Blood West Review
The combination of horror and Western is a surprisingly untapped resource. Aside from notable exceptions like Red Dead Undead Nightmare and Bone Tomahawk, this mixture of genres doesn’t get used anywhere near as often as it should. Hyperstrange’s Blood West is the latest to take advantage of the heady mix of high noon and darkest night and does so in a way that surprised me many times.
Having seen early previews of Blood West, I had somehow convinced myself it was a boomer shooter and went in expecting a high octane experience. What I got was a very different beast altogether, much more in keeping with immersive sims like Thief and Deus Ex, with a dash of Soulslike for seasoning.
Combat is a big part of the game, but going in all guns blazing will generally result in a quick death and respawn. This respawn mechanic replaces the traditional save scumming or checkpointing that often characterises first person shooters and ensures that there is a sense of consequence for your actions and mistakes, whilst managing not to be punishing to the point of frustration. This is especially welcome given how fragile you are, especially in the early stages of the game.
In fact, you’re already dead when you first start the game, only to find yourself brought back to life by a mysterious totem. After a brief tutorial introduces you to the basic controls and the game’s mixture of stealth, melee, and gunplay you emerge from a cave to explore an expansive open world. The game has three chapters which sounds short until you realise that the map for each is large enough to accommodate a smaller game in and of itself. Each level feels like a distinct campaign, but the overall effect is highly nostalgic to me as it evokes memories of the original
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