Devolver Digital has become one of my favorite publishers in the past couple of years. Every game that I have played of theirs has become an instant classic for me. Their latest release, Weird West, has met all of my expectations and has delivered one of the best gaming experiences I have had this year. In this review, I will tell you why you should definitely drop every other game you are currently playing and try Weird West for yourselves.
Developed by: WolfEye Studios
Published by: Devolver Digital
Released: March 31, 2022 (PC, Playstation, Xbox)
Story & Scope
Weird West‘s story starts very simply, you are a bounty hunter whose kid gets killed and husband gets kidnapped. You start your journey by going out to seek revenge for your murdered child, and well, things get weird from there. One moment I was fighting regular cowboys and the next moment I was fighting sirens. Yeah, this game takes some weird turns. In Weird West, you will play as five different characters. Every character will have its own story and its own unique set of skills. Every character that you meet feels fleshed out and that helps you become invested in the story that this game is trying to tell. For full disclosure, I have not finished the entire story of this game as it is a massive single-player experience. Fortunately, I cannot wait to get to the end of it and see how everything unfolds.
In Weird West, there are bounties to hunt, side missions to track, treasures to find, plus the main storyline. Weird West is a full-blown RPG. It is really one of the most complete RPG games I have played in a while.
Gameplay
Now onto the way Weird West plays. It is easy to compare the gameplay to Red Dead Redemption. In Weird West, you will discover plenty of weapons to try and unlock plenty of skills to use. Weird West even has a similar weapon wheel to the one from Red Dead Redemption. Cycling through different weapons and items felt right at home. You also will be collecting items to sell for gold, food to cook, and items to upgrade your skill trees. Once you jump into the action, this game feels like a top-down version of Red Dead.
Something to keep an eye out for during battles is how Weird West ammo feels very scarce. There were times when I ran out of ammo and I had nothing else to do but scrap my weapons to get ammo and live to see another day. Not only will you need to learn to master your weapons but also your weapon abilities.
Each weapon has its own set of abilities. I had my handgun shoot lightning bullets and my shotgun shoot explosive shells. There are some other abilities to unlock that you will just have to experience for yourself. Pro-tip: look for Nimp Relics in every location that you visit. They are items that you will need to upgrade and unlock your abilities. You will need these abilities to survive the weird west because the weird west is one tough place to be in.
Balancing Challenge
At times the difficulty for Weird West felt very unforgiving. However, this is the only knock I have against this game. I lowered the difficulty to the lowest setting. Even then I still occasionally had a hard time. Fortunately, at least Weird West gives you the option to lower the difficulty to make things somewhat easier.
Something else you can do to make your journey easier is to recruit your own posse. In Weird West, you will have the chance to recruit two other characters that will help you along the way. These characters are interchangeable and you can also drop one to recruit another. Be careful though since these characters can die in between battles.
High Praise for Weird West
I will go ahead and make this bold statement, Weird West will be in the conversation for Game of the Year at the end of 2022. Do not miss out on this game as it is simply amazing. Weird West is one of my favorite games right now. I cannot wait to finish it and experience everything this game has to offer. I highly recommend you try this out for yourself.