Evil West

Evil West is a nostalgic throwback to the 7th generation of consoles where the story was corny, the environments were bland, the protagonists were manly men, and everything was cheezy and glorious – and I like this very, very much. The fun combat is only hindered but a plethora of bugs and a pretty linear level design.

Flying Wild Hog absolutely nailed it with a damn fun old-fashioned shooter beat’em up that embraces its linear-level design and fluid combat. Sure it doesn’t have that AAA polish and budget, nor is it reinventing the wheel, but it does a fantastic job showing the world that even nostalgic games can be appreciated through a modern lens.

Evil West is a relic of a bygone era, one that any fan of high-octane action games should experience. An all-round excellently paced main campaign, ridiculously fun combat, and flexible character progression make for one of 2022's best games, and one of the best third-person shooters in recent years.

Evil West is one of the most surprising and enjoyable action games of the year, and Flying Wild Hog have an absolute banger on their hands.

With a flow of combat that rivals that of the Doom Slayer, Evil West hits its mark when taking on vampires, werewolves, and everything in between, despite finding the rest of the experience a bit lacking.

The lean and mean design may be limiting but it feels great when you’re chuntering through masses of monsters. Destined to be a modern cult classic. [Issue#22, p.88]

This game dishes out an interesting mythology that is complemented by a deep combat system, so it never gets bored easily. The colorful levels and high fun content then finish it off. Mind you, the game has some graphical glitches and the co-op feature feels a bit superfluous, considering it adds nothing and comes across as somewhat lazy. That said, Evil West is a more than excellent game in its own right.

Evil West is the kind of beautiful trash I wish we had more of. It’s a ridiculous game in service to a purpose no higher than smashing monsters to gloopy bits, and by God do I admire that. While at times combat balance is uneven, any such moment is made up for by a terrific weapon set, extravagant finishers, and an immediacy of offense that ensures the action never wavers. Refined? No. Elegant? Hardly. Fun as f.ck? F.cking yes.

A game about hunting vampires in the Wild West that has the design fundamentals of an Xbox 360 title? Count us in every single time.

Evil West’s outstanding combat and flashy graphics make it a worthwhile experience that burns fast but bright.

Despite a few rough edges in terms of stage design and enemy variety, Evil West is a must-own experience for fans of the character action game genre. With a deep and engaging combat system, a meaty campaign, and a killer sense of style, it’ll leave you glued to your controller until the credits roll. If you’re a fan of Flying Wild Hogs’ brand of gory, in-your-face action, Evil West is a non-stop thrill ride through the freaky frontier that you won’t want to miss.

Sometimes you want to start a game and have fun right from the get-go. Evil West doesn't try to do anything fancy or tell a big cinematic story. Instead, it gives you various tools to go in, and slaughter vampires like humanity's existence depend on it. With plenty of weapons and fun combat, Evil West provides plenty of non-stop action, although it's let down by a paper-thin story and some issues with visuals and lighting.

With the combat being the heart and soul of Evil West, it’s a relief that it’s so engaging and enjoyable throughout. It’s just a shame that a better balance hasn’t been struck between performance and visuals, as neither mode is particularly ideal. It’s still very much worth digging into Evil West, however: if you can look past the blurry visuals at 1080p, there’s a lot of fun to be had in this old-fashioned action-adventure – and you can even bring a friend along for the ride.

Evil West doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it doesn't have to. It's fun and a great time, which is all it needs to be. It reminds me of a wonderful B-movie; I watch it because I like to turn my brain off and just enjoy myself. Evil West is just a blast, and worth sinking your teeth into.

While I don’t think Evil West will be anyone’s game of the year, it’s rare to get such a pure action game these days. For those looking for pure vampire punching, this is your game.

Evil West is a fun, frenetic, blood-soaked, testosterone-fueled action game with a lot to like. There’s some old-school charm to it, but at the same time some old-school frustrations. When co-op works, it’s fun, though it is by no means required to enjoy the game on its own merits. When you’re through the holiday’s festivities, and you want something to play that’s a bit mindless while also being entertaining, then Evil West should be on your list of games to play.

Evil West’s gameplay focuses around progression. It loves to introduce new elements like weapons, combat and enemies and then proceed to absolutely smash the player with an assortment of everything they have learnt by the end of each chapter. The constant change in how you play the game is overall satisfying, but its rinse and repeat formula of enemies and mini bosses became annoying the more time I spent with it. The location art and narrative is exciting, but I longed to be given more opportunities to explore and be rewarded for my endeavours based on the enticing nature of each area. Evil West is an exciting ride that will test your reflexes and ability to take on swarms of monsters which will either leave you feeling exhilarated, frustrated or like me, somewhere in between.

Old school but enjoyable, Evil West offers us a scenario of cowboys and vampires, a very naughty gameplay, and a general design inherited from the games of 2010. A formula that quickly finds its limits in certain aspects of the game, but its combos devastating will satisfy you.

Despite technical issues, Evil West manages to be fun for its exaggerated gameplay and the large amount of combat options. However, don't expect much more than that.

A game from the generation before the last somehow found its way to us in the year 2022. The combat is great, the story is fun, the graphics are… dated. Perhaps you can stomach it for the few hours it takes to beat the game.

Evil West has no delusions of grandeur; it simply wants to give you a thumping good time, and on that front it fully delivers [Issue#380, p.120]

You should give Evil West a chance, just don't expect it to be a similar to other modern shooters that came out this year. What you should expect is a very dynamic gameplay that won't leave you bored even for one minute.

Evil West in fun in the moment, but largely forgettable due to the poor writing and level design. While the combat is stellar and intuitive when in the heat of battle, the glue holding those battles together could use some love. With a boring protagonist and stilted dialogue, Evil West feels more low budget than it likely really is. Luckily, there is a solid core here to build upon for the inevitable sequel, and punching dudes with electricity never gets old.

The writing is dreadful and much of the game feels like it could have been released 17 years ago. But if you look past some of its shortcomings, there is a decent action game hidden underneath. We just wished the game would have made a little more out of its premise (which is still pretty rad).

Evil West features plenty of spectacular, frantic, fun and challenging fights, in which we will be able to exploit a very wide repertoire of moves and weapons to kill hordes of monsters, vampires, werewolves and undeads in the most painful way possible. Unfortunately, everything else is disappointing.

Despite these issues, Evil West will most certainly become a better experience with some fine-tuning and a patch or two. As far as I am concerned, its core formula is an entertaining one, bringing players on a linear ride into the wild west and unleashing the darkness of vampires for good measure. For those seeking a pleasant time of vanquishing evil for 10-15 hours using your fists and guns without the stress of needing to do too much, Evil West should firmly be in your sights as your next call of adventure.

Evil West is one of those really enjoyable 7/10s. It's never going to win any awards and it's probably not going to stick long in the memory, but give it a few years and someone, somewhere, will swear to you that it's actually an underappreciated classic. It's a chunky action game that knows how to have fun, both in and out of combat.

Even the nice setting with vampires in the Wild West can hardly save anything: The hectic gameplay with annoying opponent spam, which no combat system can cope with, is unimaginative and lacks a real spark of charm.

Evil West is not very good, but that doesn't mean it's not fun. There is enough amusement and it's refreshingly free from finery and unnecessary gameplay mechanics.

Evil West has a lot of things going for it—the designs are fascinating, the lore excellent, and the gameplay can be massively fun on hard. But it also has some downfalls—the levels feel just a bit too linear, and the main narrative takes a while to really jump into, and even then, it struggles with fluid cut scenes and complexity. While other games have been able to get away with a basic narrative because of their fantastic action, Evil West isn’t quite there.

Evil West isn't a hugely complex game but it's fun enough to recapture both the nostalgia and fun of the early '00s. Though its story and performance can dip, its gameplay doesn't.

An enjoyable combat system is left to flounder in an otherwise unambitious ode to Xbox 360 era shooters, that quickly gets too repetitive to enjoy.