Hard West Review (PC)

good
key review info
  • Game: Hard West
  • Platform: PC
  • Show system requirements
  • Gamepad support: No
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Hard West tactics view

My mission is to take out a demonic former gang leader who is protected by two layers of henchmen, and I am currently in a tight spot, with one member of my party down for the count and the rest pinned down under heavy fire.

Hard West is not a forgiving title, and one bad move, like leaving one character out of cover at the end of his turn, can have swift and entirely negative results that might be impossible to recover from.

To deal with the demon and his associates, I first sought full cover, reloaded all my weapons, used some healing herbs, and then moved just one character cautiously, taking out opponents with long-range fire with my two backups.

As my protagonist, Warren, finally confronted the enemy leader, I managed to complete my mission by killing him using Golden Bullet power that allowed me to shoot through walls and cover and deal with his remaining three health.

Hard West is a game that takes the core tactics features that the rebooted XCOM executed so well and aims to apply them to a new Western setting, with some surprising elements, some interesting results, but also some obvious limitations.

The title is at the moment offered on the PC and was developed by CreativeForge Games, with publishing duties handled by Gambitious Digital Entertainment.

Story

Hard West offers stories of revenge and destruction, all taking place in a version of the Western United States in the late XIX century that's infused with both the passions and failings of men and with supernatural forces that include Death and a personification of the Devil.

The protagonist of the eight scenarios is a man called Warren, who starts off worrying about money and the kidnapping of the love of his life, but quickly finds himself in over his head, dealing with powers he does not fully understand.

Some of the narrative threads involve other characters that are trying to make their way through this often hellish world, and the stories that the developers at CreativeForge Games deliver are engaging as long as the player has at least some interest in a mix of classic spaghetti western ideas or series like Deadwood or The Stand.

Hard West combat moment
Hard West combat moment

When gamers are not engaged in combat, they will travel through locations on an overland map, and there's a lot of text to process as they deal with characters, seek ways to deal with their quests, and even engage with some puzzles.

The writing is mostly captivating, and the scenarios are not overly long, but after playing through about four of them, the narrative seems less attractive as the tropes become dominant in Hard West, and the title fails to offer any new ideas.

Gameplay

Hard West is a turn-based tactical title with plenty of role-playing game elements and a focus on the small unit strategies that will allow gamers to clear out the included levels while taking as little damage as possible.

Most characters have two action points that they can use when they are activated during a turn, allowing them to move and to shoot, which normally ends activity as soon as it is activated, which means that gamers need to carefully evaluate what they can achieve with each of them.

Each cowboy character has a Luck resource meter, which is depleted each time one of them avoids an enemy shot and replenishes when someone gets shot.

Hard West asks gamers to move through each location, all of them based on classic western themes, carefully evaluating enemy positions and choosing how best to clear them.

It's crucial to stay in cover, either full or half, because it mitigates damage dealt by enemy weapons and works with Luck to make characters more efficient.

Unlike XCOM, there's no overwatch move in the game, although enemies have a low-range reaction shot they can use, which means that the only way to take out opponents is to move forward and either overwhelm them with fire when they are in cover or move around to get a clear shot at them.

Gamers can start some scenarios in a sort of stealth state, able to subdue enemies for a limited number of turns while they get into the best positions for the coming firefights, but the feature is undermined by the unrealistic view cones of the enemy forces.

Hard West introduces a series of tweaks to this solid tactics-driven combat via the unique weapons and items that gamers can acquire from stores or by playing.

There are also special powers, including cannibalism and shots that never miss, all of them powered by Luck, which can be obtained from special playing cards that can deliver more bonuses when arranged into a poker hand.

The system can deliver some impressive firefights, especially when gamers need to do more than simply kill enemies, with an early bank heist offering a highlight, but there are also engagements that feel generic and repetitive.

Out of combat, gamers move an icon representing their party across an overland map, but there's almost no significant gameplay featured in this part of the title, with limited choices and some light trading to keep gamers occupied before they find another battle to take part in.

Hard West also offers replay value because of the difficulties and the modifiers that can be applied to each of the scenarios, although a more classic random battle system would have also been appreciated.

The biggest weakness of the title is that the combat mechanics, which are very fun for the first six to eight hours, can become a little repetitive as the player sees all the various cards can deliver regarding abilities and acquires the most interesting weapons in the game's world.

Enemies are not too bright and often fail to cooperate in any meaningful way, moving backward and towards more cover when they could gang up on one player character to severely limit his abilities or to even kill him.

Graphics and audio

Hard West uses an isometric perspective that will be very familiar to gamers who love the turn-based tactics genre, and this makes it easier to ignore the limited graphics quality of the title and to encourage players to focus on the gameplay.

CreativeForge Games has managed to capture the feel of the old western and add a supernatural dimension that's well integrated into the world.

There are plenty of combat moments with identikit enemies and with locations that feel limited, even if they are well suited for the core mechanics of the title.

The overland map also lacks detail, and the text screens are sometimes hard to read, which encourages players to skip them and focus on combat rather than on narrative.

Hard West does feature a very solid soundtrack that manages both to underscore the weird nature of the game's world and to keep the player constantly thinking about the supernatural powers that can change the destinies of the characters.


The Good

  • Solid turn-based tactics mechanics
  • Mix of Western and supernatural

The Bad

  • Limited narrative appeal
  • Some repetitive combat

Conclusion

Hard West is a good but limited game, and at its current price, it offers a solid set of mechanics for those who are twiddling their turn-based tactics thumbs while they wait for the sequel to XCOM to arrive next year.

The combination of environments, core mechanics, character powers, and card setups can produce some impressive firefights that, when taken on their own, match the best that the genre has to offer.

The stories and the overall universe that hold them all together are less engaging in the long term, but it's worth playing through each of the scenarios at least once to see where the main character ends up.

Hard West is a good example of how a smaller team can take some already proven ideas and then tweak them to create an innovative experience that gives fans of a genre a morsel to enjoy while they wait for a bigger meal.

story 7
gameplay 8
concept 8
graphics 7
audio 8
multiplayer 0
final rating 7.5
Editor's review
good
 

Hard West images (20 Images)

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