Developer: Upstream Arcade
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Switch, Xbox One (Reviewed)
Genre: Action, Adventure
Publisher: Raw Fury
West of Dead the hellish wild west roguelike voiced by Ron Perlman that is set in an amazing dark and cartoony world. You play as a flamed headed character as you navigate through every murkier chapter of Purgatory.
The dark cartoony world and art style make this game visually stunning, every aspect of the characters, enemies, and environment detail fit perfectly well into the world of West of Dead. This is all complemented with the voice acting skills of Ron Perlman who helps to bring your character to life. The wild west theme, music, and artifacts further enhance the level of immersion transporting you to this hellish world. Sound effects evoke the wild west. The animations are impressive and the character design is superb. The clever use of lighting sources serve as game mechanics and also a way of making your journey more treacherous.
The game mechanics centre around a procedurally generated roguelike shooter that uses a cover system. If you expect to casually pick up this game and navigate this world with ease you will be surprised, a fundamental understanding of the cover mechanics, dodge, and twin-stick shooting controls are needed. There is a fairly steep learning curve to progress any sort of distance within each chapter. It can be frustrating at the start but as you learn more the game becomes more enjoyable. The cover mechanism, dodging, and shooting are all super responsive and you feel in total control which is required as this game is unforgiving if you make mistakes. It’s all about strategy and how you will approach to clear out a section of enemies. The gameplay is varied enough to keep you interested and coming back for more pain. A decent variety of enemies will keep you on your toes and will engage your brain.
West of Dead picks the wild west theme in purgatory and excels at bringing it to life. Every detail from the room layouts, the voice acting (Ron Perlman), sound effects, soundtrack, and animations bring this world to life. It’s a superbly crafted game and the art-style is stunning. The gameplay mechanics are on point and unforgiving, the difficulty level is quite severe in parts but this adds to the sense of being in purgatory. If you need a roguelike fix, this is a superb choice.
Overall: 8/10
Enjoys more than the odd game, long time gamer, somewhat a technologist and everything else in between.
Also enjoys a good solid game of FIFA online. Currently PS4, XBOX 360 and STEAM.
