Evil West Hands-On Preview: Refreshingly Old-School
The limited time I got to spend with a slice of Flying Wild Hog’s Evil West felt almost like I was time traveling. A linear third-person action game? With hidden collectables? With no side quests? Checkpoints that don’t involve bonfires? Open areas that double as combat arenas to crunch through enemies before moving on to do it again? They don't make them like this anymore, and a game like this really makes me wish they did.
Set in an alternate 18th century, where the West is still wild, but also filled with vampires, you play as Jesse Rentier, star agent and heir apparent of the Rentier Institute, an organization of vampire hunters powered by sci-fi tech and government spending. As the tough-as-nails man on the ground, you're the go-to for when a dirty job needs doing. In the demo level I played, that job was recovering missing technology in a snowy mine.
Story and character exploration were very light in this build. Even with a sort-of sidekick to banter with, Jesse seems largely like your run-of-the-mill tough-guy protagonist who would rather shoot off a gun than his mouth. Meanwhile, much of the setting is cool on the surface. The Nikola Tesla-inspired electropunk tech is gaudy and over-designed in a way that attracts more than repulses. The unnatural tech juxtaposes starkly with the supernatural brutality of many of the vampire designs, as well.
When the shooting starts, Jesse is more than prepared, both with more mundane and traditional firearms, and mechanical tricks that make up for the magical power gap between him and his enemies. The base of my offense came in the form of his gnarly gauntlet. You can mash for quick face-beating combos, or hold down the attack button to launch an enemy airborne. Follow it up with
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