Reviewing games means I go through a lot of different games constantly. Some of the games I like, some I don’t, and some I don’t even think should be called games. However, something I don’t find myself doing all that often is returning to games. When I finish playing something for review, it generally just gets lost in my ever-growing game collection that threatens to have me labelled as a hoarder, regardless of how much (or how little) I enjoyed playing it. This is mainly because when I get to play games just for me, I gravitate towards whatever online games the friend group is currently playing. It doesn’t matter how much I yearn to spend more time in a games world; it’s just very unlikely to happen.
However, there are always exceptions, as with any rule, and Weird West is my exception. While it might not often be that I return to a game, Weird West is a lot like the Hotel California. I can check out anytime I want, but I can never leave. On the surface, Weird West isn’t a game I should enjoy; however, in reality, it’s one I adore.
Weird West is… weird, to say the least. But similarly to me, it’s weird in all the best ways. In this alternate, multiverse version of the west, there is a group of strange and somewhat unknown beings who, by using a magical brand, can (and do) force the consciousness of the character you control into the bodies of others, completely unsuspecting… victims? So basically, you play as a character who has always existed in this world but who you don’t know at all, and it’s weird and confusing for everyone involved.
If this description doesn’t appeal to you, then the whole game will probably not be for you. However, if you do like the sound of things, then this ultimate game of “who am I?” will be for you. The game is split between five stories, and how those stories progress is entirely up to you and how you choose to play through it. Hence all the replayability and thus me not being able to move on and be happy spending my evenings losing at League of Legends anymore.
One of my favourite parts of the game was the freedom I had to be as good or terrible as my little poison heart desired. A big part of the game is gathering loot; however, the game does very little to restrict HOW one collects said loot. Want to pick through a dead man’s pockets? Sure. Want to rob that cute little store you found? Sure. Or maybe you want to murder that annoying character who looked at you funny and then pick through their pockets? Also okay… frowned upon, sure, but okay.
While Weird West has everything you would expect from a serious western game, from horses to gunfights and more blood than a Tarantino movie, it’s also darkly amusing and hilarious in a twisted way. Each of the five characters you control feels unique and stands out from each other even while sharing the same world, and if you’ve moved on to a new character and new story but still find yourself missing the bodies you used to dwell in, then you can always recruit them to join you as an AI-controlled character. Although everyone in Weird West can permanently die, and this includes characters you recruit, so think carefully before grabbing a character you feel fond of and then dragging them out of the safety of their own home only to “accidentally” kill them when you turn a corner and think they’re a badie…
One of the only downsides to the game for me personally was the complete lack of voice acting. The stories are all interesting, and so are the characters you meet along the way. However, thanks to the complete lack of voice work and having to read screen after screen after screen of text, I soon found myself skipping through many, if not most, dialogues and even though I felt bad while doing it, I still did it. This is probably why I’m finding it so hard to say goodbye. There is a lot of story inside Weird West, and I missed so much that another playthrough is inevitable.
