Weird West

 PC
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 52 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 34 out of 52
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 52
  3. Negative: 1 out of 52
  1. Eurogamer
    Mar 31, 2022
    A bold, atmospheric yet dissatisfying ensemble RPG shooter, full of untapped promise.
  2. Polygon
    Mar 31, 2022
    With Weird West, these magic moments appear far too infrequently. Sheer ambition means eventually something special is bound to be spat out by the game’s extensive simulations — a mishap with an oil lamp, for example — although it’ll be a rough and unwieldy thing, all the more crude when compared with the extensive elegance of a Dishonored. Instead of doing what many, myself included, had hoped — converting the spirit of Arkane and the immersive sim into an inventive top-down form — Weird West has stumbled into a more mundane existence as a pared-down computer RPG that’s nowhere near weird enough.
  3. Rock, Paper, Shotgun
    Mar 31, 2022
    Where Weird West breaks away from its RPG forebears is in its rejection of turn-based fighting. Instead, it controls like a twin-stick shooter, asking you to aim and react under pressure. That might be a dealbreaker for some genre fans, but the messiness of open combat is balanced by three things: the ability to gather an AI posse about yourself, a hefty kick for knockbacks, and a Max Payne-ish dive that stretches out the seconds, giving you extra time to swing your shotgun in the right direction.

Awards & Rankings

84
#84 Most Discussed PC Game of 2022

User Reviews

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User Score
7.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 82 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 42 out of 82
  2. Mixed: 26 out of 82
  3. Negative: 14 out of 82
  1. jseph1234
    Apr 6, 2022
    5
    To that guy Explicit1 who saying that no one should put how they feel about a game here on Metacritic, I say you should stop trying to tellTo that guy Explicit1 who saying that no one should put how they feel about a game here on Metacritic, I say you should stop trying to tell people what to write and mind his own damn business!!

    As far as the game is concern its around a 5 / 10. I love the Dishonored Series and I wish that Ralph would go back to making AAA Immersive Sims like those and I realize this is a small-budget, Indie game so that allowance have to be made....    … Full Review »
  2. tyr8338
    Apr 6, 2022
    5
    First impression is pretty descent but game turns stale rather quick, skills are uninspired, gunplay isnt all that satysfying and level designFirst impression is pretty descent but game turns stale rather quick, skills are uninspired, gunplay isnt all that satysfying and level design is sub par plus there is a lot of reused zones and idead over and over.
    I doubt I will be able to finish this game, it gets too boring after 2nd character with not much variation.    … Full Review »
  3. CucumberJoe
    Apr 6, 2022
    4
    It's a VERY weak entry in the canon of immersive sims. The characters are boring and uninspired, the story suffers from a serious lack ofIt's a VERY weak entry in the canon of immersive sims. The characters are boring and uninspired, the story suffers from a serious lack of pacing and jumps around between the uninteresting characters too frequently to form any kind of attachment to them, the factions and story beats are somewhat unbelievable and it really wears its 2022 politics on its sleeve. As a result, it becomes a chore to play through the game. You'll constantly meet powerful female characters who task you with going to rescue a man who has been kidnapped due to his own sheer incompetence. If the men aren't playing the role of damsel in distress, they're made to be unethical perverts with sex slaves and cartoonishly evil motivations. The gunplay is exceptionally poor, with certain enemies becoming bulletsponges and most powers being fairly useless. If you compare it with a game like Dishonored or Dishonored 2, the shortcomings really become pronounced. The level design is passable, but there are very few alternative pathways that don't consist of climbing some rocks to get the high ground on your enemies. Also, one of the more glaring issues, the levels repeat frequently. There are several mines in the game but they all share the exact same map. There are a bunch of little settlements around the map, but they all share the exact same tileset and do nothing to distinguish them from one another. The only powers that are worth using are designed explicitly for combat. Otherwise, there are really no creative traversal powers or opportunities to use them creatively to bypass obstacles. It plays far more like a twinstick shooter than it does an immersive sim, and judging it by the same metric I would Deus Ex, Dishonored or Prey, I can't help but be left disappointed. I'd give it a 4 for being slightly below average in terms of enjoyment, and that's because I've chosen to be charitable and rate it like I would a twinstick shooter rather than I would an immersive sim. If I were going to rate how it stacks up with its peers, I'd give it a 2 or a 3. It verges on being fun in the early game before you become aware at how many environments repeat ad nauseum, shooting itself in the foot before it can succeed at being a fun experience. Compounded with the issues regarding characterization and story, it gets quite a poor rating from me.

    I know this was a labour of love for the devs, and I do very much love Raph Colantonio and I think he's an excellent designer, but this is a really bad example of what he's capable of. All of his previous games felt more enjoyable to play than this one does. My biggest recommendations would be to focus on better, more relatable characters that are less grounded in fiction and trope, and to not focus on procedural generation to pad the amount of content in your game. A few handcrafted levels with variation and real substance are always going to be better than one repetitive map that has procedural elements within.    … Full Review »
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