Is Evil West Game Worth It? Review

Evil West is a linear action high-quality game in an era of large open-world games. It offers a good short experience with decent action. Characters are good and it has good action. Enemies are close together in areas. Most areas are not too different from each other in terms of how they look. The combat option steadily extends with a decent amount of upgrades that make everything better. It is a story about cowboys, vampires, and other monsters.

It is a game from the makers of Shadow Warriors and offers good linear third-person action sequences. Evil West is a simple straight-up game with no side stuff. There are no RPG stats Levels that start from the beginning and end once it is over. There is no exploration of the same level again and again. The game is a big reminder of the 360 and PlayStation 3 eras in a good way. It reminds players of a time when games were straightforward with not too much hassle.

Evil West is a game about Wild West with gothic mythology and a cowboy defending the world from evil creatures. It plays in the third person like the new God of War games. The camera is close to the character. There are chains to climb, treasure chests to unlock, and arrows that will tell the player when an attack is coming from off-screen. Evil West lets you revisit the time of old games which makes you wonder Is Evil West worth It? Let’s find out.

Plot and Setting (Spoiler Free)

The game takes place in the alternate version of the Wild West. You play as Jesse Rentier who is a big cowboy who uses different tech to take down enemies. Jesse is part of a special agency called the Institute similar to the Order 1886. His father is a sci-fi steampunk scientist who gives different things to his son.

You are a gunslinger with an engineer, a doctor, and others as your allies. A vampire is trying to take on the world using a new method. He is preserving the vampire race and is trying to make them more powerful.

You are in a western country with desert, spooky mines, woods, canyons, and otherworldly facilities. There is a cool hub area where you will go from time to time as part of the story. The layout of these areas is not good these are narrow areas that lead to an open one.

There is not much to do in each area since Evil West is a linear game. Just fight enemies and then move on from that area. Occasionally there will be left and right areas. These will only lead to a box that will contain money. There is not much exploration in the game.

The world-building of the game is good and the world has some things to find. Everything in the world is wild and Jessie is a serious character in that wild world. You might find gross and weird-looking things in the world. There are a lot of wild things happening in the world of Evil West.

Combat

The combat of the game is extensive with lots of different options. Different weapons are attached to different buttons. Each weapon has a cool down after usage which acts as ammo for that weapon. The electric gauntlet acts as electric telekinesis that can push and pull characters.

The game will reward you for patience, shooting enemies at a certain point at a certain moment will do more damage. Shooting enemies at certain spots will drop more health and energy from them. Knocking enemies into each other and barrels will damage them. When fighting a large number of enemies, environmental things can be used to do damage.

The main character is tanky which is not usually the with games having fast combat. Activating super makes you even faster. It lets you zip around and do damage to enemies quickly. Super will let you do damage to multiple enemies in quick succession. The aim assist is too strong which might be problematic for some players. It focuses too aggressively on a single enemy.

Evil West is a game that caters to different playstyles. You can dip in and out of combat at your leisure. Secondly, you can do damage from afar with an AOE attack that damages multiple enemies with a single hit. You can also damage one enemy at a time with smaller attacks. Players don’t have to use different attacks against different enemies. You can just stick to one playstyle and do damage through that. Such a strategy can lead to a lack of verity.

The Complexity of Combat

The game has a basic skill tree that can have an impact on abilities and guns. Upgrading skill trees will expand your move set. The skill tree is not too fancy, you see what you get. The skill tree upgrade is basic and does not have much complexity.

Visuals are good during combat and the effects of attacks match with the style of the game. Evil West game has a good sense of magical weirdness. The effects of gauntlets, swords, and weapons are good with impactful effects. The animation of effects is good and this effect matches with the overall style of the game.

Combat takes inspiration from the new God of War but it has guns and a lot of other tools. It adds tools constantly and makes the combat more aggressive. You have massive electric gantlets at hand that let you do melee damage, combos, uppercuts, and throw enemies into each other with blunt force. You can even throw enemies at different things laying on the ground.

Hold the button for rapid fire or single fire. You can shoot enemies whether they are in the air or on the ground. Aim and shoot with a repeater or use it to shoot from a distance. You will have the option to dodge or double press to roll. Pop defensive shield with gauntlets which can be good for parry.

Nearly all attacks support each other which makes combos pretty easy. You have the option of using different moves to attack enemies with multiple attacks. Hit an enemy with a combination of different moves to do a combo attack. The combination is good with the option to combine different moves for combos. The point is that there are multiple ways to use attacks in combat.

General Gameplay

The narrative is good with good character development. There are different characters and enemy types which brings variety to the game. The game does not go over the top with characters since there are some repeatable enemy types. It does, however, has a good sense of setting with dusty saloons, forests, dungeons, mad scientist labs, and things like that. The point is that there is variety in the setting of the game.

The color saturation of the game is aggressive. These bright colors can make the areas distinct as well but at times it can be too much. The linear design of the game is one of its figures of attraction because such games are not rare. The fact that we are seeing a linear game in the era of open world, live service, and nonlinear games is a good thing.

Occasionally you will find detours but it will offer extra lore, and money only for upgrades. The game does not offer exploration and the main path only contains combat. You can use the money to upgrade weapons, buy skins for weapons and buy clothes. Finishing moves are also not that good though some of these moves are good. Some moves lack punch and weight while others feel heavy and complete. The game even has the option of co-op. So you can play the entire game in co-op.

The Game

The game has two modes on PS5 quality and performance. One offers 4k at 30 FPS while the other offer 1080 at 60 FPS. It is a spooky game with lots of gory and gross-looking stuff. You will face a lot of strange-looking things while playing the game. It embraces its wacky nature and loves history and wants to be weird with it.

You will be facing vampires, werewolves, leaches, zombies, trolls, human followers of vampires, and all other kinds of things. The game will make you fight with all kinds of creatures. It can get messy due to close to shoulder camera. The close camera can sometimes get in the way of clear gameplay. You can stick to one time of attack since it can be repetitive which works in combat.

Verdict

Evil West is a game with decent linear combat that gives a good first impression. It is a good game for players who like linear games. It even has the option of a new game plus and coop. These two options give it reply value and make everything fun. It is a game that wraps up in time and does not overstay its welcome. It takes 10 to 13 hours to be completed depending on the difficulty. There is even a permanent death mode as well.

The story and characters don’t have much depth to them. Its predictable combat does not offer much to make up for what it is missing. The story was not the main focus and it’s not like I expected the story to be the main focus of it. A little more depth to the story could have been better.

It is a simple action game that might not be good for players who are into nonlinear games. Evil West is a linear game that will babysit you from start to finish. It does not offer anything other than its straightforward story. From the beginning, you will know where you are supposed to go. If you are looking for a straight forward fun experience this could be the game for you. If you are not into straightforward short games then this might not be the game for you.