Weird West is one of those games I vaguely remembered for overall positive reception around the time of its initial release as “impressive RPG debut”. The only expectation I had for this title was a distinct setting – a western with supernatural touch. You can take my word for it, the developers were keenly aware of the game’s selling point and an atmospheric intro sequence neatly establishes just how weird the West may get. To give credit where it is due, this title does an excellent job at getting the player hooked in early. However, once the novelty effect wears off, the further you delve into the story, the more it starts to drag on. Impressive as it may be, Weird West also comes with a long list of caveats, all neatly packed into one mixed bag. Depending on what you value the most in games, the scales may easily tip either way.
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Starts with a bang
Literally. After witnessing a strange occult ritual, shift in perspective takes the player to a scene of a ranch assaulted by a gang of armed outlaws. A single shot wakes up the protagonist, who runs outside only to see her husband carried away by the masked goons, and her child dead on the spot. This is not a tale of sunshine and puppies. In a proper western fashion, the former bounty hunter digs up her trusty revolver and sets out into the world with a score to settle. Writing is definitely one of the stronger sides of Weird West and the opening sequence is almost too good, with how well it sets the tone and maturity of the story. Frankly, nothing afterwards was able to match this impact for me. Jane Bell is a character we are going to spend the most time with, as her storyline gradually introduces the many mechanics of the game, including one both intriguing and polarising in equal measure – Weird West lets on quite early it is a story of multiple protagonists.

For a narrative-driven game this sounds like both daring and excellent idea with a lot of potential. Shifts in perspective allow the player to witness Weird West from multiple angles, while also creating space for the choices made during the previous chapter to shape the world. At least on paper, as when it comes to execution, it is mixed much like everything else. To avoid spoilers, I cannot delve into specific examples, however for how much the game is advertising its freedom, the key story choices generally had less gravity to them than I would expect. Furthermore, most of dilemmas in the game leave the player with two-dimensional “good or bad” pick, while some story dialogues simply play out as exposition dumps, leaving the player with no means to shape the conversation in a meaningful way. Enough said, that later chapters get progressively shorter, as once you become aware of Weird West’s limitations, it starts to feel like you are a passenger, watching the story play out as you drive by, rather than its active participant.

Guns, explosives, and elemental tornado
Fitting to the name of the game, the combat of Weird West is just that. For the record, being a pacifist is not an option in this title, besides you are not a bounty hunter out for blood to keep your iron holstered. That said, in many combat scenarios you have the choice whether to go in quiet or loud. Let’s start sneaky, as while it is a perfectly valid approach, there is less nuance to it. Assuming you catch your adversaries unaware, you are able to get behind a foe and strangle them unconscious. In order to make the stealth valid, the enemies take some time to “discover” the player or any bodies left out in the open. Moreover, any bushes you can fit into will make you impossible to discover, even if a guard steps on your toes. On the downside, any noise (especially gunfire) will kick up the hornets’ nest, and every camp has a group of enemies staying closeby, making fully quiet clean-up particularly challenging. Then again, stealth mechanics also reveal that enemy AI is a tad silly, as it is perfectly able to make a conveniently long pause beside freshly discovered body, completely unfazed by previous 5 bodies already piled up on the spot.
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When things do eventually get loud, there is a lot more possibilities available. Not only there are 3 firearm types – pistol, shotgun and repeater rifle – each weapon comes with a dedicated skill tree. On top of that, there are several types of grenades to share the love with multiple enemies at once and surprisingly prevalent barrels filled with all kinds of environmental hazards. Because every farm out in the West needs two neon-green barrels of poison for no particular reason. Getting back to skills, they are divided into 2 categories – passive bonuses and active abilities. The latter, relying on quickly depleting energy bar, is what evens the odds in 5 vs 1 fight. Rapid fire, explosive bullets, burst of infinite ammo, damage shield or summoning a tornado are just a few possible tricks up the player’s sleeve. Admittedly, not all abilities are equally useful (there is a melee tree I didn’t use), however once everyone starts blasting, even the slow-motion mode doesn’t always suffice to make sense of the ensuing chaos and collateral damage is a given. In short, not only it is a challenge to make sense of the fight flow, occasionally while looting corpses you will come to realise that one of them belongs to your own posse, and it might be time to load a save.

Worth a separate mention is the currency used to upgrade characters, as both passive and active trees rely on collectible items. Not a single point of experience is present throughout the game. Completing quests merely advances the story, while combat is just means to an end – granting at best a monetary reward. To become stronger, the player must explore the world and loot its many cupboards.
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Curiosity killed the cat
Let’s summarise then. We have a story that hooks you in, only to eventually overstay its welcome; chaotic combat, sprinkled with minor bugs and gameplay which primarily serves to facilitate the aforementioned narrative. One may begin to question – why bother playing in the first place? For me, the answer is a ‘vivid setting’. To my eyes, when Weird West works, it does so like clockwork. I am especially fond of the first chapter, which is a textbook Western story, but also a well-paced gateway to how much of the mysterious and supernatural is out there. Vengeful ghosts, zombie plague, ancient temples built of unknown glass-like substance or a mischievous witch for whom all of the existence is a child’s play. To be fair, some of the symbolism in the game is too “on the nose” for my liking, but I did love exploring the world at my own pace. Even if my search was driven by the appreciation for the ideas behind the game, and oddly specific interactions the player may have with the world, rather than whatever the developers might’ve intended.

Final verdict time – would I recommend the game? If you are the kind of person who enjoys odd indie titles in search of something unique and distinct, then yes. However, you need to bear in mind that Weird West requires a certain patience and occasionally looking the other way to be enjoyed. Don’t feel bad about rushing the ending either, you are likely to figure things out way sooner than the game catches on its time for a curtain call. On the other hand, if you are looking for a classic immersive sim or a gameplay-focused experience, you are likely to find the game shallow and drop it long before the credits roll. In the end, I am giving the game a pass mark for daring to be ambitious, despite the flawed execution.