Far Far West

high-octane cowboy pve extraction shooter, right up my alley

i like cowboys

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i want to sex arizona jones

[quote]"Only 86 minutes of in-game time and writing a review already? Isn't that a bit quick?"[/quote] Not for something as special as this. This game combines every aspect of games I like and whips it into a concoction so potent I want to get that playtime to a hundred hours. I might miss out on endgame stuff, but this isn't the kind of game where you need to grind to endgame for it to get good. Alright, I'll actually justify my glaze and get into the classic "it's like x with y and z" comparisons. If you want that straight away, scroll down to the "Standard Review Content" part. Otherwise, below are my thoughts after the tutorial and first 2 multiplayer missions. [h2]First impression - tutorial[/h2] Wow. Just finished the tutorial alone and this game [i]oozes[/i] style. The western genre with the painterly and cartoony "Sea of Thieves" esque style is a peak mashup. Also reminds me a LOT of Fortnite: Save the World which i love. [h3]STW Comparison[/h3] More specifically, both are cartoony, post-apocalyptic worlds where you kill chunky, glowy-eyed undead. Killing bosses, upgrading gear, doing objectives and extracting in a big dramatic storm finale is exactly the boots this game manages to fill, especially with Epic leaving STW in the absolutely abysmal state they have. Really appreciate this aspect of it <3 [h2]After first mission[/h2] It just. gets. better. The movement? Addictive. Your jump is stored if you fall and you have a small dash so vertical movement is fun off the rip. B-hopping feels absolutely rapid, although that could genuinely be just the great VFX and camera work selling it. The amount of options for builds? Looks amazing!! None of the elements sound uninteresting. For example, ice not only stuns but actually gives you shield. And you can combine lots of them in your kit rather than choosing one. The pig in the lobby? Adorable. I just had to comment on them, you can hold them and its so cute. [h2]After Second mission[/h2] I want to sink a hundred hours into this game. [strike]Infact, no, I'm graduating a game design degree this year and I want to [i]work[/i] on this ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ masterpiece.[/strike] Their website currently has a "please don't send CV's or applications" so just want to make it clear that that is a joke. Besides I think it would be a bit unprofessional to beg for a level design job in a steam review though so here's some more "standard review" content: [h2]Standard Review Content™️[/h2] [h3]Missions[/h3] [list] [*]Missions both follow a predicable format, yet have so many extra optional side quests that it feels different every time. One time you might just go open the boss area, kill boss and leave. But other times, your racing your friends on horseback and get a big juicy souls reward for it. The incentives are there for exploration and optional content and its wonderful. [/list] [h3]Progression[/h3] [list] [*]You upgrade and buy the weapons and skills you actually want. Well, there's an optional gambling system with in-game currency for the Joker cards. It's actually fun though, with emphasis on the key phrases "optional" and "in-game currency" [i](cough cough gacha games)[/i] [*]The social aspects are fun! You have standard emotes and a chat, sure, though the highlight is Battlecrys. You toss your hat and give a true cowboy/girl/person "Yeehah!". It even sounds and looks change depending on your current hat :) [*]Difficulties are actually descriptive. Hard is hard, normal is a reasonable difficulty, easy is easy. [/list] [h3]Skills + Upgrades[/h3] [list] [*]The skills are super fun, even the base ones. The freeze was already my favourite with the base "turn everyone into ice cubes", so when my friend suddenly build a ice bridge I already knew I'm gonna be sticking with that for a while :D [*]The jokers are the thing you can gamble for, they last for an entire mission and are usually either small buffs or large trade-offs (glass cannon is like +40% damage for -25% health, stacked it twice and I died a few times but I also somewhat melted the boss 😎) [*]Jokers have rarity, which means you have to grind for ages to try out the best right? NO. You can earn temporary ones mid-mission meaning you can "try before you buy" which is such a great design choice. [/list] [h3]Vibes[/h3] [list] [*]The dialogue is funny and captivating. I wanna get to know the NPCs that are excited to run the train, or disappointed in our horse riding skills. [*]The wacky western theme is very fun. The guns espcially have this rickety iron-and-wood build that I absolutely adore. [*]Art style is gorgeous. The oasis areas are my favourite - the water looks so refreshing, the foliage feels alive and the wooden barrels and docks make it feel inhabited too. [/list] [h3]Polish[/h3] [list] [*]I'm not sure what priorities this dev team has, because an early access game has NO business being this polished already. The art style, VFX, SFX it all feels full release quality [*]It has a functional tutorial with dialogue [/list] [h3]My few complaints[/h3] It wouldn't be that constructive for me to just flail my arms and celebrate for the whole review, so here the criticisms I came up with: [list] [*]The ravines are annoying. I understand they are intended to be environmental hazards, but I'd rather be damaged and respawned than have to trudge through for a while [*]Some small objectives aren't too clear. Took us a bit to realise there was a scanner for the dig uranium one, for example. [*]Character customisation seems a little limited from what I can tell, only being full "outfits" and swappable hats on your actual avatar. I'm sure modular outfits like shirts, bottoms etc. is a lot of work but it would be amazing if that was added at some point! [/list] [h2]Summary[/h2] I think you can find me frothing at the mouth and handwriting the steam link for the next person who asks me for a game recommendation. And just calling it "Risk of Helldivers 2 with SoT graphics and a western coat of paint" would be the undersell of a lifetime. Genuine gem. Evil Raptor, you cooked so hard and I cannot wait to see where this game is taken. Thank you for all the work you put in.

This game brings me joy and is hella fun with friends.