Weird West Reviews
Weird West very much lives up to its name. In each character’s journey, a wide tapestry of dark and spooky adventures play out across the Wild West. Monsters of both the human and occult variety are bound by the decisions you make, and those choices carry on to make each adventure in this take on the dusty unsettled frontier more interesting. I wish that the game didn’t push me to micromanage my inventory so much and that some critical quirks didn’t hamper the experience, but put those issues aside and it’s a deeply interesting narrative with more than its fair share of riveting shootouts and adventure.
Weird West is a fun, but awkward game. The aiming and gun fighting mechanics often lead to frustration and make it almost unplayable at times. The story is interesting and different and the characters are fun to get to know, but the weapons aren’t very diverse and the armor and clothes are a minimal addition. It’s one of those games, that if you can master the mechanics of it and like this type of camera angle, you’ll probably enjoy it, but still find it lacking in overall depth. Personally, I love Diablo-type games and found Weird West to be enjoyable, but often tedious. Luckily, there’s a quick save and quick load feature for those untimely deaths and missteps. Trust me — those will happen often.
Weird West's astounding world-building and intriguing singleplayer campaign are worth the cost of entry on their own, but the game's lackluster technical performance and polish are huge negatives that prevent it from achieving greatness.
With a fantastic roster of stories to play through and characters to interact with, Weird West is sure to please any fan of the Old West. Its mix of fantasy and spaghetti western tropes blends beautifully to create a memorable experience that twists and turns around the believable and magical. While there are a few niggles here and there, the overall experience feels polished throughout and WolfEye's attention to detail is noticeable in all aspects.
Weird West is an action-RPG game that fulfills very well the contract it had set itself to offer a rich and complete immersive simulation.
Review in French | Read full review
Weird West has a fun and engaging sandbox structure and is narratively solid, but it is also unfortunately marred by technical and gameplay issues.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Weird West is a refreshing, lean and mean immersive sim. Its supernatural Wild West is a delight to explore, and is at its very best when it gets as strange as it possibly can, while the minute-to-minute combat is an awful lot of fun. Some of its bugs may get in the way, and those expecting deep interpersonal relationships with posse members will find it wanting, but as a mechanic-driven immersive experience it is hard to put down.
The beautiful thing about Weird West is also what makes it critically impenetrable. At least for me, my enjoyment of the game is tied to my particular playstyle. If you’re more ruthless with NPCs, if you’re more stealth-focused, or if you’re more patient, this is a very different game. So my frustration with the stealth is a sign to sneak around less. If I’m unhappy with the story, I can always change how it ends. Conversely, the movement and aiming controls are a tangible way of making your platforming choice. If you’re looking for a western RPG with this sort of blissful, overwhelming freedom, you’ve come to the right place. For better or for worse, Weird West has that freedom.
Minor issues aside, I loved my time with Weird West on PS5 so much so that I plan to double dip and play it again on Xbox since it’s on Game Pass when it releases. The story, characters and even the very world that Wolfeye Studios have created for their freshman outing is so very unique and dare I say ‘weird’ that you can’t help but become wrapped up in them. I haven’t enjoyed a mash up of supernatural and westerns since Darkwatch and if you played that game, you know that’s high praise.
When everything works, Weird West feels great to play. Sadly, sometimes you can see how budget and time constraints hindered the game as a whole. Still we believe Raphael Colantonio can make necessary updates and fixes to their project, because it sure has a lot of potential.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Weird West sets its sights high by promising player freedom and a responsive world to butterfly effect the hell out of, and it very nearly delivers on all of it. At its best, WolfEye Studios' first outing offers delightfully chaotic combat and an interesting supernatural setting that leaves no actions without consequence. But while in many respects Weird West achieves some of its grander ambitions, it fails to nail some of the basics. Immersive sim fans will be in their element here, but Raphael Colantonio's latest won't have as wide an appeal as his previous successes with Arkane.
With Weird West, WolfEye has created an ambitious immersive sim hybrid that sucks you ever-deeper into its gritty, bizarre world of the cults n' cowboys like a particularly impatient quicksand. It occasionally struggles to translate its combat to a controller as smoothly as it could, but the rest of this package is so damn intoxicating that it matters little in the long run. A masterful game with a fascinating set of stories to tell.
With its gripping story, wacky characters, solid action role-playing game mechanics, and masterfully crafted immersive simulation features, Weird West is one of the very few role-playing games on the market where players truly shape the world with their choices and actions. Some balancing and technical issues damage the experience, but if you're looking for a truly immersive RPG to play, you won't find anything better than Weird West.
Weird West is a fun not-quite-RPG that feels like the beginning of a great new franchise. Perfectly enjoyable to play, this first iteration lays a lot of groundwork towards what will likely become an ongoing series. Darkly funny and surprising, each character's story arc is unique and rewarding. While a system of branching choices impacting the game's story feels like a natural evolution from what is here, what is presented is very enjoyable. Weird West creates a universe I don't want to leave. When it was over, I just wanted more - which is the biggest hurdle a new franchise can overcome.
We are facing a title as rare as fun, which combines elements of multiple genres to create something new that won't leave anyone indifferent. Expectations were high and he has far exceeded them.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Despite the considerable ambitions of the project by Raphael Colantonio and his WolfEye Studios, Weird West fails to best express the potential of a creative vision as multifaceted as it is unsustainable, at least for the current production structure of the team.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Playing Weird West, it’s hard to shake how much more gracefully other games of this type avoid similar pitfalls, with the abbreviated scavenging of Void Bastards and the easy-to-read interface of Desperados III, another western with a top-down perspective, immediately coming to mind. The latter game also supports far more complex maneuvers despite lacking the sort of pointless granularity that has the player comb through indistinguishable shelves for a handful of ammunition. By contrast, Weird West is a slog dying for an extensive streamline.
Weird West is a video game that offers a rich narrative with a lively (but dark) world. The character rotation system is a great way to vary the fun and gameplay mechanics. The sandbox vision of the fights is excellent.
Review in French | Read full review
Superbly written characters, the dark allure of its world, and an engrossing main story make up for Weird West's wonky action.