In the last few weeks, I’ve been playing Lost Ark, an insanely popular action MMO ported over for western audiences. As I ran through the first forty levels I must have completed hundreds of quests and yet, I didn't read one single quest description. It is the equivalent of gaming bubblegum, mindlessly clicking your way into the early hours of the morning and nary a single stand out memory. Oh don't get me wrong, I’m having fun with the explosive combat but the game is so overtly pedestrian; I am often watching TV while playing. Then I installed Weird West and the contrast almost gave me whiplash.  

Origins

Arkane Studios have created some of my favourite games of all time, namely Prey and the seminal  Dishonored series. So when I heard that Raphael Colantonio had broken off to form his own studio (under very good terms as I understand it) I was initially sad but also intrigued as to what he would produce. Weird West is the first game to come out of the doors at Wolfeye Studios and it is an absolute corker.

This is a wild west themed action RPG that is described by its creators as an immersive sim. There are all the trappings of a classic spaghetti western here, but with a dark side that would make Stephen King proud. These range from sorcery, strange cults, powerful magical creatures and a whole lot more which I won’t spoil here. In a few hours, I could already see the DNA of Arkane running through this title in terms of game design and player agency.

West World

The game opens with you taking control of a retired gunslinger who has given up her irons for a quiet family life. The starting cinematic is tantalisingly disturbing and hints this might be something to stand out from the crowd. My first impression of the gameplay was that movement felt a little clunky, but this idea is almost laughable now I look back. After a few minutes, I had managed to do so many cool things with this hyper-interactive environment. Filling barrels up with water, climbing into a barn roof scavenging loot, shooting a chicken to eat after falling out of said barn roof and mistakenly setting my family home on fire (and putting it out). I felt playful; like the first time I tried VR and would just test things for the sake of it. This was the first scene of the first character and I was already primed to see what else I could do.

One area of games design that consistently pulls an experience down is NPC intelligence. I am very happy to say that Weird West AI is fantastic. As you approach a combat situation you can see sight cones on the mini-map. Staying out of these or behind cover will keep you hidden. If you want to remain stealthy you can take advantage of the excellent light and sound system. Darkness will always make you harder to see; so extinguishing light sources is a good practice. Bushes will also offer you a large degree of cover as you creep around choking enemies quietly in the night. You can also use a variety of sounds such as throwing bottles or hitting the key on a piano. That is the beauty of this simulation, I could list all the objects that you can use but truthfully anything will work because the game is programmed that way.

Bullet Time

Of course what western-themed game would be complete without gunfights and duels at high noon. You control your character with the keyboard and rotate the view with the mouse. As you draw a weapon the mouse allows you to aim that weapon like any other twin-stick shooter you’ve played before. The first thing that makes this game special in regards to combat is the way your aim soft locks onto many items around you. This system works so well and is fluid enough to allow to you target smaller objects like flammable lanterns with ease. Given how accessible the controls are you can do amazing things within seconds. Kick over a barrel of oil, place a lantern just next to it and then lure in a group of soon to be BBQ foes. 

As bullets and arrows fly it is so satisfying to watch the many antics unfold. In one surprise ambush, I was so quick to get a shot off that I inadvertently shot my own horse in the arse. My outraged steed ran to the other side of the play area and neighed angrily. This would have been fine except I also hit a barrel of TNT which set fire to the dry grass. As this is a simulation the fire spread rapidly around the map and towards my poor nag. Pinned down behind a rock I could only watch my ride's fate happen, fortunately, at the last second, it started to rain which doused the fire and saved the day (and all my loot she was carrying). Rain will also douse campfires and even the fuse on a stick of dynamite you have just pitched. 

If you hit shift while aiming you can dive through the air Max Payne style while time slows down around you. Those of you who enjoy a bit of bullet time will especially love the implementation of this mechanic as it plays and looks so cool. What is even more interesting is that at almost any time you can enter a tactical mode which also slows the passage of time and allows you to make smarter combat decisions. While this does sound way too powerful I think it is genius as it adds an almost XCom like feel to the goings-on. Also watching your explosions expand and environmental effects happen gives you a greater appreciation for the quality of simulation on offer here.

West Side Story

As mentioned you start the game as a renowned gunslinger but this isn't the only character you play. Over the course of the game you will run through the story of another four characters and each one adds a new twist to the already fantastic gameplay. I will only talk about the first two to avoid spoiling too much. Once you have settled things with your bounty Hunter friend you are then dropped into the sorry story of the Pigman. Unfortunately, Pigmen are known for eating people so you are immediately chased away from most settlements you had frequented as your previous character. 

Using magical items you find through the course of exploration you can add new skills to each weapon type as well as skills that relate to that character. The perk skills will carry over to the next character and these have a more general effect like faster stealth or more loot from chests. However each time you move on to the next character in the story the abilities tree is wiped clean. This is pretty cool as it promotes players to try different builds within the same playthrough. The skills that relate to each character are also well thought out and really suit the personality of their combat style The charge skill the Pigman gets is just insanely fun and things get even crazier with the later characters.

A Fist Full of Everything

The usual rule of thumb is that the more systems a developer put in their game, the harder it is to make them all play nicely with each other. It is this plate spinning exercise is where Wolfeye really shows their talents off. In Weird West, you can kill any NPC and the game just keeps on rolling. You can also play as a good guy and earn a high reputation which comes with benefits. You can spend the extra time capturing bounties alive instead of burying their bullet-ridden corpses. You can watch previous allies come running to your aid, only to pitch an electrical grenade while it’s raining and instead fry themselves. It really is one of those games that promotes experimentation, often with surprising results. Thankfully there is a fast and reliable save system with a built-in quick save. This means in most missions if you see an opportunity that is too good to pass up you can just hit F5 and get stuck in. I would urge players to let bad consequences play out as they often lead you to tell a unique story. 

As you move across the map to the various locations you can be stopped in your tracks by random events. Some of these might be as simple as an attack from a pack coyotes but other forces lie in wait for you out there. Not all events are hostile and sometimes you may find a traveling merchant or deserted camp ripe for the picking. Sometimes you may find past deeds will com back to haunt you, like gang members of a boss you claimed a bounty on or maybe the husband of a woman you accidentally gunned down. Local news papers also report on events you have had a hand in and you can hear locals gossiping about wanted people you have put down.

I also love how this savage natural world can be seen doing its own thing which is another system that works so well in the game. I’ve seen camps I was about to attack suddenly get overrun by wolves, letting me just sit there in my bush watching the carnage. Other times a spooked horse would charge away causing a distraction and allowing me to slip into a building unseen. One time after camping out in the wilderness myself and my posse woke up to a giant twister that scooped us up from our slumber and pitched us into the river. You just never known what is coming around the corner and I think that is partly where the magic comes from.

Rootin Tootin

One of the very best elements of the Dishonored games was the multiple routes open to the player. You could follow the obvious path for sure or try a less obvious way forward. There were even ways to dispatch targets in a none lethal (but usually wickedly cruel) method. It is obvious that this core ethos of player agency has been brought over to Wolfeye Studios as the many quests you will come across are a playground of possibilities. Given the game is played from a top down perspective I was surprised how fun exploration could be. Crawling under foundations, in upturned wagons and across rooftops usually bear fruits. You can stack grain next to a tree to steal the eggs from a birds nest or climb into a balcony. There are just so many ways to get to places you might have thought out of bounds. 

In one mission I was tasked with speaking to a corrupt mayor for information about my kidnapped husband. The mayor explained that to get that information I would have to ‘acquire’ the deeds to a local farm. Arriving at the farm the folks appeared decent and hard-working, which gave me pause. I could have rolled in guns blazing but decided to wait until nightfall to steal the deed and spare their lives. After stealing some keys from the sleeping owners I finally acquired the combination for their safe. At the last second, I decided against stealing the deed and on speaking to the farm owner he informed me that the mayor has something embarrassing hidden in his own basement. Arriving back at the mayor’s manor I leapt across to an open balcony from another building and worked my way to my prize. I won’t say how this story ended but in just one quest you can see how much choice there is open to the player. 

For the first few hours of play one issue, I had jotted down was the inability to see inside windows and doorways I was about to enter. I had remembered the classic game Commandos had a ‘peek system and thought it would work wonderfully here. It was only when looking at a tooltip on the loading screen did I realise aiming a weapon at an open window or door does just this. The camera view does turn in full three-sixty and it can take a while to get used to this. There is also a good degree of tilt available which can almost end up looking directly down at the game. This is particularly helpful for interior navigation and there is also a perfect cutaway system that always keeps your character in view. The only issue I ever had was one barn would not register I had entered it and so the interior view didn't materialise.

Is it PC?

As the developers have clearly stated in their mission statement, they have strived to create a simplified visual production pipeline to deliver the goods on player experience. As someone who has been around since day one in gaming, I know the value of gameplay over graphics. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some jaw-dropping visuals like in Horizon Forbidden West or Red Dead 2. However, most gamers who know the score will always push the needle towards the experience and if we get some fancy looks, all the better. 

Fashioned from Unreal Engine 4 the visuals in Weird West can at first look seem a little last gen. When zooming right in objects can have that, cut from foam board kinda feel to them. There is also a flavour of cell shading in here, with details then drawn and painted over top, almost like an isometric Borderlands. However, when you see what these choices give back to the player in terms of interactivity, choice and pure fun the price is worth it tenfold. I will also say that when you pan right back and watch the world tick over, it is a beautiful thing. 

The game does have a few minor issues here and there but then again what game doesn’t. Pathing can sometimes go a bit west with people getting stuck indoors or posse members ending up on random rooftops. While on the subject of your band of followers I would have liked more control over how they acted and moved. For example, they will basically be invisible when you are being stealthy but often start firing their guns (and alerting more enemies) before I’m ready for a full fight. I also think the cooking system should provide buffs of some sort because health can be replenished easily with water or sleeping making cooking redundant. However, these are really minuscule niggles and I’m sure improvements will continue once the game is in the wild. 

You can play Weird West on controller perfectly well if you so wish but I would always go for mouse and keyboard with this one. As mouse implementation has been handled so well it makes precise aiming is a breeze. As you would hope the controls can all be remapped to your heart’s content. I’m now playing all my games on the new rig which is an Intel i912900k, 32 GB of Ram and a 3080ti. I found the performance of the game very good at 1440p and even in built-up areas I was running well over 100fps. Load times are also lightning fast and rarely more than a few seconds on an M2 drive. 

Conclusion 

Weird West is a mixture of clever systems bouncing off each other, wickedly good design and a judicial application of player direction. The whole package comes together in what I can only describe as a masterpiece of interactive gaming fun. Considering the stellar year gamers have already had, smaller indie games will have to fight to get some of the action. Even after playing the beautiful Horizon Forbidden West to its conclusion, Weird West stands out as my clear game of the year choice so far. 

I can’t remember the last time I was this excited about a new IP and I want to see more. More stories, DLC and if Wolfeye Studios are willing a sequel. I really hope this one does well and I wish all the folks at Wolfeye Studios the very best for their maiden game launch.