There’s a nostalgic and simple thrill to be had in Evil West, the latest game from Shadow Warrior developers Flying Wild Hog. Unburdened by subtle season pass adverts and unnecessary loot box grinds, Evil West is an ode to the golden age of 7/10 games that were designed to fill store shelves and earn a cult-classic status in the years after release. Think Infernal, Singularity, and Bulletstorm – games that would otherwise fly under the radar if they didn’t have a neat hook that was worthy of praise.

Evil West is exactly that kind of game, a flawed and repetitive action-blaster that doesn’t give a damn, and still provides plenty of entertainment if you’re willing to switch your brain off for a few hours. It may not have a monolithic marketing campaign that has to be paid for by shoving microtransactions in your face every 15 seconds, but it does have scrappy attitude, solid action, and gruesome monsters for you to point your six-shooter at.

In a wild west inhabited by vampire clans looking to step out of the shadows, Evil West’s elevator pitch is God of War meets Blade. As Jesse Rentier, a seasoned hunter of humanity’s biggest pain in the neck, it’s up to you to slap leather and fill your hand with electrifying iron as you carve a path through grotesque abominations, rabid werewolves, and undead minions controlled by a sinister vampiric ringleader. While Jesse may have the personality of a mule’s backside throughout the game, at least he’s got the kick to match his not-so-sunny disposition when the odds are stacked against him.

Within minutes, you’re diving into the core center of Evil West’s combat – a collection of hard-hitting moves that are very inspired by Sony Santa Monica’s recent God of War games, as Jesse can punch problems away and unleash a quick barrage of lead at anything in his general direction. It’s a wonderfully satisfying selection of savage offense that also has a few hints of Devil May Cry in its DNA, as your basic rootin-tootin slap-and-shoot gameplay is quickly enhanced by a gauntlet that allows you to close distance and pull enemies in for a slobber-knocker blow.

Flying Wild Hog has established itself as one of the masters of action in the current generation of gaming, and that pedigree is on full display here with Evil West. There’s a fluidity to Jesse’s movements that gets better as you invest more time and resources into his growing arsenal, taking you from blood-sucking bounty hunter to a technology-enhanced supernatural slayer who can keep pace with the undead. Weaving in and out of combos while avoiding taking damage from a braindead zombie covered in giant leeches; unleashing some point-blank buckshot at hideous monsters; and using a flamethrower to burn through giant spiders all make for a good time.

But the responsibility of maintaining a sense of variety falls squarely on the player, as Evil West can become monotonous. It’s not a bad formula by any stretch of the imagination, but each level usually boils down to a linear walk through empty sections that occasionally contain a small treasure chest hidden out of sight; a very obvious arena filled with enemies to kill; and a repeat of that structure until you reach the stage’s end. Evil West’s biggest strength is undoubtedly its deliciously gory vampire extermination gameplay, but its supporting structures fall flat by comparison.

There are moments of variety in some levels, and the collectible lore helps flesh the world out better as you dive into the creepy atmosphere and mythology of Evil West, but a mostly unlikable cast of generic stereotypes and some strange graphical decisions can derail the experience. While the game runs just fine on Xbox Series X in performance or quality mode, there’s a strange hybrid between last-gen characters mixed with new-gen visual techniques that can sear your retinas if you stare too long at the screen.

Evil West essentially looks like an Xbox 360 game that has been gently remastered, throwing on a few modern flourishes to bring the game up to contemporary speed. Not a bad idea if done properly, but when you’ve got a primary point of focus in a richly-detailed protagonist, who is set in a last-gen world of muddy textures and poor HDR, it’s ultimately a discordant effect on the eyes.

But look beyond the formulaic design, one-note characters, and graphically bizarre decisions, and you’ll find a truly fun game to burn through over a weekend. There’s a curious joy in games that have a killer left hook between dead average design, and Evil West embodies the exhilaration of an adventure developed by a studio that isn’t trying to appease its investors. It’s creative, and oozes atmosphere with its terrifying monsters and cliched dialogue, it has plenty of energy while not feeling like a cheap imitation of its primary inspiration, and it doesn’t feel like it rolled off an assembly line of cookie-cutter design that plays it safe.

Suppose you’re looking for a simple blast from the past that has a one-track mind for unleashing lead, while experimenting with a rich combat system that makes you feel like an unstoppable gunslinger? In that case, Evil West is a sharpshooting dream that you don’t see enough of these days.

Evil West releases tomorrow, 22 November for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.


Evil West review

Indisputably flawed but undeniably fun when all the gears are turning, Evil West’s over-the-top vampire-slaying action will have you filling your hands with iron from dusk till dawn.

 7
Evil West was reviewed on Xbox Series X

Want Evil West? South Africans can pick up a copy from these retailers:

Koodoo

Nexus

BT Games

Oasis Gaming

Game4U

Loot