Evil West Review

After first being revealed at The Game Awards 2020, Flying Wild Hog and Focus Entertainment’s Evil West is finally here. Is this cowboy-versus-vampire action game worth your time, or should you stick with God of War?

Evil West Review

Players step into the shows of vampire/monster hunter Jesse Rentier. Things kick off with you and your buddy Edgar blowing up a train and gaining access to a vampire inside, only to find out that this train brings blood to monsters elsewhere. Not one to take things sitting down, you and Edgar check out the location to find a vampire lord and his daughter. You defeat the lord and head back to base to report on what happened.

Your father is the head of The Institute, where you and Edgar work. Unfortunately, things quickly go south as Felicity D’bana (the vampire lord’s daughter) attacks The Institute. Most of the agents are killed, and you are forced to flee. Your mission then becomes to regroup, power up, and get some revenge across 10 hours of play.

Combat combines melee and ranged attacks to deal with various foes, with players punching, dodging, and countering with your kick. Of course, you’ll need your trusty six-shooter and lever action rifle for those annoying flying enemies and snipers. Be warned – the game loves throwing multiple enemies at you, meaning there is no shortage of action.

One of the game’s best aspects is its lightning shield. While it protects, it can also be used to dash enemies, pull flying baddies, and even stun bosses. When an enemy is stunned, you get to do a quick punch combo for significant damage, and it feels satisfying every single time.

Evil West is pretty straightforward with its gameplay loop. You enter a level, run around for a bit, fight some enemies, repeat that process a few times, then take on a boss. However, it does start to get repetitive near the end, especially after just coming from God of War.

While you are in the level, you can do a tiny bit of exploring. You will find extra cash, chests, and some additional lore about the world and characters. The money is used in the shop to upgrade your various weapons and items. In addition, chests can have money or even extra perks or perk points. The game is pretty good at leveling you up and powering you up without all the exploration, though. Nevertheless, it is there if you want it.

One thing that can drag a game like this down is enemy variety. You fight a ton, so you will, of course, see the same enemies often. That said, Evil West has a decent number of enemies since they combine humans and monsters. You do end up fighting previous bosses as mini-bosses, which can be annoying, but at least they are weaker. I’d also be okay with them removing flying enemies entirely; they are truly the worst.

The boss fights can be hit and miss because the kick and shield are so powerful. If you time your kick right, you can interrupt enemies – including bosses. This means if you time it right, you can counter a boss and then add stun to them. Once you stun them entirely, you do big damage and repeat. Also, most of the bosses have extra enemies that spawn in the air and in front of you, quickly proving annoying.

While I don’t think Evil West will be anyone’s game of the year, it’s rare to get such a pure action game these days. For those looking for pure vampire punching, this is your game.

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