Platform: GoG
Genre: Action
Completed: 03/05/2024
I had originally started this game back in 2023 and reached the third act (out of five) but drifted off to other games. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy it. At the time, I simply craved something else.
It's almost like a food craving. If you fancy a burger, nothing you eat will satisfy that craving until you get the exact thing you wanted. For me, gaming can be the same. If I fancy playing a strategy game, for instance, no other genre will do. I'll always feel a disconnect when playing a different genre, to the point where it can put me off the game entirely.
This is what happened with Weird West. I had left it installed in the hope that I would return back to it, but never made the time for it. Until now.
I managed to pick up from where I left off. The controls were quite easy to get back into and the story... well this is the interesting part of it. You see, each act or chapter follows a different character with their own independent story. So even if I had forgotten details, they were minor (not that I had). However, although their stories were separate, some decisions could affect the greater world. A choice down the line might cause warring factions to cease hostilities, or the death of an NPC character may have repercussions later on. It was little touches like this that kept the world alive.
On top of this, there was an over-arching story. A couple of characters would appear throughout the acts and hint towards something bigger, and they would keep teasing it until the very end.
But most of all, I liked that the game acknowledged you - the player - as an active participant. You are "The Passenger", someone who takes control of the five different characters and you shape their actions and decisions in their personal stories. And there is a reason why this is happening, which makes the story even more exciting to unravel.
The individual stories were generally quite short and the objectives were quite straightforward. Generally, it was travel to a location; getting info or an item; killing a bunch of enemies, etc. etc. But, the game also offered some side quests and random encounters. And sometimes, especially with the side quests, they could have a greater impact on the overall story than you might imagine. There were a few "random" encounters that were needed to progress the story, but they always triggered either when a condition was met or a story point was passed. So it's not like it could ever be missed. I also liked that you could find some very random encounters, like a crashed UFO (an homage to the first Fallout apparently).
Now while the objectives were straightforward, sometimes we were given a lot of freedom on how to execute them. For instance, in the first act, I had to go to a corrupt mayor to get some information. He was willing to give it to me... if I removed some settlers from some land he wanted. Now I wasn't going to agree to that. I was a law-abiding citizen! ... as long as I didn't get caught doing something unlawful. While the game didn't say I could do it, I hazarded a guess that the mayor may have the information somewhere in his Hacienda. I figured he wouldn't mind if I "helped" myself to it. So I snuck into areas where, if discovered would turn the entire location hostile, and started looking around. To my delight, there was an area that gave me what I was looking for, as well as a friend for life (someone who might come to your aid during a fight when you are close to death). Because of this, I never took the objectives at face value. I analyzed the best ways to tackle them (when permitted) and sometimes wondered what the consequences could entail.
Another kind of mission the game offered was bounties. Now and again, when going to town, you could check the bounty board and take on the mission. You would have 6 days to bring the culprit in - dead or alive. Bringing them in alive would bring in more of a reward. Killing them, however, might cause their lieutenant to flee the map (assuming they were still alive) and swear a vendetta against you. This meant, that at any point in the game, if playing as the character who completed the bounty (or having them in your party), you could be ambushed in the overworld map by the lieutenant to exact their revenge.
And vendettas might not just be from bounties. Maybe while completing an act you didn't kill the "boss" character. They'd be pretty upset with you for shutting down their operation. Or maybe you were in town and you killed a character who looked at you sideways. Your actions could easily haunt you down the road.
There were some features that I never truly got to experience. For example, you supposedly could upgrade gear. However, I never found the need to. Also, a lot of the available abilities (especially the individual character ones) I barely touched. However, I suppose it depends on the preferred play style. Mine primarily focused on stealth, so I rarely needed to use them.
I would probably play this game again sometime down the line, especially to make different choices and witness the different outcomes. There are also mods for the games and one caught my attention - first-person mode. I have to admit, I am very curious to see how the game is played as a first-person shooter. But that would be for another time.
Now however it's on to the next game - The X-Files Game
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