PC Gamer - UK (2022-01)

Weird West

PREVIEW

Early in Weird West, I came acrossa coven

ritual. The witchesaskedme to leave them

alone, butbefore I could walk away, their

ritual succeeded. A horde of undead and

their ghastly leaderpouredout of the

summoning circle. The sisters were armed

for it. They took care of the abominations

like it was a Monday.I just watched.

This event, likesome others I

experienced in a preview version of

Weird West’s first act, unfolded

without any input from me. This

year’sbig immersive sim, Deathloop, also

features inhabitants who go about their

days without you, but little consequence

happens withoutyour intervention. You

rarely get to stand back and watch

everything play out.

IMMERSIVE GRIM

Raphaël Colantonio, Weird West’s creative

director, previously led Arkane’s admirable

effort to keepthe immersive sim genre

alive with Dishonoredand Prey. In 2017,

Colantonio left the studio he founded, and

in 2019 he formed a new studio called

WolfEye. Arkane went on to release

Deathloop, a modernised take on the

genre, whereas WolfEye’s Weird West

travels back in timeand plucks from

classic RPGs like Fallout.

Like Deathloop, Weird Westis about

finding your own way through

environmentsdesigned first and foremost

to obeyphysical laws: bullets ignite

barrels, heavyrain puts outfires,and the

elements at your disposal are often at the

enemies’as well. Like Deathloop’s island,

the setting is a playgroundfor the absurd,

a smear of the American Westwith devils

in the seams. Beyond that, the two games

diverge significantly.

As I led my veteran bountyhunter

through Weird West’s tangled world via a

bird’s-eye perspective, I spent a lot of time

speaking with the people, something that

happens rarely in Deathloop. It’salso the

first game I’ve playedset in this time

period that features a number ofBlack

and Asian characters, although it’s unclear

to me at this point if Weird Westplans to

grapple withAmerica’s westward

expansion from thoseperspectives or the

native perspective, which are often erased

in western fiction, or if the supernatural

will takecentre stage.

The firstcharacter, a bounty hunter in

search ofher husband, isequipped

with a series oflethal and silent skills

but is very weak. Enemies carrying

shotguns wiped meout in a few hits. I

was forced to take cover,roll and

carefully aim, but every bullet felt like a dice

roll. Stealth is anoption too, but the density

of enemypatrols made it hard for me to

stay undetected. And when the caves

coughed upmonsters, thesturdy crates I

was hiding behind couldn’t save me.

That’swhy Weird Westworks, at least

in the early hoursI previewed. Despite

having considerable influenceover the

scenarios you can find yourselfin, the

world is against you. To make itthrough,

you’llneed a bit of luck. While not as clever

as Deathloop’s timeloop premise, it

means there’s almost no repetition

robbing it of spontaneity.

Weird Westreassuredme that the

immersive sim is still playful, still sharp,

and openfor interpretationby developers

who want to pushit further. If what I

played is close towhat the final game will

be in early 2022, I’ll be thrilled tostepinto

its clockwork world andmake some

spectacular mistakes.

Tyler Colp

O

ne grisly stop on a trek through the first
of five chapters in Weird West will
remind you of what was so scarce in its
most recent contemporary, Deathloop.
Both are immersive sims with vastly different
goals. Deathloop was about harnessing an unwieldy
system, but Weird West is about living in it.

An immersive sim that blends

chaotic combat and horror

WEIRD WEST

I WAS FORCED TO TAKE COVER,

ROLL AND AIM, BUT EVERY

BULLET FELT LIKE A DICE ROLL

RELEASE
Jan 11 , 2022

DEVELOPER

WolfEye Studios

PUBLISHER

Devolver Digital

LINK

weirdwest.com

NEED TO KNOW

PLAYED

IT