Amidst its player freedom and persistent cause-and-effect scenarios, Weird West nestles perfectly into the CRPG mindset. The series of interconnected stories and isometric gameplay may not break new ground but this dusty, blood-ridden sandbox can hide some true gems.
The five interconnected stories of Weird West will have players’ choices rippling throughout the narrative. In this world of cannibalistic tribes, occult magic, and eldritch horror, tumbleweeds and dusty saloons hardly feel significant.
Yet a strength of Weird West is its ability to balance both the Weird and the West.
Packed with Arkane veterans, it’s little surprise that WolfEye Studio’s first foray into gaming is an immersive CRPG that is as much a reflection of Prey and Dishonored as early 2000s’ Arx Fatalis and Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. Those who found comfort in the first Fallout games or have recently latched onto Divinity: Original Sin or Wasteland 3 might find great appeal in Weird West.
Being only mildly versed in this broad genre, I came into Weird West simply expecting a world that transformed at my fingertips. My decisions would impact the narrative and ripple throughout. Thankfully, the game is exceptionally pliable and its rule set will bend and twist to the will of most players.
The game opens with a hooded character seated at some altar, their consciousness seemingly transferred into Jane Bell, the first playable character. Jane is a retired bounty hunter but wakes to find her son murdered and husband kidnapped by a gang. These harrowing opening stakes cement Weird West as a game not afraid to shed personal blood. But before I set out for revenge as Jane, I decided to explore every inch of her homestead, rifling through drawers and shelves for items, and trying out firing her revolver. I also used a shovel to bury my son and the dog, right after looting their corpses, of course.
Weird West allows players to get away with a lot. For absolutely no reason, I decided to bury every corpse in the next town Jane visited. It was a small outpost that had been ravaged by the same clan responsible for killing her husband. I spoke to despondent folks fretting over dead bodies, broke down doors with a knife that concealed nothing more than junk, and lamented my shovel breaking in my side job as apparent grave digger. Was there any reason to bury those bodies? No. But I was allowed to and it seemed like the nice thing to do. I could also decide to murder everyone in that town or some other outpost. Doing so, however, may have a ripple effect later on in the game.
After Jane comes to term with her return to bounty hunting, players then take on the role of a literal Pigman, an occultist, a Native American hunter, and a werewolf. Each new character comes with their own storyline that treads new and old ground across the already established West. Players can mainline the individual quests or try and see and do everything, it’s up to your tastes. As much as I enjoyed watching the varying threads tie themselves together, it was equally interesting being able to recruit previous characters along for the current quest. Still, the best part of Weird West‘s narrative is how choices made in one campaign permeate to the next segment. Take a bounty target alive and they may hunt you down in the next, eliminate one gang from a location and watch as a new one takes its place.
There’s a weight to the decisions made that won’t always become clear until later. It’s one of the many ways in which WolfEye expresses confidence in their DNA. This version of the West is very fully-realized but I think even more could have been done to differentiate itself. Sure, there are things like werewolves and cults to shoot through, but I would argue that the game could have been far more bizarre, if not weird. Since the most prominent portrayal of the rootin’ tootin’ West has been from Rockstar and Red Dead Redemption, you’ve got to applaud a developer willing to not go for the obvious but still provide players with an immersive experience in such an idealized location.
Weird West has players moving around a fairly large overworld to land on specific destinations that act as their own condensed maps. Here a routine number of quests keep the action going, whether its killing specific targets or finding locations to investigate. While the missions themselves often did not blow me away in terms of diversity, the ability to approach them stealthily, guns-blazing, or creatively provided a sense of satisfaction.
To allow for a bevy of options, most scenarios can be approached as direct and bloody as possible. However, there’s a lot of room for chaos and subterfuge as well. Sneaking around large rocks and shady hallways works fairly well. But it’s more interesting to find alternate routes like up and around other buildings or watching as dry brush catches fire and begins igniting everything in its path. Players will have to be mindful of the weather, time of day, and their equipment. Rewards for completing missions aren’t always great, usually resulting in in a revolver that does more damage and has a few bonus perks to it. While loot may be underwhelming, the ultimate reward is watching a plan be executed the way a player wanted. Thankfully, in the case of a nasty glitch or a failed attempt, a generous quick save system means that mistakes are never too severely punished.
On a controller, I can’t say that I was entirely pleased with the twin-stick nature of Weird West‘s shooting, spell casting, and ability usage. It took a handful of encounters to get used to where to point a gun and ensure that a shot would land, even from a relatively close distance. These issues also apply to trying to grab or locate items that may be resting on a table or near other interactive objects. I’m sure players will end up grabbing any number of things they didn’t intend to over time, possibly resulting in doing an illegal action or knocking over a candle and setting a house on fire.
Part of these issues also just stem from Weird West‘s isometric angle that can look great in open areas but feel claustrophobic in closed spaces. Additionally, the game tends to shine a lot brighter from a distance as when the camera zooms in, its cel-shaded visuals don’t look as crisp.
Weird West attempts to keep track of what players are doing by having an upgrade system for each individual character and a permanent one that applies to every story. Experimenting with the various abilities will allow players to get a sense for what characters they like best but keep in mind that all five are fairly capable and have individual utility. The Pigman, for example, can deflect bullets and emit poison, making him perfect for close combat. The Werewolf can go invisible and tear up attackers or send out a heal. It might be hard to appreciate the capabilities of each individual during a first playthrough but those who are thorough can expect to spend upwards of 8 to 10 hours with each phase of the story. As a bonus, if you recruit a previously used character, it’s likely their inventory is retained and can prove useful in the next part of the adventure.
To inspire players to journey through Weird West again, WolfEye takes stock of decisions made and itemizes what players did and hints at how it could have played out. Because the game is approachable from a number of difficulties, it’s nice to be made aware of how a potential new playthrough could unfold and how players can use previously acquired knowledge to be more experimental or more careless than before.
Weird West excels at presenting players with an engaging, interconnected world experienced by five vastly different characters. It’s a game where multiple decisions ripple through the narrative, resulting in outcomes both unexpected and practical. While its attention to detail may not result in varied gameplay, its portrayal of a deeply weird yet familiar version of the Wild West elevates this CRPG in interesting ways, making WolfEye Studios’ debut a noteworthy homage to its roots.
