I remember seeing a few ads for this game and an ACG review on It and it grabbed my interest for being a sort of Old West XCOM. I was able to get this on sale at GOG for about $1.

The gameplay is very much in the vein of XCOM or the new Wasteland 2. You control a squad of 2-5 characters in turn based combat encounters. They all have 2 action points that can be spent on moving, shooting, or special skills. In regards to shooting enemies, Hard West’s system is a little different from XCOM’s. There’s still a percentage to hit you have to calculate, but it’s also effected by the luck skill of you and your enemy. You lose luck when you miss a bullet and gain luck back when you take a hit. It’s a neat system that fits the Old West setting. And like XCOM this game does not hold back, you can get into tight situations and for some characters, if they die, that’s it. There’s also a sort of upgrade system stylized as a poker game. You unlock cards as you go that give your characters different abilities or passive traits. If you create a poker hand with their upgrade cards, like a flush or full house, your character gets an extra perk. There’s also plenty of unique guns to collect that serve different roles from pistols to snipers, which all seem to have better range than their XCOM counterparts. One thing they didn’t bring over from Wasteland or XCOM is some type of Overwatch feature. It isn’t required for one of these turn based games, but the omission of it was noticeable. When not in combat you move about the overworld like in Wasteland 2, going to certain areas that take you on a little text adventure.

The world of Hard West is very much in the style of the “Dark Weird West”. I enjoy a good dark twist on a Western tale, Jonah Hex is my favorite comic, but this was almost a little too cliche and bland of a dark western world. Everyone was either a bad person, or a good guy fallen from grace and happy endings are few and far between. The one kinda uniquely, well done thing involves the Pinkertons. They mysteriously show up to help you and if one of them dies during the fight a new one shows up with the same name. You aren't even sure if they are actually Pinkertons or some otherworldly force.

The time of day in this world also plays a factor into the gameplay. During the day, which is when most your fights happen, you can use the shadows cast on the ground by the noonday sun to spot enemies hiding behind walls. At night, the baddies you fight turn into demons of Hell and there are certain poker card powers that only work at night or in the shadows.

The loading screens and cutscenes are all done in a comic book art style. It shows the budget nature of the game, but they are still well drawn still images. The in-game art style is nice as well with a bit of a cell-shaded flair. The character models usually match their portrait. The music is good as well. It’s got a Spaghetti Western vibe with a bit of a dark twang.

The story is broke down into several different chapters, and again, the blandness of this dark weird west world rears it’s head. The main story is pretty standard, you’re a farmboy who’s father’s farm is in ruin after making a deal at the crossroads. You and your girlfriend take to the outlaw life and end up dead. The devil brings you back as Jonah Hex basically and you go out on a vengeance ride. There are a few off-shoot stories that serve as world building and add-ons. You never get to stick with these characters for any length of time and the story feels choppy as result. They are fun as little vingettes, but the game couldn’t hold my interest for any length of time, usually after completing one chapter I didn’t have the drive to start a new one as each chapter you start from scratch with basic guns and a few cards. On top of that, the whole game is narrated by Death, he is the only voice in the game, which leaves the firefights feeling a bit lifeless. It would’ve been nice to have the characters emote a little with a line of dialogue or a quip, but again, this is a budget title and voice actors are expensive. The side stories cover both how one of the main villains came to be and a couple chapters are dedicated to a travelling psychic.

This game may’ve been a bit overambitious for it’s limited budget. The story felt a bit too cliche to be interesting, and I don't have the resolve to complete it. With a little more time and money, they could’ve made this weird west a bit more unique. Still if you can get this for dirt cheap and enjoy a good Western game or XCOM style game, I would recommend this as something to play when you’re out of other options.