Are there any co-op Western games?

[komi]

Are there any games in the Western genre that have a co-op story or missions you can play with friends?

Before anyone mentions RDR/RDR2, I already know those, but that's not the type of multiplayer I'm looking for. I was thinking more of something that has a co-op campaign mode, not open multiplayer servers where anyone can join and mess around.

[Electric Cupcake]

Portal 2?

[komi]

Originally posted by Electric Cupcake:

Portal 2?

That's not a Western at all...

[Drab]

You're looking for 'Old West' games, not 'Western'.

[Kobs]

There's dead and buried but it's for VR, awesome game though you can duel while other players are watching or play 2 against 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfXvMaKml90&ab_channel=SweSurvivors
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueLmG0darlI&ab_channel=RoadtoVR

[komi]

Originally posted by Drab:

You're looking for 'Old West' games, not 'Western'.

Same thing. "Western" has been used as a genre name for decades in the English-speaking world to describe media that's set in the "Old West".

Originally posted by Kobs:

There's dead and buried but it's for VR, awesome game though you can duel while other players are watching or play 2 against 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfXvMaKml90&ab_channel=SweSurvivors
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueLmG0darlI&ab_channel=RoadtoVR

I don't have any VR equipment. Is that a game you can play in "normal" mode too? I know some VR games have that option, to play without actually doing VR...

[xAlphaStarOmegax]

There's an old game called 'Smoking Guns'.

[Electric Cupcake]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4i1k5lfwzc

[Affronter]

How does this sound...

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1065310/Evil_West/

[Devsman]

I always found it weird that Western games are overrun with shooters.

It just intuitively made sense to me that a vanilla Western game should be an ARPG with strong decision mechanics and hand-to-hand combat with whip and quick fire pistol gadgets.

I mean, sure, Western films are known for the shootouts, but there's also always the element of a power struggle, which just screams dialog and decision trees, and you usually have a good barfight or too also. How you supposed to grab a guy by the collar and slide him down the bar in an FPS?

[qpardo]

"sunset riders", better than that game saga called redhead cremation or whatever

[qpardo]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0R3k6VdZLUw&ab_channel=WorldofLongplays

[komi]

Originally posted by xAlphaStarOmegax:

There's an old game called 'Smoking Guns'.

Hm, never played that one. I'll give it a look, thanks.

Originally posted by Electric Cupcake:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4i1k5lfwzc

Originally posted by gruv¡:

"sunset riders", better than that game saga called redhead cremation or whatever

Ah man, those two are blasts from the past! Haven't played them since the 90s. Thanks for the reminder. I just looked and found out that they're both available on Nintendo Switch. I wonder if the co-op mode is still there...

Originally posted by Affronter:

How does this sound...

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1065310/Evil_West/

Looks more steampunk than what I initially had in mind, but it does look pretty cool. I'm a big fan of the game "Hard West" and that game seems to have a similar tone to it. I'll keep it bookmarked, thanks.

Originally posted by Devsman:

I always found it weird that Western games are overrun with shooters.

It just intuitively made sense to me that a vanilla Western game should be an ARPG with strong decision mechanics and hand-to-hand combat with whip and quick fire pistol gadgets.

I mean, sure, Western films are known for the shootouts, but there's also always the element of a power struggle, which just screams dialog and decision trees, and you usually have a good barfight or too also. How you supposed to grab a guy by the collar and slide him down the bar in an FPS?

I seem to recall "Red Dead Redemption" had some moments of fisticuffs and non-shooting related mechanics (herding cattle, breaking horses, etc). But yeah, I think at the end of the day Westerns are unlikely to really escape the trope of "all guns blazing".

For me it's not the constant shootouts that are a big problem, but the way some games handle them. Firearms in some Western games reload improbably fast and handle very differently to how they would have in real life, particularly for games set around the mid-1800s when percussion guns were still common (and yet for some reason in such games everybody in 1865 has a cartridge revolver and a Henry rifle). I'd love to see a Western game that authentically simulates cap-and-ball revolvers and percussion breechloading (or even muzzleloading) riles. It would really encourage you to pick your shots and make every bullet count, rather than "spray and pray" like you're in Call of Duty.

[Devsman]

Originally posted by komi:

Originally posted by Devsman:

I always found it weird that Western games are overrun with shooters.

It just intuitively made sense to me that a vanilla Western game should be an ARPG with strong decision mechanics and hand-to-hand combat with whip and quick fire pistol gadgets.

I mean, sure, Western films are known for the shootouts, but there's also always the element of a power struggle, which just screams dialog and decision trees, and you usually have a good barfight or too also. How you supposed to grab a guy by the collar and slide him down the bar in an FPS?

I seem to recall "Red Dead Redemption" had some moments of fisticuffs and non-shooting related mechanics (herding cattle, breaking horses, etc). But yeah, I think at the end of the day Westerns are unlikely to really escape the trope of "all guns blazing".

For me it's not the constant shootouts that are a big problem, but the way some games handle them. Firearms in some Western games reload improbably fast and handle very differently to how they would have in real life, particularly for games set around the mid-1800s when percussion guns were still common (and yet for some reason in such games everybody in 1865 has a cartridge revolver and a Henry rifle). I'd love to see a Western game that authentically simulates cap-and-ball revolvers and percussion breechloading (or even muzzleloading) riles. It would really encourage you to pick your shots and make every bullet count, rather than "spray and pray" like you're in Call of Duty.

On that last note, there was a mod for Medal of Honor Allied Assault that I always wanted to try but couldn't get to work. It turned the game into a Civil War theme, which was awesome enough already, but what made it look insanely cool was that you legit had a musket which legit took like a full minute to reload after each shot. And they even changed the animation so your character pulls out the cleaning rod and sticks it in the barrel, and does the powder, and inserts the ball, and packs it down (I think that's right; it's been like 20 years and I don't remember the proper reload procedure for a musket of this era).

I spent days trying to get that thing to run but, well, it was my first time trying to mod a game, so...

You know, I never thought about it before, but the Civil War actually would have taken place during the Old West era, so yeah it doesn't actually make any sense that Western films always have so much better guns than you expect from the Civil War. I guess movie and game people just figure nobody wants to wait while people reload their guns forever. And I guess they're probably right.

[permanent name]

The civil war had machinegun emplacements like gatling guns. One of the reasons it was so bloody was that people didn’t understand machineguns and would charge the nests like they were a napoleonic gunfort. Sort of like a lot of people did in WW1. There weren’t many of them though and generals typically wouldn’t use them correctly anyway. The muskets and odd rifle were mostly for infantry, since they were cheap, while cavalry usually had a black powder revolver.

There’s a half life civil war mod that probably still works out there with some hot musket and cannon action though.

Anyway, I think Pippin Barr made a co-op cowboy game in the vein of Sunset Riders. Either him or Cactus Games.

[komi]

Originally posted by Devsman:

And they even changed the animation so your character pulls out the cleaning rod and sticks it in the barrel, and does the powder, and inserts the ball, and packs it down (I think that's right; it's been like 20 years and I don't remember the proper reload procedure for a musket of this era).

Step 1: Tear paper cartridge with teeth, pour powder from cartridge down muzzle.
Step 2: Stuff paper down muzzle as wadding, together with lead ball or bullet, and ram home.
Step 3: place percussion cap, and prepare to aim/fire.

Also technically it would have been called a "ramrod", not a "cleaning rod" ;)

Originally posted by Devsman:

You know, I never thought about it before, but the Civil War actually would have taken place during the Old West era

Not only that, but some of the most important formative events of the Old West happened before the ACW even started. The California Gold Rush kicked off in 1848, a time when most people were still carrying muskets and single-shot pistols. Cap-and-ball revolvers were around, but expensive and rare, and if you wanted a multi-shot weapon circa late-1840s or early-1850s your more likely choice would either have been a double-barreled long-gun (still a muzzle-loader), or one of those pepperbox handguns (also a muzzle-loader).

Originally posted by Devsman:

I guess movie and game people just figure nobody wants to wait while people reload their guns forever. And I guess they're probably right.

I imagine so. Looking at what sorts of games are popular with this generation, it seems like people want high-speed action, and muzzle-loaders (even cap-and-ball revolvers) don't really lend themselves to that.

Originally posted by permanent name:

Anyway, I think Pippin Barr made a co-op cowboy game in the vein of Sunset Riders. Either him or Cactus Games.

I'm not sure who that is, sorry.