It wasn’t until several unsuccessful attempts to strong-arm the boss that I learned of alternative leverage I could use to apply pressure to our sinful friend, unfortunately allowing him to live until a later day. Unfortunately, intimidation tactics didn’t work - not at least in broad daylight. Insert the Danny Devito “so anyway, I started blasting” meme. Faced with choosing between two ugly options, I quick-saved my progress, before drawing my weapon on the egotistical tycoon, his bodyguards bursting through each door of his parlor. My stomach turned as, at least in my playthrough, I chose a deeply empathetic, chaotic-good type role. Early on, I recall having to lean on a particularly prominent crook to find information on someone I was tracking, think “wild west mobster.” After questioning him as to the whereabouts of the person I was tracking, I was presented with a choice: procure the deed to a tobacco farm that didn’t want to sell, and do so by any means, or get no information. Within the rather wide narrative rails though, still exists choice. You’re not being told a story as you are helping to craft one. Not only does this level of both macro and micro choice allow for a uniquely tailored experience that sets each play-through apart, but it respects players. Do you play nice, bartering with local townsfolk for weapons, or do you wait until nightfall to help yourself to a five-finger discount? Do you choose to reveal the big secret of a close confidant, putting their life in danger? Or do you choose to protect their identity? In addition, dialogue options, both crude and kind, branch into vastly different paths that continuously influence how you’re perceived by nearly everyone you encounter. At nearly every turn, the player is presented with choices that sends course-altering shifts rippling through the rest of your playthrough. However, don’t let the meta-layers of the plot dissuade you. Through your time in the Weird West, you’ll sequentially inhabit four separate heroes, exploring their unique individual narratives, while also slowly uncovering the overarching mystery that links these souls together. A pedigree that I should’ve trusted from the jump.Īs previously mentioned, Weird West is a fantastical reimagining of the barren wild west frontier a world where you’re just as likely to be held up by lawless bandits as you are to be ambushed by wraiths and sirens. What Wolfeye Studios has managed to lovingly craft inside of Wild West is a meticulous blend of genres and mechanics that succinctly demonstrates the former Arkane developer’s pedigree. Were player choices truly as dynamic as the game claims? Did combat encounters offer the scope of approach that other often heralded immersive sim titles as Dishonored or Prey did? Well, I’m humbled to report that my laundry list of concerns has been left, nearly entirely, in the dust. Even the very notion of Weird West’s immersive sim mechanics left me apprehensive. From the fantasy western (emphasis on western) setting to the isometric style camera perspective, very little in the way of aesthetic and marketing spoke to me and my game preferences. Well, I should say it wasn’t supposed to be a game for me.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |