14 DAY TRIAL // 
Jesse Rentier is Evil West. The two names are inseparable when talking about Flying Wild Hog’s latest game. I’ve rarely felt so familiar stepping into the shoes of a character in a game then jumping into the booth of Jesse Rentier, a different type of cowboy, one that hunts vampires and other monstrosities in an infested Wild West.
Set in the late 1800s, Evil West focuses on Rentier family, well-known vampire hunters and founders of the Rentier Institute, an organization that is seen as the last bastion of defense against “Sanguiesuge,” (leech) the generic name given to everything related to vampires.
In the alternate 19th century USA, humans have been forced to research new technologies to help them combat vampires. They’re now on the verge of turning from prey into predators, but there’s just one thing preventing them from achieving that: a throng of evolved vampires that are now actively hunting humans.
Your role is to make sure that the source of the new line of vampires who are now breeding like rabbits, something that wasn’t possible before, is put down for good. Evil West does a good job at keeping you interested in the narrative, even though the story is rather forgettable. Exposition is very important in Evil West since this is how most of background information is conveyed. And the best part is that the large majority of the notes you find throughout the game are voiced, so there is no need to read!
Where Evil West really shines is combat. Imagine a slightly slower God of War combat system, but with guns and other steampunk weapons. Kicking vampires in the groin has never felt so good, and Jesse Rentier’s voice actor is doing a great job highlighting every peak moment during and after battles.
Despite feeling a bit sluggish when it comes to movement, the combat system is extremely responsive and precise. You can dodge, block and roll the second you push the correct buttons. The latter is very important since the game features a very awkward control scheme if you play with mouse and keyboard. Another important thing worth mentioning is that you’ll be able to cancel any action, so you’re never locked into animations.
Every fight feels strangely addictive thanks to the many weapons and abilities Jesse religiously employs during his hunts. I think the best way to describe Evil West’s high-octane action is “power fantasy.” You have a pretty deep perks skill where you can unlock abilities as you level up, and then you have another tree where you can purchase new powers and improve your weapons’ attacks by augmenting them with electricity or raw damage.
Evil West is not a hard game even on the hardest difficulty. As expected, enemies have more life and hit harder, but Jesse has so many tools at his disposal to dispatch the vampires that the only difference between normal and hardest difficulty is the time you spend in fights. Also, you have to pay a bit more attention to enemies’ movements because two hits are usually enough to die.
Starting with a simple revolver and a basic spiked gauntlet, Jesse becomes a mobile arsenal in no more than four chapters. It takes a bit of time to get used to all the new abilities he acquires, but after a few fights it’s easy to identify the most powerful moves and immediately recognize when to use them.
All fights take place in arenas, so there’s no running away. In fact, the entire game is 100% linear, as Jesse must traverse a predetermined path to his objectives. Yes, there’s climbing, jumping and crawling, but everything is scripted, so you’ll just have to push a button and Jesse will execute the action needed to continue on the path. There are some hidden paths and areas waiting to be discovered, but that will not deter Jesse from the main track.
Perhaps it’s better that Evil West does away with the exploration part and fully focuses on making the combat as glorious as possible. Progression feels very well balanced, sans the last boss where you immediately feel a difficulty spike, but that just means it will take a bit longer to roll the credits.
Speaking of boss fights, Jesse is adequately geared to eradicate any vampire highborn and other bosses he encounters along his journey. It’s just a matter of methodically punching, kicking, shooting, rolling, and dodging at the right time.
Evil West is first and foremost an action game, but that doesn’t mean that narrative doesn’t get any development. After all, this is a story-focused vampire-hunting game, so even if that’s certainly not its strong point, it’s serviceable enough to keep you engaged. Not to mention that the voice acting is absolutely stellar.
The Good
- Solid combat system
- Varied arsenal
- Deep perks tree and upgradable weapons
- Stellar voice acting
- Co-op gameplay
The Bad
- Forgettable story
- 100% linear
- It lacks memorable characters apart from Jesse
- Awkward mouse + keyboard control scheme
Conclusion
High-octane combat, gruff voices, dad jokes, gory action and top-tier monster slaying are among the strongest points of Flying Wild Hog’s latest game. It would be unfair to compare Evil West with triple A games that have huge budgets, even though the former does benefits from some high-quality cutscenes and stellar voice acting.
I enjoyed my 12 hours in an infested Wild West, hunting vampires in indescribable ways, and I’m definitely up for a sequel. For those looking for non-stop combat action in a steampunk setting, Evil West will definitely quench your thirst for both, and then some.
Review code was provided by the publisher.
