Hard West Reviews
The presentation is aced, but Hard West's turn-based combat is too rote to be engrossing.
Rough round the edges and clunky in parts, Hard West's refreshing take on turn-based strategy is still worth saddling up for.
Hard West isn't the deepest game of its kind, but it does a good job of walking the line between cold, hard tactics, and Weird West-style personality. Its mystically-inspired abilities add a fun twist to the X-Com formula, even if they do remove some of the need for tactical forsight. A richer world outside of combat would have been nice, but as is, Hard West still presents a fun, unique take on turn-based tactics.
Hard West is a satisfyingly creepy mash-up of six-gun horror and tactical combat.
This is a world worth exploring, and I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of it. Maybe that'll be in the form of a huge patch that puts this broken machine back together, or a sequel that brings the best of Hard West to the forefront. What I'd really like to see is a tabletop game in this setting, because it honestly feels like it might be better suited in that realm. Either way, I hope there'll be a reason to come back.
Hard West gets a lot of things right, with a number of clever ideas that help to broaden the scope of the standard turn-based formula it draws upon, but a lack of checkpointing and other game design faux pas can spoil the fun.
Lovecraft meets John Ford and they duke it out in a turn-based western-style shootout. Cowboys and demons for a game with a strong narrative bent and solid, if a little too by-the-numbers, tactical combat.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Hard West is a turn-based strategy game that gives you an authentic western experience whilst pushing you to the limits of your ability.
It just adds to that sense that Hard West is a turn-based strategy game with a strong core surrounded by a fragmented, uncertain exterior. I'd say it's definitely worth picking up if your XCOM and Jagged Alliance itches currently feel unscratched, but expect something to dip in and out of, not some grand timesink opus. The best times with it will come from playing it on maxed-out difficulty in Iron Man mode, and its wounds system – whereby the injured are weaker in the short term but even stronger in the long term – turned on. Make the central battles as long as involved as possible, because that's where Hard West has the surest footing.
Hard West delivers a new setting for turn-based strategy fans, bringing X-COM style combat to the Wild West with fun (and difficult) firefights but little replayability.
No, it's not a bull's eye by any means, but Hard West will certainly hit close enough to provide you with hours of Wild-West fun.
Hard West does a ton of things right in my book. It offers quite a few of what I would call mini campaigns that not only keep the player engaged, but constantly add new elements to gameplay while progressing the storyline. It's a pro and a con, as every time a new story section is introduced, each lasting a few hours, the next is almost as if starting anew, which might rub players the wrong way. At the same time the player is constantly engaged with something new to do or way to play, even if it only feels minor at times. It's not the longest or the most in depth RPG, but for the price, the theme, and unique style, Hard West is clearly worth your time in gold and offers a fairly authentic western experience, well besides the demon and supernatural overtones that is. Saddle up partner, the west might be hard, but it's also a worthy, fun time.
Hard West is a solid tactical game. It lacks in story and character aspects but more than makes up for it when you go into battle.
A decent enough turn-based tactical game with a genuinely excellent atmosphere, let down by limited tactical options, poor mechanic explanations, and a number of issues that make it seem as though the lofty ambitions outstripped either time, money, or ability.
With a little bit more cohesion and fewer drastic system changes over the course of the campaigns, Hard West could have been amazing. Instead, it's merely quite good.
Hard West has a strong concept and is fun for a while, but because the core gameplay soon becomes monotonous, along with having some awful overworld segments, the game is difficult to recommend.
Nintendo Switch is enjoying a growing number of turn-based tactical games, and Hard West is another welcome addition to that strategic throng.
So, like the Wild, Weird West it's set in, Hard West is a little off-centre and rough around the edges. What's admirable, however, is its evident that the developers who created it have a clear love for what they're doing and that the Kickstarter budget that funded this game made every cent count.
If you're hankering for a million ways to die in the west, I'd say this is worth a look.