<i>Today we are going to take a look at West of Dead. This top-down roguelite twin-stick shooter promises to teach you a lesson in its grim and gritty world by forcing you to learn to take cover or die. Whether it can deliver on its promise is the question we will try to answer today. West of Dead is available on Steam for 19 Euro and 99 cents or your regional equivalent.</i>
<i><b>With this review you have a choice of either reading it here in text form or listening to the video review. They both contain the same content.</i></b>
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<h2><center>Be sure to check out my other posts about gaming and science @kralizec and visit my [YouTube Channel]( https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM6bVobsVUBzJ-oqajqI-eA)</center-</h2>
<h4><center>[Buy the game](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1016790/West_of_Dead/)</center></h4>
<h1><center>Video Review</center></h1>
<center>https://youtu.be/BdOzbRkPFHQ</center>
<h1><center>Text Review</center></h1>
West of Dead is a top-down roguelite twin-stick shooter. If that itself doesn’t entice you, there is something wrong with you. You get to play as William Mason. Will used to be a marshal in Purgatory (not the real Purgatory, just a city named Purgatory). But then, in 1888 he had a bad day. He died. Probably because he was shot with a shotgun directly into his head. That would certainly wreck your day. But this was only the first time for him to die.
<h3>Bring Out The Shotgun</h3>
Will came back. Looking a bit like Ghostrider and he has no real idea of what the heck is going on. All he remembers is a character in black. And that he has the find the Preacher we will tell him more. And where else would you search for information in the Wild West than in bar? So, you go there. The bar is a pivotal point of the game as this is the place where you start your adventures. Will gets to not only look like a comic book hero but also sound like one, spewing out one-liners with the voice of Hellboy to finally enter the most important part of the game – the dungeons.
And the first thing you find in the dungeons is something you all like – weapons. Randomly generated weapons. This is the core premise of the West of Dead. All the loot in the game, the maps, and pretty much everything is randomly generated. The only place you get to see every time is the very first corridor of the dungeon but from there it's all random.
https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steam/apps/1016790/ss_230adbc4b6a2e18fc5e42ec20cfae7168490f9a4.1920x1080.jpg?t=1593061599
When you enter, you choose two weapons out of three options. Will you choose the long-range rifle? Or the short-range shotgun? Or maybe, maybe you’ll take the pistol that works as the jack of all trades? Each of the weapons has levels to upgrade, different damage, number of rounds you can shoot before you reload etc. etc. Some weapon upgrades give you beneficial effects such as bleed damage or a knockback effect. These upgrades can either be found randomly, bought in shops or they can drop from enemies. Very standard. But there are also a few other pieces of loot you can find such as a melee weapons or dynamite or even a lantern.
The fact that the dungeons are always different in West of Dead can bring some frustration. This is because sometimes you just get unlucky with your initial weapon choices and get a few tough rooms and you just die. Without a real chance to affect it. This is because the combat system of West of Dead heavily relies on its cover mechanic. Each of the rooms has a few rocks or columns for you to hide behind and destroy your opponents. But sometimes, the cover is placed in a position from where you can’t shoot the enemies. Plus the cover itself often just disintegrates after being hit a few times leaving you exposed to enemy attacks.
Apart from constantly looking for cover you will be also using light. The dungeons are almost pitch black but there are lanterns everywhere. But you need to click on them to light them up. This actually quickly became the most important strategic element of West of Dead. Lighting up the lanterns actually stuns the enemies for a second allowing you to get some free damage in. Or you can use the light to escape the hellhounds trying to bite your head off. Yes, you can do a nice slow-motion dodge, but blinding them always felt a bit more satisfying. And you will really need the few extra seconds the light grants you as some tougher enemies know how to use cover as well.
<h3>Hot Demon 12 O’clock!</h3>
Now, if you are thinking – I’m good at videogames, I can easily beat it without using light… well… think again. Being in darkness also brings another problem. You can’t see. And if you can’t see, you can’t aim. And that is sort of important. While you have an infinite amount of ammo, you just need to reload occasionally you need to kill the enemies quickly otherwise, they will kill you. And the monsters obviously do not need light to shoot at you.
So get ready to fail. Repeatedly. And often. But if you ever played a roguelite game, you will expect this. And each death gives you the opportunity to try again in a new dungeon with new gear. It’s the thing we all actually love about this genre. But we also like to progress. That is done with Sins. Sins are the currency that you retain even in between different runs and allows you to unlock stronger starting gear, charms that give you bonuses, a shield, etc. etc…. You know the drill.
https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steam/apps/1016790/ss_6855105e87c59951ed3aebea24f363f3bf726351.1920x1080.jpg?t=1593061599
The real problem with this is the fact that your main character is actually pretty weak. Even if he is the undead marshal. Bullets still hurt and after just a few hits you are dead. Sometimes you’ll get lucky and find a shop right away with great upgrades to sell. But at other times you’ll wonder the dungeon for half an hour finding nothing only to die. And sadly, not always because you played bad but because of the camera.
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For the most part, the camera works well. But… not always. As the camera tries to follow your moves sometimes it puts itself into an angle where you don’t see the enemies, where the cover is, or really anything. And whenever this happened I really wanted to throw my computer out of the window and never play West of Dead again. And it is really sad because the game was otherwise fun. But technical issues can quickly bring any game down.
https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steam/apps/1016790/ss_f17a385336afde04b9d238a1b1c5b8d4679a8e75.1920x1080.jpg?t=1593061599
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
So… in conclusion: West of Dead is a good and enjoyable game. The review might have not sounded like it but yeah I enjoyed it. You just have to realize what you are getting. A tough, learn by making mistakes and hard work kind of game. If you like that, then you will enjoy West of Dead. If you are a casual gamer who just wants to plow through content… not as much. So if you enjoy a challenge and can deal with occasional camera issues, you will love West of Dead.
So, that’s it for today guys. I hope you liked the review and if you did, please up-vote the review, follow my blog, and be sure to share it with your friends. And comment, if you have anything you would like to add. See you guys later with more gaming content.
<i><center>Disclaimer: All the images have been taken directly from the Steam game page</center></i>
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