In this Evil West Review, I will share my impressions on what makes this over-the-top vampire-hunting action adventure worth your energy. But the main question is, should you purchase the game on day 1? Is character customization deep enough? Combat-wise, how does it compare to other shooters, beat-em-ups, and games of a similar genre like Doom? We will talk about these and more!

Evil West Review

Evil West Review – Story and Setting

Evil West is set in the Wild West where you play as an infamous Vampire Hunter named Jesse Rentier. Nobody takes slaughtering vampires more seriously than the Rentier Family with their Institute that is dedicated to decimating these creatures to save America from ultimate destruction. So much so that they decapitate, dismember, and torch these monsters unapologetically. The story revolves around stopping a group of vampires who are engaging in dangerous experiments to preserve their bloodline.

The story is told in a straightforward manner involving 2 factions who are both trying to adapt in order to survive the decimation of their species. You can think of it as a traditional battle between good and evil hoping to increase your cache of weapons to finally get rid of them once and for all. The threats that you’re confronted with just keep escalating and escalating, making the narrative’s format and the fate of the characters predictable. Don’t expect a rollercoaster of twists and turns when coming into Evil West.

When it comes to the characters themselves, I found it difficult to care about them despite the hardships they were going through. They were two-dimensional and were simply there to fill out different roles in the game. Forming strong bonds wasn’t a possibility either since interactions were limited to a select few NPCs, whom you would approach before initiating the next mission. Additionally, most of them were fleshed out with the use of notes that you pick up along the way, which left something to be desired. I would have preferred it if we could organically get to know these characters instead by giving us the option to initiate deeper conversations.

Another way that the story is told is through cinematics where we get to see the different locations that the world has to offer. I did not expect it to have this much variation in the Wild West, thereby exceeding my expectations. You’ll visit snowy mountains that feel isolating and dreadful and then make your way over to hot and arid deserts, which seem inviting despite the threats looming just over the horizon. In this regard, I was excited to move from one expansive area to the next to experience what new terrors awaited me.

Evil West Review – Gameplay and Combat

Progression

Character progression is done at a steady pace, usually midway or after completing a mission. Even if some missions took longer than others, I didn’t mind it at all because of the perks I wanted to try out, the different weapons I got to experiment with, the enemy variety, and the exhilarating and snappy combat.

Compared to upgrades, which take on a more passive approach to improve weapon functionality, perks really change the way you play. For instance, you can dash toward the enemies to stun them in the process, and then unleash and wild fury of punches until they’re beaten to a pulp. Or you can perform an uppercut and then throw them on spiked traps to make them explode. These are just some of the things you can do that improve the game’s dynamic combat more and more as you progress further. New mechanics are constantly being introduced, making encounters feel fresh at nearly every turn.

The number of moves you learn may seem daunting at first but it won’t be the case for long once you become more familiar with the game’s systems. Unlike Devil May Cry and Darksiders, Evil West will not require you to memorize a ton of combinations to throw in heavy punches or to blast a monster’s head off, making it a bit more new player friendly.

Weapons and Armor

Similar to the movesets, you get to discover new and interesting weapons to sink your teeth into during the campaign. With a wide variety of killing tools at your disposal, the game challenges you to mix things up. The traditional rock-paper-scissors counter model exists somewhat in Evil West, and this allows the player to make use of their full repertoire. Because of how different each weapon is, you’re encouraged to experiment with what works best for your playstyle. What’s also cool is the game lets you respec your upgrades for free, encouraging experimentation.

On the other hand, this approach is a double-edged sword because, by the time you obtain all of the weapons, you will likely have fallen into the trap of still using the ones you’ve discovered beforehand. This is primarily due to the time you’ve spent wielding them, as well as their inherent effectiveness in killing vampires quickly. For example, I always favored the Zapper and Rifle more than the Crossbow because of how easy and effective they are to use. These are focused more on executing quick melee actions and high damage from afar, respectively.

The Zapper will also make you look badass as you charge toward targets. In particular, it gives off a comical effect that shows enemies’ electrified skeletons flashing before our very eyes, reminiscent of old-school cartoons.

Additionally, you do have access to armor but not in the traditional sense of improving your stats. The armor system merely serves as a means of customizing your visual appearance given that there is no character creation in the game. You can change other parts of your outfit such as your scarf and suit but this isn’t as detailed or deep in any way. The color and design changes are minimal at best, without any impact on the gameplay whatsoever.

The Hub

After every mission, you’re transported back to the hub. This is pretty bare bones, and I’m not sure if it’s because the game isn’t an RPG at its core, but there really isn’t much to do here. You essentially run around and interact with certain NPCs to trigger quests and respec your upgrades and perks, but that’s about it.

There’s no way for you to upgrade sections of the hub, meaning, there doesn’t seem to be any reason to invest time and resources to make it look visually stunning. It would have been better if this was turned into an interface where you can do everything without having to run around, since this just seems to waste time, and the developers could spend that energy on other aspects of the game.

Exploration and Puzzle Design

Exploration is average at best, and an afterthought at worst. Rather than willingly exploring the caverns of the Wild West because you want to discover new places, it feels like the player needs to in order to gain more coins. This is the only currency available that is used to purchase extra upgrades to enhance your weapons.

Additionally, you’ll come across random puzzle designs, which are on the simpler side of things. For instance, you’d be shooting wooden boards situated above you or rotating valves to move to the next area. They’re effortless to do and act as a mere addition to the game in order to introduce a small bit of complexity, and not much else.

Another thing that I find odd is the save choice since you can’t manually save the game. Instead, there are milestones spread throughout the campaign that will automatically save your progress. Although there’s an indicator, these aren’t as frequent as you’d like.

Combat and Difficulty

Evil West succeeds in delivering over-the-top action featuring very responsive combat encounters that feel impactful and effective. This most certainly is the type of game you would play if you enjoy blood, gore, and good execution moves in between. It’s a fast-paced third-person shooter that will continually keep you on the edge of your seat because of the frenetic style.

One of the best mechanics in the game to keep the combat flowing is unlimited ammunition. Instead of having a finite number of shots, guns only need to wait for them to be automatically “reloaded” in order to keep firing. Jesse does not need to pick up ammo on the ground and can therefore concentrate on hitting enemies.

Speaking of enemies, you will encounter a decent variety of creatures that impacts the game’s difficulty, which escalates at a normal pace. As such, you can easily adapt to their actions by identifying and testing the best perks and weapons to use to finish them off. For those who have a fear of spiders, there is an accessibility option, which will totally disable them.

But one encounter did break the tempo of the game for me and it involved a boss fight. As mentioned previously, combat is very quick and action is derived on a moment-to-moment basis. However, for this specific encounter, I was forced into a slower combat set piece because of how spongy the boss was. While it did not grind to a halt, this was noticeably slower than the rest of the game’s pace.

Audio, Visuals & Design

Evil West’s visuals are ambitious and excessive in all the right ways. In fact, it’s far from being grim despite hunting heinous creatures. The dark subject matter is heartily light due to the absurdity of the gratuitous amounts of gore and violence. There is a ton of visual variety, which proves to be a feast for the senses. Jesse will get to explore cold, snowy mountains, wretched and toxic swamps, and even claustrophobic lairs.

However, one noticeable design flaw is in some boxed locations. While the enemies themselves are unique enough and pose different kinds of challenges, the areas in which these fights take place do not. Jesse and his prey are often trapped in what are essentially wide circular arenas that are generally flat and do not have much cover or other interactables aside from the oddly placed TNT Barrels. The game imposes this style a bit too often, making some fights feel all too familiar too often.

When it comes to the audio, the background music and sound effects of weapons and enemy attacks are outstanding. These make combat encounters much more enticing to engage in. For instance, Zappers give off a deep droning buzz when a shocked opponent thrashes about while the Rifle sounds like a very loud crack from a distance. Furthermore, the voice acting is equally excellent, especially for Jesse who often says one-liners after combat. These can be funny or cheesy at times and are usually contextually accurate. Such is the case when he exclaims that he hates spiders right after slaying a mutated bipedal arachnid.

From a technical standpoint, I did not encounter any crashes or major bugs throughout my playthrough. And generally, the framerate remained stable during this time.

Replayability and Pricepoint

Finishing Evil West can take up to 15 hours depending on how much of the world you end up exploring. This is further extended if you engage in co-op with a friend as you both experiment and try out the upgrades of every weapon. The game offers some form of replayability by allowing you to repeat missions to obtain all the bucks, unique chests, and upgrades.

Additionally, its price is steep for the playtime at 49.99 USD for PC and 59.99 USD for consoles. Because of this, I would recommend waiting for a sale until it goes down, but you will want to play Evil West for the exciting gameplay and combat pace at some point.

Final Thoughts

Evil West is an effective and exaggerated action adventure game that a lot of us have been waiting for, because it successfully features unforgettable moments of gore and destruction. More than anything, the title elevates the exciting gameplay at every turn as you progress further on in the campaign. This is due to the well-paced introduction of new weapons, which are ripe for experimentation, together with vampires who become more aggressive and menacing later on.

Combat encounters are cohesively well done because of how good weapon handling feels as well as the visual and audio feedback given off by your enemies when they’re being shot at or punched. It’ll often remind you of games from the 90s where you simply get to sit down, “relax”, and enjoy the journey of destroying and dismembering the forces of evil. You can basically turn off your brain and relish in the carnage with Evil West.

However, the game somewhat stumbles in the presentation of its story since it isn’t as deep as I would’ve liked. While the world is expanded through discovering collectibles like notes, the implementation isn’t as impactful as actually hearing things from the characters themselves. This has become a trend of many newerish games, and one that hope ends soon.

Lastly, environments are visually striking and varied enough to look unique. You’ll certainly appreciate the Wild West’s art style more even if you’re not into Western-themed settings. If you are ready to become the best vampire hunter you can be and experiment with the many upgrades, perks, and weapons available to you, then I would recommend giving this game a try when it goes on sale.

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What did you think of this Evil West Review? Are you going to play the game on day 1 or wait for a sale? Let us know in the comments below. Be sure to drop by our Twitch Channel if you have questions about the game! If you enjoyed this review, be sure to check out our God of War Ragnarok Review: Game of the Year? and Resident Evil Village: Winters Expansion Review – A Hauntingly Good REVisit.