electric pull not working smoothly, things not feeling as snappy and responsive as you would like and there is not an enormous amount of depth to it all. However I had far more fun than troubles with the combat.

Evil West is a good time that feels like an older game with some modern benefits. I enjoyed going through the game twice and would’ve gone for the Platinum Trophy if there was a quick, simple way to replay the bosses. If you’re not a fan of things that are a bit silly, over the top and violent then clearly give this a miss. But if you are a fan of this or can at least tolerate it then Evil West is easily worth a play through maybe even two.

7.7/10

Dated collectible system with unnecessary paths throughout gameplay? Check. Cringy writing and storytelling? Check. Basic level design that is extremely linear? Check. Repeated objectives throughout the entire game? Check. But is this game fun to play? Hell yeah!!

I truly think this game is more like a 3.5 stars, but since this system is either a 3 or 4 I think the 3 is too harsh of judgment. I had a complete blast playing this game. I got sidetracked and started a few other games while I was playing this one, but this game always drew me back until I got to "The End" screen.

Gameplay is just so much fun, using the combination of your guns and gauntlet with electricity to decimate your foes. The story is both ridiculous but also somewhat original- how many other games are set in a post-Civil War time period where you are fighting vampires?

I played through the game on Hard difficulty, which had its fair share of challenges. Even though the game steadily added to my arsenal throughout the 15ish hours it took me to finish, I really depended on just a few attacks- my gauntlets, rifle, shotgun, and pistol. Figuring out the patterns while fighting the enemies, especially the bosses, were challenging but fun. Only one fight felt cheap- the others truly felt like I had to master the controls to finish. It felt very rewarding when the timing just clicked and you would hardly get hit by the time you were beating the bosses.

I really hope to see an Evil West 2. This game was janky and had some rough edges, but I think tuning combat a little more and introducing more gameplay variety and level variety would really help this series. You will definitely have a fun time with this game!

Evil West is a game that is so up my alley that it's almost unfair. It's a wild west themed vampire hunting action game. Or as my friends would say "an easy sell." So, I went into Evil West with decently high expectations, especially since I had heard some decently good reviews for it. I can say that Evil West is one of the most fun games I've played in some time. It's one of those games that makes me go "oh yeah, I do love video games."

Evil West plays kind of like a hybrid of Devil May Cry and Doom, though I guess the melee combat is more akin to something like Godhand. The combat is pretty simple, but the variety of weapons you're given makes up for it. And you'll need to use everything you're given. Just like in Doom Eternal, there's a reason you're given a weapon that can stun every enemy on screen. You're probably gonna need it every so often.

There were a few encounters that took me several tries to beat, but I never felt frustrated. I always wanted to try a different strategy to deal with strong enemies. And getting into a good groove of dodge, punch, parry, shotgun, finisher is just so video games.

I like the world building a lot, too. It kind of reminds me of something like Hellboy's BPRD, or the Hellsing Organization, but based in the old west. I would love to see the Rentier Institute expanded on in a sequel, as well as the interesting vampire mythos it conveys.

My main complaint with the game is some of the enemies which have health pools that seem almost like jokes. A few times I wondered if I were doing something wrong, but no, you just actually have to whale on them that much. It turns a few encounters into real endurance matches. But, like Doom and Bloodborne, you are rewarded for getting in the thick of battle to help recharge abilities, as well as possibly get a health pickup. The game is very well designed in that regard.

I hope this isn't the last we see of Jessie Rentier and his tick hunting cohorts. But if it is, it's a ride well worth taking.