Evil West | Xbox Review

I genuinely miss the Xbox 360/PS3 era of video games. Back then, we had a multitude of single-player, narrative-driven titles that took ten to fifteen hours to complete. Not only that, these games had what felt like AAA budgets. It was glorious. I know I sound like an old man dealing with first-world problems, but the gaming landscape today is quite different. Open world games that take scores of hours to complete and multiplayer/battle royale games are all the rage nowadays. I’m not knocking the existence of those games; hell, I’ve put countless time into Skyrim and Assassin’s Creed games. But I find myself longing for high-quality experiences that I can finish in a weekend.

Thankfully, Evil West from Polish developer Flying Wild Hog fits that mold perfectly and feels like a breath of fresh air. Not only that, it fits the bill with a brand new intellectual property that sound ridiculous on paper, but works on multiple levels. This title is definitely a pleasant surprise for 2022.

An Unexpected Combination

I’ve always loved westerns. Gun (2005) was a personal favorite of mine back in the day. There’s also been no shortage of games based on vampires. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect a western that has you fighting vampires in the 1800s with steampunk-like weaponry. But in Evil West, its ridiculous and over-the-top enough to work, and is a reminder that fresh ideas still work in the industry.

You are Jesse Rentier, a no-nonsense vampire hunter for the Rentier Institute, an organization led by your father. They’re in a war against the cleverly named “ticks”, who consider themselves to be a superior species to humans. The Institute is forced to relocate after early events in the story, and Jesse is sent on various missions ultimately leading to a showdown with one of the most dastardly protagonists I’ve experienced in quite a while.

As crazy as the premise appears, it fires on all cylinders in a way that exceeded my expectations. The tick hunters are reminiscent of those from the Gears of War series. They’re larger than life, crass, and somehow even more campy than anything Marcus and Dom ever aspired to be. At times, it crosses over into ridiculous territories, but that’s part of the charm. I never tired of the lengths this game goes to be utterly over the top, even when Jesse is sent to a snow-covered level. In the Old West. Because why not? The storytelling and settings are never taken seriously, and it’s all the better for it.

An Eclectic Arsenal

Evil West‘s combat is a mixed bag of visceral methods to take out enemies. Its third-person perspective highlights Jesse’s bulky frame and awesome weaponry. Although the game offers ranged weapons, this is a melee-focused game first. Jesse’s right hand wields an electricity laden gauntlet of destruction that packs a mean punch. Much like with the original God of War games, each hit feels impactful and landed combos leave ticks staggered for finishing moves. It feels incredible to rip limbs off of vampires or split them in half while in mid-air. You can even counter enemies attacks by timing a button press just right with a telegraphed flash.

Jesse also starts with a six-shooter and a rifle, but the ranged weapons here act more as a line of defense than offense. Vampires have ranged attacks of their own, but right before they fire, a small circle appears on their body. This is a cue to hit them with your own ranged attack, thus keeping you from needing to dodge projectiles. Landing these shots also rewards with with health or energy pickups, offering extra strategy to staying alive in large skirmishes.

And that’s just the beginning. Through natural progression of the game, you’ll acquire new weapons including a flamethrower, crossbow, gatling gun, and explosives (basically grenades). You even get a “supercharge” mode, like Kratos’ rage ability. These weapons and abilities have unlimited ammo, but work on a cooldown system. This makes the game feel like a third-person MMO at times. You’ll unload each of your special weapons, then spend your time taking out adds and playing defense while you wait for your more powerful weapons to recharge.

Always Two Sides There Are

Since the game has a succinct playtime, it allows for a perfect balance of these upgrades. They come fast and furious, and you’ll never feel like you don’t have enough options in battles. There are also a couple of skill trees here, some for your character and others for your weapons. These were hit or miss for me. Thankfully, the upgrades are more useful than, “+5 points to damage” or some other banal upgrade. Here, you’ll often get abilities that feel like they matter.

Other times I felt unmotivated to choose any one upgrade, because nothing seemed super worthwhile. With games like these, I tend to find my comfort zone in terms of combat and stick to that. To the game’s credit, these trees wanted me to branch out more, but I found myself sticking with the tried and true methods I acquired early on. With that said, my preferred way of attacking got its own upgrades, so there’s an upside.

As good and solid as Evil West is, its deceptively difficult. There are pockets of difficulty spikes that made me more than a little frustrated. Enemies on their own are fine, but once small armies are thrown into the mix, it gets very challenging to manage. This is especially frustrating when flying enemies are thrown at you that have to be taken down first, otherwise they buff the guys on the ground. This is a maddening endeavor with so many baddies surrounding you at all times. It feels often like a dance. Get your attacks in. Roll away. Defend from ranged attacks. Grab a health upgrade. Rinse, repeat.

The difficulty might be mitigated with the addition of cooperative play, which is also available. I didn’t have the opportunity to try out this mode for myself to find out, but it’s nice that it’s available.

Evil West Final Verdict

Rarely does a game surpass my expectations, but that’s exactly what Evil West did. I would have preferred a less difficult adventure, but it’s hard for me to fault a game because of my lack of personal skills. From the very start, I was reminded of the feeling while playing games from the Xbox 360 era when developers took chances on new ideas instead of merely sequels. This is a well-made, ridiculous romp through the Old West that rarely overstays its welcome. Of all the games I’ve played this year, this is the one I hope is successful. We need more games that think outside the box with a single-player (or co-op) experience. Please give this game a shot.

To hear me talk more about Evil West, be sure to check out our December 2, 2022  Episode of The Gaming Outsider Podcast around the 43:55 time stamp.

This review is based on an Xbox copy of Evil West provided by Sandbox Strategies for coverage purposes. It is also available on PlayStation and PC via Steam.