(This article contains some spoilers for Wild West.) ）
I used to be a peasant woman.
Plowing the fields, I milk the cows with lice.
I love life, and my family is full and happy.
It wasn't until one night in April that the robbers shot and killed my child.
Flood, flood.
Who will rescue this wasteland?
I used to be a boss.
Wind and moon place, my side of countless lovers.
I fell in love, talented and beautiful, sea oath mountain alliance.
Until one night in August, the witch turned me into a monster.
I used to be a hunter.
Day and night, I hunted down the wolves with a machete.
I saw the hunter's heart happy, the eagle walked on the horse, and returned with a full load.
It wasn't until one afternoon in October that my brother ate his lips.
No one can save this wasteland.
The role-playing game Weird West, released yesterday (March 31), is a Western American folk song – melodious and beautiful, but singing out loud and weird things. Like almost all Western-themed works, the song depicts a small town in decline, where chaotic policing provides an environment in which violence and crime thrive, and gangs and bounty hunters are far more powerful than sheriffs. Civilized society is in jeopardy, but the wilderness, completely out of the ordinary, is even more dangerous, and witches who hold the power of nature are secretly plotting evil experiments. Terrible things are happening, but in this desert, the barbaric growth is not only man-made chaos, but also disasters that fall from the sky, such as zombie tides, ghosts that demand their lives, and gang hooligans who collude with the piranha monster "Siren", for a little profit, actually sell living people as commodities.
The West has never been a beautiful place, it's sinister, and it attracts countless people for only one reason – the lucrative rewards hidden in the midst of a crisis. The lower layers of the desert are covered with glittering pits, and mining gold and silver is the fastest way to make a fortune. The wild tone and folk song of the West share the same theme – telling the reality of suffering in a happy atmosphere.
The West is also contradictory. In this land, risk and opportunity coexist, and the life of a outlaw gambler can also attract a large number of people who want to live a comfortable life. Because the wilderness is disturbing the air, the players here always have a little helplessness to go with the flow, but they often fight, and there is still a strong will in their hearts. This may be the Western Spirit.
"Welcome to the Wild West."
How did the story come about?
You wake up from a darkness with a few strangers standing in front of you. You look down and find yourself covered in a ceremonial robe, hands and feet tied to chairs, and wooden floors roughly brushed with paint a few shades of red, spelled together in a mysterious rune shape. You look at your clothes, which are also blood-red, and surrounded by a few silent believers who are dressed exactly like you, and you come to the conclusion that this must be the base of some cult.
You turn your head and look, and a few strangers gather around, whispering, deliberately not letting you hear. On the stone pillar next to it hung several vague portraits, black and dark, and it was impossible to see the details of the face at all, but rather more like a few silhouettes. You whisper in your heart, 1, 2, 3... There are 5 paintings in total, and you don't know what that means, but you are in a hurry to figure out how to escape.
However, your "golden cicada shelling" plan has not yet taken shape, and the stranger is already approaching you with a red-hot soldering iron, which is exactly the shape of a rune on the wooden floor. Strangers whisper words of unknown meaning, such as experiment and passerby, and then press the soldering iron you, and the hot iron that is about to melt immediately burns through your skin, sticks to the muscles, and emits a nourishing sound and a scorched aroma - and of course, your screams.
Their voices sounded like piercing beeps
This is the opening of "Wild West", and players will certainly be curious about the follow-up of the mysterious ritual, but the narrative of this game is more unique, and the story has another direction. As the imprint on the skin grows larger, similar to the montage in the film, it soon occupies the entire screen, and when the bright red fades, in the next screen, the player has become a bounty hunter who washes his hands in a golden basin. The narrator said her name was Jane Bell. Tired of licking blood from the tip of a knife after half her life in a hail of bullets, Jane buried her revolver and holster under a tree in the backyard, picked up a hoe and a milk bucket, and became an ordinary peasant woman.
Jane had obviously nothing to do with the secret ritual—except that night she suddenly felt an unbearable sharp pain in her neck, and when she came back to her senses, a mysterious burning mark was left in the place of pain. Yes, the imprint and the runes in the Chamber of Secrets are identical in shape and in size, as if some mysterious force had linked Jane to the prisoners in the Chamber of Secrets.
But this night, what disturbed Jane was not only the mark that appeared on her neck out of thin air, but also the thunderous gunshots coming from outside the house, and when she rushed to the door, she was greeted only by a ruined courtyard and the body of her son Huck. She shouted in the yard, but no one responded. She understands that her husband has been kidnapped by the Stillwater Gang, a group of beasts that sell human flesh, and Huck... He was too young to deserve their effort... Sheriff Flora O'Britt heard the noise, but it was too late.
Tragedies always happen suddenly
In order to find her husband and avenge the death of her child, Jane pulls out her pistol and embarks on a journey.
5 protagonists, 5 journeys
Jane's story is a classic framework of revenge: a loved one is murdered, and a cowboy washes his hands in a golden basin to get justice and return to his old business. It's so typical that you can even guess what's next: Jane buries Huck in the backyard, puts on a cowboy hat, has a gun, and rides a horse to track the killer's footsteps. She was accompanied by howling winds, lightning bolts at night, and tumbleweeds everywhere on the sand... Whether it's a revenge theme or a story atmosphere, the game is full of Western elements, it's attractive enough, but it's not something that will catch people's eyes for the time being.
The real "soul" that "injects" into Wild West is the mysterious power. The western part of the game is a world occupied by supernatural forces, and as I continue to explore the continent and learn more and more about the backstory, I know more about this place more concretely. In the case of Jane's story, her enemy, the Stillwater Gang, colludes with the piranha race "Siren", which is a natural monster that usually looks no different from ordinary people, but when fighting, it will transform into a half-human, half-beast water demon, cunning and flexible, and if it is unlucky to meet, it will be the most difficult enemy.
Shelby Cross, the leader of the Stillwater Gang, is a Siren
Whether it's the man-eating monsters that people talk about in the town, the witches who sell mysterious items that players encounter in the wilderness, or even the mine demons they encounter in encounters— they were once gold miners, but because they were obsessed with gold, they lost their souls and became monsters bound by gold and only knew how to guard the mines— and the "cult rituals" in the secret room at the beginning, these things add a strong mystic color to "Wild West".
Paranormal powers and mysticism are the best companions for western themes. In my opinion, the spirit of western pioneering is to a large extent the struggle between man and the infinite power of nature, nature is unfathomable, even vicious, all the time hindering human beings to overcome the harsh environment, but pioneers can always think of ways, move in any desired direction, and survive in every corner of the desert. This indomitable spirit has an indescribable charm in the face of great power, and supernatural forces are undoubtedly more mysterious, larger, and more frightening than bad weather and resource-poor natural environments. Being able to survive in such an environment, or even fight for a certain goal, can best reflect the great pioneering spirit.
Soul and natural forces
In addition, "Strange West" is also quite clever in terms of narrative structure. After the player ends Jane's journey, regardless of the outcome, whether he defeats the evil gang leader Shelby Cross, or leaves him at large, the player returns to the secret hut from the beginning. The red room, the red robe, and the bright red mark on the floor. Strangers surround the player's character, continue to whisper, branded with another imprint, and red continues to infect the entire frame.
When the picture is clear again, the player finds himself a pig man - the protagonist of the game switches. In fact, if properly explored in the previous journey, Jane will also discover the Pigman's camp, and by gathering intelligence, the player will also learn that the Pigman is not actually a natural monster - a new cursed creature that the witch sews a person into a pig through an evil ritual.
Pigmen are "synthetic beasts" with stitched threads and wounds on their backs
During the second journey, the player experiences the other side of Wild West through the perspective of the pigman Clay Humming Quissy. As identities change, the character's abilities change accordingly, and without my reproach, a loyal sheriff must have a very different attitude towards bounty hunters and monster pigmen. Clay needs to find out who transformed him into what he is now, and try to reclaim his life as a human being.
This is actually not the last time that "Wild West" will change the protagonist, the game arranges a total of 5 protagonists with different identities and story backgrounds, from bounty hunters to pigmen, to the local natives who worship the power of nature, followed by the werewolf cursed by the blood moon and the mysterious cult "Dream Witch" who can predict the future. Each protagonist has unique abilities, such as the thick skin of the pigman, the werewolf will be "moon drunk", and it is uncontrollable like a time bomb. The narrative purpose of the 5-segment story is only one - to help players understand what is really happening in the world of Wild West through different perspectives.
The character's "Specialty" page draws silhouettes of the 5 protagonists
As the story progresses, everything is strung together. Each protagonist will have the same imprint as in the mysterious ritual, and the player will not play a person, but a will that runs through the five protagonists – or a mysterious collection of thoughts. A group of mysterious "immortals" are conducting their "experiments", and the players happen to be experimental objects. Because of this ritual, 5 seemingly unrelated protagonists are connected in the underworld, and all existence serves some supreme purpose, which has far-reaching influence and can even determine the fate of the world...
"Immersive experience from a bird's-eye view"
In addition to the main plot, an important means for players to understand "what is wrong with this world" is the huge amount of text scattered throughout the world, and "Wild West" uses a huge amount of text to build a complex and strange west. The narrative of Wild West is ingenious, and many places also make effective use of the game system, for example, the player manipulates Jane to check the body of her son before leaving the farmhouse, and can find a blue toy bear. Reading the letters in the game, the player discovers that The Bear is a birthday present from a neighbor to Huck. Huck really liked the little bear and took it with him at all times. Knowing this, I actually developed feelings for the strange Huck (who didn't even have a word of dialogue), and I thought that Jane might keep her son's relic, so I kept the bear with me on my subsequent adventures.
The bear's paw also bears Haq's name
Does carrying a bear on your body have any other effect than occupying the prop slot? Probably not, but I'm willing to do it, and the game allows me to do it, with plenty of freedom and the player's subjective will forming a unique narrative. There are also many stories in Wild West that require players to peel back the cocoon, which is also the "immersive simulation from the top view" experience pursued by game developer WolfEye Studios.
As the name suggests, "immersive simulation" is a type of game that pursues extreme immersion, which is simply characterized by an emphasis on players to explore the game's plot and backstory autonomously. Among them, the more well-known works are almost entirely in the first person, such as the Dishonored series and Prey. Players who have played these games will definitely experience the surprise of discovering secrets through files, as if they are also standing outside the laboratory where monsters are guarded to collect information, and this simulation experience is completely different from the narrative feeling in other games.
Immersion and top-down view sound like two ends of a pole, but WolfEye Studios kneaded them together and it worked well. Exploring Wild West felt a bit like playing the Divine Realm: Original Sin series — similar perspectives, similar dialogues, and hidden texts that I needed to dig into slowly... However, the immediacy of the battle in Wild West is stronger, the interaction is simpler, and the amount of text is not so large, which can be regarded as lightweight in comparison, but the atmosphere of the game is not lost at all, and it is also well created.
Side quests in the game... It's hard to put into words, some are interesting, but most are just repetitions of monotonous tasks
Speaking of narrative, changing the protagonist seems dexterous and innovative in the narrative, but it is more troublesome in the inheritance of equipment and skills, after all, no one wants the hard-working characters to be reset at the next stage, and the collection of items must also start from scratch. Wild West's handling of this is exquisite. First, when the player changes the protagonist, the original protagonist returns to a specific location — a location related to the ending of their previous journey. For example, Jane, whom I manipulated, returned to her original farm to continue her life after rescuing her husband. In the latter part of my journey, when I was manipulating pigmen, I was able to go to the farm, find and recruit Jane, let her continue her adventure as my teammate, keep the equipment she carries, and give the consumables to the protagonist of the next journey to continue using.
Re-recruit the protagonist of the previous journey
In terms of skills, after the player switches the protagonist, some of the upgraded skills can also be retained. There are two upgrade branches in the game. One is the active skill that consumes the "Nip Relic" boost, and the main color is purple. Different protagonists have different active skills, such as the guardian of natural forces who can summon tornadoes to attack enemies, and the bounty hunter can place timed explosives, because active skills cannot be inherited depending on the background setting of the character.
The other is a passive skill that uses the "Gold Card" to upgrade, and the main color is orange. Specifically, this includes price concessions from cargo merchants, increased power of explosives, higher jump heights, and maximum health... Passive skills are generic and can be inherited throughout the game flow, with players only focusing on leveling up.
The "Golden Ace" upgrade skill can be retained after changing the protagonist
Speaking of "Nipp Relics", according to the game setting, this thing is the source of the protagonist's special ability. The relic emitted a purple glow and looked very strange - who was Nipp? What are the relics it left behind? Along the way, I also discovered a number of mysterious props called "Nep's Head", and on some altars serving ancestors in the underground temple, there are statues that resemble the shape of the head. What does this really mean?
Gameplay and inadequacies
I talked a lot about the plot and also talked about the gameplay of the game. But overall, wild west combat system and other interactive design are only decent. The game's combat is similar to the "HELLDIVERS" and other top-down shooting games, the player needs to use the left and right joysticks (keyboard and mouse) to control the movement and aiming, but in the game, whether it is a melee weapon or a ranged weapon, the system settings need to aim before attacking, in other words, directly pressing the fire button is no response. Coupled with the fact that the feel of long-range weapons is relatively sticky and slippery, some enemies have high movement speed and surprising agility, and the protagonist gives me the feeling of being very clumsy.
Not only the operation of the gun, but also the design of the throwing object is also very maddening. Because I play with a gamepad, depending on the game settings, I can only adjust the throwing direction and distance separately before throwing the explosives. Generally speaking, my specific operation is to adjust the direction with the right stick, then press the R1 button, the throwing distance will change slowly from near to far, wait until I reach the right position, and then press R2 (throw button) to throw the explosives - what a joke, this is also too complicated! The enemies in battle are always scurrying like flies, the rhythm is completely out of tune, and I almost only use explosives in sneak attacks before the opening.
And as soon as you throw a bomb, your teammates will scold people when they hear it – I didn't blow you up!
Explosives are also used in other ways, such as blowing up the rubble in the picture, which contains props or treasure chests
There are many similar corners and corners in "Wild West", which is not a big problem, it just makes people feel a little rough. To give a few more examples, the game customizes the corresponding dialogue according to the identity of the protagonist, but sometimes the correspondence is misaligned. As in the beginning of the story, Jane puts back on her bounty hunter outfit, and the surrounding residents are astonished, but the old colleagues in the squad say, "Welcome back, man." "It's all good until here, but when I manipulated the pigmen and recruited the old guy into the team in the town, the others pinched their noses because I was a monster, and the old colleague still said to me kindly: "I'm so happy to see you come back, man!" ”
In addition, although the character's consumables and equipment can be inherited in the next journey, the money and bullets on the body will only disappear out of thin air. I suffered two losses, and then estimated that the main quest was almost over, so I first went to the town to exchange gold coins for consumables, so that I could leave supplies for the next protagonist, so as not to change the protagonist and start from scratch.
In fact, there are still many irrationalities in the game. At the moment, the quickest way I've found to make money is to steal money from the weapon shop owner, just set up the game time to night , the game offers a "hangout" feature that speeds up the passage of time, and with a few unlocking items, you can easily sneak into the weapon store and loot the boss's deposit and all the guns. The most outrageous thing is that I don't even have to go out, I just have to "hang out" until the next morning. It was dawn and the boss woke up and saw me crouched in front of the bed, greeting me casually. I can also resell him the equipment looted last night. She snorted coldly: "Do not accept returns, but such a good thing, who would want to return it?" ”
There was no clothing in the coat box, only a pistol of purple quality
I'm not sure if the production team wasn't thoughtful enough, or if I was the only one who was taking advantage of the loopholes, but the perverse feedback went a long way towards destroying the immersion the game was supposed to give me.
summary
Weird West has a lot of great places, and I experienced the joy of self-exploration over the course of more than 20 hours of play. Realistically, it also has a lot of plus points, such as a very colorful UI design, a variety of interactive items, and some randomly generated side locations and missions. If you want to experience a wild and mysterious Westworld, and you want to experience the fun of gradually discovering secrets, then Wild West is definitely a must-see option.
As for the various drawbacks, I think it is a small flaw caused by developer WolfEye Studios' limited resources and experience. At this point, of course, as a game developer, I can do better, and I do have regrets, but it does not affect the core experience that the game wants to bring - free exploration, independent discovery, and step by step to uncover the mysterious world of the "Wild West" for the camp. On top of that, they're doing amazingly well, and that's enough.
(The game experience code was provided by publisher Developer Digital.) ）