West of Dead

 Xbox One
Metascore
73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 16 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
  1. Xbox Tavern
    Jul 2, 2020
    73
    West of Dead is a beautiful looking cel-shaded game which made me feel like a bad ass cowboy, with a sprinkling of Ghost Rider. I felt some of the hit boxes were off slightly on occasion – I’m don’t think I’m that much of a bad shot… The clever mechanics of cover and using light and dark to “hide” your enemies is a good addition. Rogue-lites can be fun if balanced well and this is a wonderfully put together example.
  2. Everyeye.it
    Jun 24, 2020
    73
    West of Dead had excellent potential to stand out very well in the roguelite scene, but the developers' work was only half done.
  3. COGconnected
    Jun 23, 2020
    71
    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.
  5. GameSpace
    Jul 21, 2020
    70
    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.
  6. Gameblog.fr
    Jul 3, 2020
    70
    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.
  7. Game Rant
    Jun 29, 2020
    70
    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. And as William Mason himself says, "they say a hero dies only once, but I say a hero keeps coming back," and coming back for each playthrough in hopes to finally pull off that perfect run is a mighty fine time in West of Dead.
  8. GameSkinny
    Jun 22, 2020
    70
    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.
  9. DarkStation
    Aug 21, 2020
    60
    The premise and production values are pretty much the only things that made me interested in West of Dead but the frustration over not being able to gain a proper foothold for forward progress really got to me. Character advancement doesn’t carry over into each new play session, making any boosts you find a zero-sum game. These days, my time is increasingly valuable. Nothing about the experience was ever fun and at the end of the day, I fell into the mindset that the only way to win was to simply not play.
  10. Guardian
    Aug 16, 2020
    60
    While the game’s style is like a Homeric epic seen through the panel of a comic book, the soundtrack of melancholic twanging guitar complicates the theme to something new and unexpected, a kind of undead western. It’s slickly compelling stuff, if repetitive after a few hours and, invariably, punitive. Yes, in West of Dead, death is an inconvenience rather than a sentence, but it’s one that is often delivered quickly and without reprieve, which makes selecting a “New Run” a little bit harder with each cruel setback.
  11. Windows Central
    Jul 8, 2020
    60
    Though there's fun to be had with West of Dead, cruel difficulty spikes, bugs, and unruly aiming prevent the game from achieving greatness.

Awards & Rankings

79
#79 Best Xbox One Game of 2020
92
#92 Most Discussed Xbox One Game of 2020

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 17 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 17
  3. Negative: 2 out of 17
  1. Xbox_Alive
    Jul 14, 2020
    7
    West of dead is by far a rather unique take on playstyle mechanics. If you have ever played a game dedicated to grinding this by far is it.West of dead is by far a rather unique take on playstyle mechanics. If you have ever played a game dedicated to grinding this by far is it. You start off base stats and level up in the runs. They do not stay with you as when you die they reset every run. The starting weapons also change each run. You acquire lives and use those to unlock permanent perks. These help make the runs easier. The graphics are not modern but they arent old either. And the aiming system is a different take on most games. It's difficult at first but then you get use to the weapons easily. The controls are not complex at all and the great thing is the levels are never the same so each and every game you play is different and requires actual thought and effort. I enjoyed this part deeply. You do need a general sense of strategy and timing to get through the fights. Once you get rolling and open up a series of perks the game becomes pretty straight forward. The game has cone a long way from the beta and is a game I will continue to enjoy. All in all the game is worth a play through at least a few times. A solid addition to the Xbox library at a worthy price of admission.… Full Review »
  2. adidab14
    Jun 30, 2020
    5
    I really wanted to like this game. I love the atmosphere, the visuals are great and the setting is gritty and interesting. Even the music, asI really wanted to like this game. I love the atmosphere, the visuals are great and the setting is gritty and interesting. Even the music, as bare as it is, is enjoyable. The problem is the game is hampered by a multitude of issues that as much as I tried, I just couldn't get past.
    For starters, this is labeled as a twin stick shooter which is simply not accurate. You don't really aim in this game. Instead, your character locks on to an enemy and any shots you take will go towards that target. There is very little if any free aiming and this can be terribly annoying in certain situations until you get a firm grasp of the mechanics. There are also glaring issues with controls. Several buttons carry out multiple functions and it can be hard to tell when your character will do which action. Often times causing you to leap from cover or shoot when you mean to melee.
    Another huge issue is the camera and lighting. There are many instances where the camera will completely obscure your view and make it next to impossible to see enemies just off screen. It's a dynamic camera as well so you will find your view changing drastically on a whim, sometimes in combat which can really throw a wrench into the fight. The lighting also plays a huge part in this game. The mechanics work such that the arenas where you fight are usually shrouded in darkness with lanterns littered around the room that you can light. When lit, they stun enemies briefly and allow you see them and lock on to them. There are a few issues with this system. The biggest being there are many times where you simply can't get to a lantern before a target can hit you. They can target you in the dark, but you more or less cannot hit them in the dark. But sometimes you can. This is frustrating because there are many times you never really quite know how you should approach a fight.
    Lastly, there are a lot of bugs in the game as I write this. Some of them are game breaking. I was locked out of rooms that I was supposed to be locked into. There were many times where part of the room loaded, but another part was only partially loaded and obstacles were invisible or flickering. Enemies often became stuck or glitched into walls and floors, sometimes completely off the map but still triggering a fight. I even encountered one instance where every time I used an ability the game would completely crash and close.
    Even with all of these issues, if the game wasn't such a grind i would have still probably enjoyed it. The core gameplay is really enjoyable. Unfortunately the game has a pretty brutal difficulty curve with many of the later enemies killing you in one hit and forcing you to start completely over. Not necessarily an issue in itself but since you have to work your way all the way back to get familiar with the enemies, it can take quite a bit of time to advance. With the permanent upgrades a complete and utter grind to unlock the game eventually became a chore to play and with all of the issues it becomes pretty irritating.
    This game is teetering on the edge of being really great. But it's issues accompanied with the slow development and very grindy mechanics are holding it back severely. The game is in desperate need of a patch to clean some of these issues up and hopefully reduce the amount of time it takes to unlock some of the upgrades or put in some checkpoints between levels to make the game seem like less of a slog and more of an enjoyable venture.    … Full Review »
  3. Broyax
    Aug 31, 2020
    0
    L'etron indé du jour est en noir et blanc... non en noir et rouge la plupart du temps et des fois en blanc, marron et marron clair. Et noirL'etron indé du jour est en noir et blanc... non en noir et rouge la plupart du temps et des fois en blanc, marron et marron clair. Et noir aussi. C'est pour dire qu'ici le nombre de couleurs est limité, autant par pédantisme que par fainéantise ! mais bizarrement, c'est en trois dimensions et non pas deux comme le sont d'habitude les étrons indés à chier de ce genre !

    Il n'en est pas moins à chier que ses comparses (cons--parses pardon) et ses **** copains d'étrons indés, car plus on est d'étrons, plus on est con ! la caméra reste fixe la plupart du temps et il s'agit là-dedans, noyé dans un mauvais goût permanent et irrécupérable, d'un vague, très vague pseudo-jeu de tir -j'ose à peine parler d'un TPS- vu d'en haut à l'imprécision stupéfiante et à l'intérêt aussi mince qu'une petite feuille de pet-cul.

    A l'ouest donc, rien de nouveau : seulement de la merde partout à l'horizon des étrons indés !    … Full Review »
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