The team behind the Shadow Warrior franchise have jumped back in time to the old west with their new IP, Evil West. This new title by Flying Wild Hog sees players take up the role of Jesse Rentier, a vampire slayer and heir to the Rentier Institute which seeks to rid the world of vampires. Armed with an impressive arsenal including an electric-powered gauntlet, Jesse will fight his way through hordes of monstrous beasts in this third-person action game.
While opinions differ on Evil West’s combat, with some saying it feels like an old-school arcadey experience and others calling it a relic from the Xbox 360 era, most agree that the world and character design is a highlight and at 10–14 hours, it doesn’t overstay its welcome.
Here’s what Australian critics are saying about the game.
KOALATY CRITICS – AUSTRALIAN CRITICS
Checkpoint Gaming – 7.5/10 (Lisa Pollifroni)
The constant change in how you play the game is overall satisfying, but its rinse and repeat formula of enemies and mini bosses became annoying the more time I spent with it. The location art and narrative is exciting, but I longed to be given more opportunities to explore and be rewarded for my endeavours based on the enticing nature of each area.
Explosion Network – 7/10 (Dylan Blight)
Although there’s nothing next-gen here to write about graphically, there is a constant awe of appreciation for the art team building these beautiful vistas and blood-soaked towns that Jesse ventures through. The characters themselves look as generic as they sound. Still, I appreciate the monster designs, especially the boss battles where grotesque monsters stand tall, covered in cages, fangs, and claws.
Game On AUS – No Score (Mikeey Barrow)
I really enjoyed my time with Evil West, obviously, this is a game that is marketed towards me, but I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of effort that the development team put into the voice acting and material of this game as a whole. There was really nothing I could fault with this Evil West and am more than happy to recommend this to anyone willing to read or ask. The game mechanics are fantastic, the story is interesting along with funny dialogue and great visuals.
MKAU Gaming – 8/10
If I had to describe Evil West, to me, it’s the end product of DOOM Eternal and the more recent God of War series having a baby. It’s got an old-school, arcadey feel to its design which I was really digging. Not a lot of games are doing this anymore, so it was good to see.
Player2 – B- (Paul James & Dylan Burns)
Dylan: My ambivalence stems, I suspect, from my recent oversaturation with action gaming, plus the fact that I just don’t feel like Evil West does anything particularly well. It is just okay. And if that’s what you are in the mood for – and I totally accept that gaming moods do change (I will often get to the point where I feast on C-grade games and love every moment) – then Evil West will likely connect with you more strongly. For me, it wasn’t quite Western-y enough (I’m not sure what I was expecting, perhaps a few cover-shoot-outs, a standoff in the middle of a dusty street…), and my disappointment with the writing soured the average gameplay.
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Press Start – 8.5/10 (Harry Kalogirou)
It’s a fairly by the numbers narrative that’s made entertaining by its exaggerated characters and overt cheesiness. While Jesse himself is a pretty cookie-cutter protagonist, it’s supporting characters like long time vampire slayer Edgar Gravenor and doctor Emilia Blackwell that bring out the best in him through their interactions. The dialogue between them has a tongue-in-cheek awareness to it similar to Flying Wild Hog’s Shadow Warrior 3.
WellPlayed – 9/10 (Ash Wayling)
Seeing something fresh and full of promise is made all the sweeter when you realise that it really is everything it was cracked up to be – a bombastic badass romp through the wildest of the wild west, kicking names and taking arse on every stop from Calico to the Capitol. Flying Wild Hog has really let their freak flag fly with a signature experience that defines itself on being accessible and unique to any wannabe vampire slayer
Aggregator Score
