I’m a sucker for a stealth game, the Thief series is some of the best gaming I’ve experienced to date. Likewise I’m a sucker for a good ‘Boomer Shooter’ and I’ve spent countless hours with Doom, Quake, Dusk, Amid Evil, etc.

So when I laid eyes on Blood West it was a no brainer. Here we have a game that according to the Steam tags is ‘FPS Western Retro Horror RPG Stealth’, and describes itself as ‘an immersive stealth FPS’ and ‘rewarding classic stealth FPS gameplay’.

PROS

Graphically the game looks fantastic with a late 90’s vibe aesthetically. The game is (for the most part) well detailed with a variety of buildings, decorations, loot, and creatures. Basking under the endless moonlight it also oozes atmosphere and shadow.

There’s not a huge amount of musical score, but what there is does the job amicably. Stephen Russell (who voices Garrett in the Thief series) lends his talents to this project as well and it’s a welcome addition to the game. At times you’ll get a ‘Thief in the Weird West’ vibe which is nice.

The game features many weapons, both mundane and magical which is great, giving the player lots of offensive options. There’s also a Perk Tree is 24 different perks you can unlock, offering subtle influences on the game.

The maps are large and open and you’re welcome to explore them as you see fit, there are quests that will lead you to various places of interest but there is nothing stopping you from wandering off in the opposite direction for a little adventure.

They aren’t huge maps, don’t expect an Elder Scrolls game, but they’re a good size bigger than the average Doom or Quake map, featuring both large open outdoor areas and dark winding caves or mines.

The enemies are varied and for the most part enjoyable to engage with. Each having it’s own movement, attacks, and loot table. The game features three boss fights as well, each of which is pretty darn large and intimidating.

CONS

Blood West (in my opinion) suffers from an identity crisis.

In trying to weld together a ‘Boomer Shooter’ with a ‘Classic Stealth’ game you’ve got something of a Frankenstein’s Monster on your hands that doesn’t really succeed at being either.

Go in loud? Well you’ll die in only one or two hits, even late game. So it feels to me at least that you’re urged to play stealth and guns are only for when you make a mistake and things go loud.

Except there’s definitely a stronger emphasis on combat than there is on stealth in the perk system. Putting everything into stealth as much as I could via perks and equipment seemed like the logical course of action.

That is until you hit a boss fight that requires you to go in loud and guns blazing (especially the final boss).

Ammunition is finite, inventory space is finite, there’s four or five different ammunition types for each weapon. And when you die to a boss it’s health completely resets, but not your ammunition.

See Blood West also had rogue elements, the more you die the harder the game gets. So get good and don’t die. You lose to that boss fight first go? Just going to get harder and harder until you essentially soft lock yourself out of the fight.

If you want to do stealth, then do stealth. Neither Thief 1, Thief 2, or even Dishonored 2 required you to take part in some epic loud boss fight at the end. Stealth was key, to the very end.

If you want to force the player to go loud, then don’t have them die in one or two hits and penalize them for not playing stealth.

The multiple ammunition seems… redundant and unnecessary, so too does the inventory system if I’m being honest.

The perk system works but feels shallow.

The final map (of three) feels half done.

I get the feeling the developer(s) ran out of time, money, or patience. Or some combination of the three. The initial demo for Blood West along with Early Access really showed a lot of promise and I admit I had a lot more fun on the first map than I did on the second and third. I found the third map to be particularly ‘meh’.

I managed to get up to the final boss and after a few attempts gave up. After putting so much effort into stealth (which I felt the game wanted me to do) I was punished for doing so by the final boss.

Final Verdict

Blood West is one of those games that I feel deserves a ‘neutral’ review. There’s fun to be had here, especially in the earlier parts of the game and perhaps those more acclimated to titles like Dark Souls might have more patience for the games harsh Rogue elements.

The game is currently $36.50 AUD ($24.99 USD) and I would strongly urge anyone interested to wait for a substantial discount or sale.

Blood West comes close to being great, but it needed another 12 months of development for balancing, tweaking, and fleshing out the end game. Such a pity.

Steam Link – https://store.steampowered.com/app/1587130/Blood_West/