Hard West 2 blends strategy and style together seamlessly in a cowboy caper
A simple train robbery job that seemed like a good idea has gone way off the rails. I mean that literally; the train has sprouted an endless stream of otherworldly legs and is running off into the wilderness, and now it’s chock-full of ghosts, ghouls, and a devil. The situation is definitely not ideal, but I’ve got a squad full of scrappy frontier fighters to sort things out. As we tumble off the train and into a frigid, surreal version of the American West, I’m confident that things will end up being OK — until my gang finds themselves in the next bizarre, inevitably violent pickle.
My posse is made up of an Indigenous exile, a witch who teleports around the battlefield in a storm of crows, an overly confident sharpshooter with a taste for cards, and an undead revenant. Welcome to Hard West2, a top-down, turn-based tactics game coming to PC sometime this year.
The tutorial, featuring the aforementioned leggy train, sets the tone of Hard West 2 quite well. Upon encountering a literal devil, gang leader Gin Carter immediately reckons that he can win a game of cards against the guy with their souls as the stakes. Then he cheats, and is surprised when the other guy also cheats. Gin’s a hot mess, and the game gives me opportunities to lean into that, at risk of angering other party members. While it’s nice to hang out and chat with my party members, or dig around the overworld looking for side quests, the meat and potatoes of Hard West 2 is its combat.
Surviving in Hard West 2 isn’t a cakewalk; I have to position my posse correctly on the map, measure their skills and use their action points efficiently, all while I stay aware of both my enemies and my environment. This is typical XCOM fare; seek cover, set up flanks, and
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