West of Dead Reviews
West of Dead it's quite a classic twin stick shooter roguelike with a twist: it chooses tactic and thoughtfully action instead of frenzy. The gameplay is quite derivative and basic, though everything works and it's overall a fun game.
Review in Italian | Read full review
West of Dead does most things right as far as roguelites go. The random nature of almost every element of every run can cause some large difficulty spikes, but the overall difficulty evens out in the end. The premise works fine even if it means having to hear it countless times over multiple runs, and while the measured combat feels fresh for a Western, the zoomed-out camera angle doesn't help you appreciate it. Overall, West of Dead is a solid roguelike for those who aren't burned out on the genre yet.
West of Dead is a really enjoyable game that hooks you with its combat. While the idea of starting all over again can be a brutal punishment, particularly when you’ve found yourself nicely upgraded and powerful, the game is fun enough for it to not detract from your enjoyment too much.
Upstream Arcade and Raw Fury bring us this fantastic shooter where you find your self doing several runs trying to discover why you end up in the Purgatory. The game is difficult and requires the player to keep trying and understand the mechanics in order to master it. Your allies will be the twin-stick controls and tactical cover to overcome all the terrors you will find in Purgatory. After every run, you will fell more powerful and uncover mysteries that will help you to understand how you end up there.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Overall I'd still encourage people to get West of Dead. It would be one of the most enjoyable roguelike games I have played in a long time, and if those little niggly issues are ironed out then I think a lot of people are going to enjoy the challenge and story of this really cool game.
West of Dead offers a satisfying blend of tactics and rogue-like gameplay that I didn’t expect. Levels offer plenty of options for how you want to approach a situation, the gunplay is fast and precise, and the execution of creating a wild west style shoot out is perfect. The game is dripping with personality and Ron Perlman delivers each word with purpose and meaning. Every aspect of gameplay and aesthetic is tailored to telling the story of Mason in a way that feels natural and unique. It’s a blast to play over and over again despite issues with the geometry interfering with aiming and dodging not quite feeling as useful as it ought to.
West of Dead elevates its experience thanks to to the storytelling and art design. Some aspects of the game can be frustrating, but the total package is generally rewarding in its gameplay and beautiful in its design.
While West of Dead is subdued in many ways, I find it to be an easy recommendation for any fan of roguelike titles.
West of Dead is a very interesting action game, very punitive, as dying is definitive, but entertaining. If you manage to tame its camera angles, you'll find a pleasant alternative to Hotline Miami.
Review in French | Read full review
West of Dead on Xbox One is a beautiful and entertaining western shooter that you'll probably enjoy playing it if you are into roguelikes. The game doesn't waste its potentials when it comes to gameplay mechanics, however, unbalanced and unrewarding level design are major issues that the game suffers from.
West of Dead adds enough new elements to an overdone genre to keep things interesting and the visual design is truly stunning. If it had more to offer in terms of exploration and map size along with some more enemies to shoot, this would be even better.
It’s just a shame that the game is undeniably clunky. The PC port is pretty poor in terms of controls, and there really isn’t any reason why it should be. With some improvements here and there, West of Dead could become a really good entry to the roguelite genre. I still had enough fun to recommend it, just be prepared for some janky controls and mechanics here and there.
West of Dead has plenty of great gunplay and a fascinating setting, but be prepared to die over and over and put up with an unrelentingly unfriendly continue system.
West of Dead borrows a lot from Dead Cells and blends it with nice twin-stick shooter with covers mechanic. But it really suffers from lack of variety.
Review in Russian | Read full review
The shootings are not bad for West of Dead, because after all, that’s where it has to stand out. What we have here is a twin-stick shooter with an aerial camera that stands out almost entirely from the frenzy that characterises this type of game. It’s not about moving very fast, shooting at full speed, and dodging thousands of enemy projectiles. On the contrary: West of Dead is a slow and methodical game.
West of Dead is constantly at odds with itself and, while that doesn’t make it a bad game, it does make it harder to love.
West of Dead is full of style and brooding atmosphere, but the clunky controls and a lack of polish overshadow a few of its original ideas.
With all bugs fixed, West of Dead could be a frustratingly motivating game for fans of the genre and procedurally generated games.
Review in German | Read full review
If you pumped hours upon hours into Enter the Gungeon then chances are you'll find a similar grab in West of Dead, but be fair warned that there isn't as much polish here. If it helps, it is launching day one on Xbox Game Pass so if you have that you can try it as soon as it launches.
Though there's fun to be had with West of Dead, cruel difficulty spikes, bugs, and unruly aiming prevent the game from achieving greatness.