Game:

Hard West (2015)

Category:

Review

Duration: 4:55

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Hard West - First Impression Review

Hard West is a western themed story based tactical RPG developed by CreativeForge Games and published by Gambitious Digital Entertainment. It features tactical gameplay similar to XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and an overworld map with choose your own adventure style gameplay. The character system in Hard West is very simplistic and allows you to respecialize at any time, but relies on a thematic poker hand system. This is a video review of Hard West based on my first impressions of the gameplay and story.

Hard West release date: November 18, 2015

Hard West steam page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/307670/

Hard West first impression review summary:

Hard West is comprised of 8 story-based campagins but the basic gameplay consists of a turn based tactics layer coupled and an overworld map featuring choose-your-own-adventure style decisions.

Hard West has a unique setup phase which involves sneaking around and sometimes subduing foes to prevent them from raising alarm for a few turns. I thought it was a fun and thematic addition to the gameplay.

Combat in Hard West feels similar to XCOM: Enemy Unknown because of the cover system, but it works a bit differently. Cover both reduces the accuracy of incoming shots, and decreases damage taken. Hard West also has a unique character attribute called Luck which reduces a character's chance to get hit, but each time an enemy misses them, they lose some Luck. Each time they are hit, their Luck replenishes. These two things combined result in a game where units in full cover are incredibly time-consuming to kill. Flanking is too dominant a strategy, which leads to invariant gameplay that quickly gets old.

Hard West's character system has a cool poker theme to it. Each character has card slots, and each card has a passive bonus, plus a unique passive or active ability. Creating poker hands in these card slots gives the character a unique special bonus. For example, four of a kind grants a bonus to aim. I like the system, but didn't find much use for the active abilities.

Hard West has an overworld map which allows you to travel between areas. Each location gives a small dialogue popup with a few options. Sometimes these are basic things like trading at a store, or asking for information, but on occasion you get to make choices with meaningful gameplay consequences.

The narrative of Hard West is told through cutscenes, text, and a voiced narrator. The main story line is about exacting brutal revenge, which is perfect fit for a western setting. I think the plot is structured well, but the characters are weak. There's not much that demonstrates each character's personality. That being said, Hard West absolutely nails the setting. The themed game mechanics, the sounds, and the visuals all come together to make the game feel like something special. The religious horror aspects are interesting too, although the actual demons were introduced a little abruptly.

Overall, Hard West is a very polished game that has some unique ideas, and a stellar atmosphere, but I found the combat lacking in the variation and depth that I had hoped for.

Music Credits:

"Crossing the Divide" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

"In Your Arms" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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