Game Review: Blood West

After weeks of fun and frustration, I finished Blood West. A game about the mythical American west developed by what I believe to be Sweedish developers. I spent over twenty hours exploring an apocalyptic wild west filled with wendigoes, skin walkers, zombies, witches and all sorts if strange monsters. Time well spent on a game with a rogue mechanic that kills your soul every time you die.

The game follows a man risen from the dead by an strange power to rid the land of evil. This revenant character explains the rogue elements of the game as you will be dying, a lot. The game allows you to go into towns and graveyards guns blazing with pistols, shotguns and rifles but encourages you to use stealth. Weapons like crossbows, axes and knives are plentiful, and the guns only alert enemies if you miss them or are too close to another one. Often I'd find myself dropping an enemy only for his friend to be drawn to the scene of the death, not my gunshots. Despite the openess of the three levels, I found myself looking for shadows or grass to hide in. The enemies can kill you quick while you're unloading several slugs into them. And that's where the frustration comes in. You go back to where you last slept when you reawaken. This could be miles away from where you died and worse are the enemies that respawn. Only a few revive but if you die enough, you can reset the entire map. All those bullets wasted on your carelessness. The game doesn't leave you to dry though. Plenty of loot can be found tucked away in every corner. If you see a place you could scale or jump into, chances are there's goodies waiting for you. It rewards you for looking into the obscurests of corners from dried out outhouses to under broken mattresses. That's my favorite kind of reward, secrets hidden in odd locations. 

The biggest frustration comes when an enemy spots you. You can run, but you risk drawing other's attention. A whole mobile could be charging you down the hill. That's why it's best to pick off as many as you can before doing something risky. The game offers the usual tools like an alert bar or the ability to peak around corners. But once that alarm is set off you feel screwed. I'd often unload a few bullets and pray no one heard me. I was sweating bullets every time that bar almost went over. I know it's part of the game, but dying and reseting the enemy count can be vexing. 

To sum it up, I had a blast with this rogue game. It's great to see another game in the Western genre that's been neglected for so long. I plan to play more once the dlc comes out. For now I tip my hat to Blood West and put it in my Kick Ass category of games.