Westild’s Law | PS5 Review

There ain’t nothin that trips my trigger like a game set in the Old West. So many types of stories and gameplay genres can fit into this timeless (and best) setting. Even so, the game does have to be fun at the end of the day. Luckily, Westild’s Law is a twin-stick blast for the few hours it will run you.

Ride Into Town

The setup is as simple as an NES game. A beautifully pixelated intro scene explains that the Wild Joe gang has been terrorizing the town of Westild, and it’s up to Bill and Jill to save the day. That’s really all there is to it for the duration of the game. Westild’s Law is meant to be a fun, arcadey game, so you certainly don’t need a deep narrative.

You can play as either character, and there is no difference between them. They share upgrades, stats, and weaponry, so it’s just up to you if you want to be a cowgirl or cowboy. Either way, saddle up and tackle the missions the Sheriff sends your way.

This Town Ain’t Big Enough

As stated earlier, Westild’s Law is a twin-stick shooter, and it’s a relatively simple one. There are some fun additions that give the game its own spin, however. You can shoot enemy bullets out of the air to defend yourself, and sometimes the ricochet can help you out. There’s also the so-called Ultra-Sense (there has to be a cooler name they could think of), which slows down time for everyone but the player.

Missions see you bringing in your equipped weapon of choice, but you won’t be using it long. Jill and Bill always pick up the enemy weapon you run over, use up the rounds within, and then chuck at the enemy when done. Whacking an enemy with their friend’s gun provides a nice stun, but these weapons really benefit you by saving on reload time, which slows your character to a crawl and leaves you vulnerable. You’re encouraged to keep moving and shuffling through weapons.

Keep Walking, Partner

Missions are short affairs, only ever a few minutes, and this works to the game’s benefit. It’s a nice cycle of going out for a gunfight, returning to town for upgrades, and heading back out. However, there are only really four or five mission types, and the backgrounds repeat themselves often. It didn’t bother me considering the game’s short length, but I could see others yearning for more variety. A couple of these mission types see you riding horseback for some auto-scrolling levels, and these provide a welcome reprieve from the on-foot combat.

At town, you can visit the local bank or gunsmith for some upgrades. In Westild’s Law, you’re rewarded with money after every mission. This money can be spent on weapons, better attributes, or skills. The skills provide really great benefits, such as reducing your dash cooldown or improving your Ultra-Sense duration. However, the attribute system of improving your health, reload, and accuracy never seems to add much. There’s so much health dropped during a mission, I would be surprised if your health ever got low enough to worry about it. And new weapons are only beneficial in the handful of boss fights, since these one-on-one encounters won’t have enemy weapons to pick up. It felt a little superfluous, if I’m being honest.

See You Around

Westild’s Law is a charming little video game, a perfect example of the “weekend game.” It won’t run you more than two or three hours, and the postgame content only provides an extra half hour or so. It doesn’t have anything that will blow you away, but neither does it have anything that you would consider bad. It’s just a fun few hours of gunning down some bad guys, which is all you could ask for. It’s a classic video game ass video game.

To hear me talk more about Westild’s Law, be sure to listen to the December 19, 2024 episode of The Gaming Outsider podcast.

This review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy of Westild’s Law provided by PR Hound for coverage purposes. It is also available on PlayStation 4, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam.