Each landmark you visit on the map is a square shape with a border that looks like a ragged map edge. Once you reach your destination, you go back into the isometric gameplay within a small contained literal map area. Gameplay and world setup feels similar to that of Fallout 1 & 2, with a large world map that your character will travel across and will run into random encounters.
It’s at this moment the “weird” finally starts in Weird West.
Luckily, once you get to the second character, Pigman, things finally get bizarre and I was hooked. The gameplay still offered that Immersive Sim freedom, but I was doing more side stuff and bounties than continuing the story. The game starts of with a fairly vanilla revenge story character, and while there are a couple interesting parts with a Siren and some Cannibals, it wasn’t engaging me. Even the story itself doesn’t really start living up to it’s “weird” title until the second character. The beginning of the game is a bit of a slow burn, as it feels more like a simple isometric twin stick shooter. The only negative things I have to mention about the story aren’t huge, but it could be enough for some to possibly give it up early. In this way the world does very much feel alive and reactive to your decisions. Decisions made during the main moments of the character stories can and will effect all characters, even once you have moved on to the next one. The gameplay itself also helps you role play as these characters, but I’ll get into that more later. I was always genuinely invested in them and didn’t feel like they were throwaway characters to facilitate the main story. However, the story never tries to outshine the characters, which lets you connect more with them and make decisions for their character. What is this branding and what role do these characters play? There is an overarching story that ties these characters together, as well as some key recurring NPCs that make these stories feel bigger than just these characters. I really enjoyed how different each character felt in the world, and despite revisiting the same locations, you’ll get different responses from the townsfolk or different gameplay options. Each character offers the player a different viewpoint, story, and even interactions with familiar characters. You will be experiencing this world through five different character’s storylines that intertwine in a few ways. Weird West takes you through a version of the Wild West that takes inspiration from folklore and horror stories.
Were the former Arkane Studios developers able to elevate their skills in the indie scene? Grab your six shooters, put on some wards, eat some wolfsbane, and let’s head out. It was clear by their studio’s mission goal that they were taking all of their experience and crafting something that focused on gameplay freedom that Immersive Sim fans would love. The Founder/Creative Director, Raphael Colantonio, and CEO/Executive producer, Julien Roby, both came from Arkane Studios and worked on one of my favorite Immersive Sims, Dishonored. It’s no surprise to me that the first game the 2019 founded development studio WolfEye Studios is an ARPG Immersive Sim.
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