Chris InglisBlood West is an immersive stealth horror FPS developed by Hyperstrange and was released on Steam early access back in February 2022. Two chapters are currently available to play in the game and a third chapter is coming in December 2023 with the full release of the game. I have jumped in to check out what’s on offer and it feels like an oldschool FPS but has some cool exploration elements. You also need to use tactics like sneaking up on monsters or knowing where to shoot their weakpoints.
The game is set in a post-apocalyptic Wild West where we play as a revenant desperado taking on twisted demons and eldritch horrors. We are searching for the means to end the curse that has befallen the frontier. While completing quests for totem spirits, they will lead us towards even greater challenges. And challenging this game certainly is, so careful planning is required because more monsters could be lurking around corners that you can’t see.
Armed initially with an axe, a revolver and limited ammo, it took me a while to learn the essentials of combat. At the bottom of the screen is a sound and sight radar. As you approach an enemy, even when crouched, you will make noise. You do more damage when you surprise an enemy and you can sneak up behind them, but once they turn around, they will lunge at you. The first enemy I came across was a ghoul and I could sneak around them using rocky structures in the caves, but later when I was out in the open, I had to engage them.
I started with my axe running in and swinging wildly, but they hit hard, and I died quickly. Each ranged weapon has options for ammo that you can switch between by pressing V. However, you can’t just hot-swap full clips of ammo. If you’re using golden ammo that does higher damage but then switch to standard, you need to reload a full clip before you can shoot again. Loot in each environment will flash white making it easier to find, and you will come across artifacts that will give you bonuses. Artifacts come in the form of a feather that can improve stamina regen, a glove that increases reload speed or a shot-through coin that will give you coins per kill, or you can sell these for instant cash. Ammo was the thing I bought the most but it’s in such short supply. Thankfully there’s enough spread around to loot.
In addition, when you loot a gun from an enemy, it may have some ammo still in the clip that you can extract. Ammo is scarce so every bullet counts. Luckily, I had a golden coin in my inventory which allowed me to respawn with the items I had in my pack. Without a golden coin, you will drop your items where you died. Each safe zone has a personal stash box which is good to leave bulky items behind or things you don’t want to risk losing if you don’t have a golden coin on hand.
Hitting ghouls in the head with the axe or shooting a headshot does a lot more damage, and once you know their attack patterns it became easier to dodge them. As you explore looking for loot, you will find notes that give you hints as to how to handle the next type of monster you’re likely to come across. You’ll need to deal with threats around old ghost towns such as the winged birdmen, flying skulls, prodigal daughters with masks that need to be shot off to be deal a more lethal blow, and more. Killing monsters and completing quests nets you XP and you can level up to invest into perks for your character.
Your inventory is grid-based, and each item type has a certain size. There is no sort button though which is sorely missed, so you have to do a bit of backpack tetris as your pack fills up. You can sell loot at certain trader npcs in safezones designated with by yellow icons on the map. You need to discover them first though and they’re not easily accessible.
Blood West features a variety of environments to explore, each with their own unique challenges, and you can go wherever you want to go despite quests pointing you in a particular direction. I had to go to an abandoned church to loot a relic, and it turned out there was an underground cavern system that was crawling with bad guys. Thankfully I had a couple of escape routes to bail to, and slowly made my way to the relic. The next quest sent me off to a lookout tower, and further still were dense forests that had an eerie atmosphere.
Exploring was tense because while you may not visually see a monster, the sound and movement radar at the bottom of the screen with start to go off meaning something was close. There’s a half-risen dead monster that is wearing a broken coffin that reminded me a bit of Ned Kelly, and he hits hard too. A Molotov cocktail or timed TNT blast took out him and his mates for me. The game’s music adds to the mood and intensity at times too which is a fantastic mix of wild west and metal.
Overall, Blood West is an excellent horror FPS that is challenging, atmospheric, and there’s a steady difficulty curve as you explore further. The two chapters have a decent amount of content with the third chapter coming in December. With a bit of hype around FPS games of late with the likes of Rise of the Triad and Quake II, Blood West is definitely worth checking out.
This review utilised a key provided by Evolve PR and Blood West is out now on Steam early access, with chapter three and full release coming on December 5, 2023.
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