14 DAY TRIAL // 
What a Wild West look like when overrun by demons and undead? Pretty grim, as shown by the folks at Ice Code Games, the studio behind Hard West II, tactical turn-based game that mixes supernatural and RPG elements.
Our story starts with a failed train robbing operation and evolves into a race against time to recover … your lost soul. Although the story is told from Gin Carter’s perspective, a notorious outlaw with a reputation of being very dangerous, you’ll be controlling an entire posse throughout the entire campaign.
Hard West II is perfectly suitable for fans of XCOM-like games, but it’s important to mention that the game does offer that needed twist to make it standout from XCOM and other games in the same genre.
That twist is called “Bravado,” a combat mechanic that replenishes your entire action points upon killing an enemy (or an ally!). Just like in most turn-based games, you have a certain number of action points (in this case 3 points), which you can use for actions. Typically, using a ranged weapon costs either 2 or 3 points, which leaves you just enough room to move for 1 action point and shoot your weapon.
The problem is that many enemies have more HP than your weapon’s damage, so that’s where your tactical thinking comes in place. You must find ways to “freshen” up those enemies so that you can make use of the Bravado mechanic and keep eliminating enemies. That’s why it’s important to have weapons that can do just enough damage to kill an enemy with just one shot.
To support the Bravado mechanic, Hard West II introduces a “cards” system where you can gear up your characters with different “poker hands.” This is just as important as the Bravado mechanic because it enables some of the innate abilities your characters are gifted with, such as more damage when shooting revolvers, shotguns, rifles, as well as other benefits and perks.
Cards are usually rewarded after completing story missions, so you won’t have to worry about missing any for the more powerful combinations like four-of-a-kind or royal flush. I can’t stress enough hour powerful these truly are once you manage to complete the better poker hands.
In between story missions, you’ll be handed side quests that usually reward better gear, so don’t shy away from taking one “Wanted: Dead or Alive” missions or those who require you to investigate certain locations. They don’t take long and aren’t as hard as the main missions anyway.
Unfortunately, outside the main narrative and combat, the world of Hard West II is pretty empty. While you’ll be meeting some mildly interesting characters, the interaction is limited to offering quests and rewards.
As far as the RPG elements go, your six characters that you’ll be able to play with have pre-scripted interactions that allow you to choose with which to side. Siding with one character will give your points toward Gin’s relations with them and will eventually turn them into friends and allies if you manage to accrue enough points. It’s another interesting mechanic that seamlessly blends and complements the other that make the bulk of the combat system.
You see, the more loyal the members of your posse are, the more powerful they become. Each character has a special ability that will allow you to solve side quests without using any resources. If you’re missing certain items and your loyal gauge with your posse party is too low, you won’t even be able to finish some side quests.
That said, Hard West II offers enough variation to keep you entertained for dozens of hours. Although there are six main characters in the game, you can only take four in a mission. More importantly, each character has a so-called “ultimate ability” that upgrades the better the poker hand they’re given. These powerful abilities are different for each character, leaving room for different tactics.
Story-wise, Hard West II isn’t anything to brag about, but it’s appealing enough to keep you going, wanting to learn more about the plot. Ultimately, it’s a serviceable story that in no way takes away the fun, and smartly complements the tactical aspects of the game.
The Good
- Some interesting unique combat mechanics
- Great presentation and voice-acting
- Enough skills variation
The Bad
- Balancing issues
- Very light on the RPG elements
- Empty world beyond combat
- No replayability
Conclusion
If you’re a fan of turn-based strategy games, Hard West II is a no brainer. The game does what it sets out to do, despite lacking deeper RPG elements and some balancing issues. I also loved the voice-acting and the overall presentation of the game. I’d like to see more of the latter in small budget titles, it shouldn’t be that hard to achieve. Play this if you love XCOM, but don’t play it like XCOM!
Review code provided by the publisher.
