In West of Dead, the player embodies William Mason, the sheriff of a small town in the western United States, who died in rather violent conditions. Thanks to his liabilities as a peacekeeper, the man was therefore chosen to return from the dead, in order to bring peace and tranquility back to purgatory by sending all the demons therein back to hell. The job is hard but a sacred carrot is promised to us, namely to finally discover how William Mason passed the weapon on the left, and what happened to those who made him suffer this disastrous fate. Despite this rather enticing pitch, the game's story is actually quite disappointing, served only via fixed cut-scenes, while the story is told to us by William Mason. That said, our hero being dubbed by Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Sons of Anarchy, The Name of the Rose), these sequences are far from unpleasant, as the serious and hoarse timbre of the actor fits perfectly with the atmosphere of the game. If the voice is not enough to make the hero a charismatic character, it nevertheless manages to infuse him with an extra soul, which is always good to take for a hunter of damned spirits.
Concretely, West of Dead presents itself as a twin-stick shooter with rogue-lite elements. We will therefore direct our character with the left analog stick, and manage his aim with the right stick, knowing that the game does not require the player to have any shooting skills, since the shoot is automated. On the other hand, you will have to give Mason a direction so that he can shoot at the right place. This is absolutely not a negative point, as we will have to manage a lot of stuff in the middle of this rather frenetic adventure. Like any good self-respecting rogue-lite, West of the Dead will take us through several chapters made up of about 5 levels. Each of them is randomly generated, and in case of death, it will be a return to square one. Only glimmer of permissiveness in the title: once a chapter is finished, the game will bring you back to its beginning, which allows you to move forward, even if you don't have Jedi reflexes. The objective will therefore be mainly to get out of the level where we are, but also to unearth all its secrets, and to recover everything that is there, in order to maximize our chances of survival.
HELL’S BELLS
Three major areas of progress are available. The first will consist of orbs that we will find in the levels (two each time in general) and which will allow us to increase our life bar, to boost the damage of our weapons, and to improve the effectiveness of our equipment. Then, by recovering the souls of enemies (the blacker they are, the more points you get), you can unlock new guns or certain advantages, such as having a vial to boost your life a little, or obtaining weapons minus zero at the start of the game. Finally, each enemy returned to the kingdom of Hades will allow us to pocket a little scrap, which serves as currency in this afterlife. Our bank account can then be emptied at merchants (provided you find one in the level) who offer weapons and equipment. Moreover, know that the arsenal is substantial, ranging from muskets and other flintlock pistols to revolvers and shotguns, through snipers, and even a mortar! Mason will be able to carry on him two weapons, two pieces of equipment as well as an amulet. The equipment will also be very varied, with dynamite, a tomahawk or even a large dagger for melee. Finally, the talismans offer some small advantages, such as recovering part of our life when we take cover, or when we inflict damage on enemies. Clarification that the ammunition is unlimited, but that we will have to be careful when reloading our weapons. Some take quite a long time to complete, and Mason won't be able to fire his guns when the fire button is spammed, caught up in the action unfolding. Likewise, it will be impossible to refill weapons when using the dash. It will therefore be imperative to find a small quiet corner to recharge, which is particularly complicated at times. However, the equipment does not suffer from this problem, its use being subject to a cooldown.
With these various mechanisms, the gameplay is therefore less frenetic than one might have expected, especially since the sword of Damocles of permadeath often tends to slow down the player. In reality, West of Dead puts the main emphasis on tactics, since we will spend most of our time moving Mason from one hideout to another, in order to stay in cover, and to be able to calmly reload. our popsicles. No question of pitching the tent, however, since most of the elements are destructible (before reappearing after a certain time), which forces the player to move often. Fortunately, the dash significantly increases Mason's life expectancy, and makes him temporarily invulnerable, while allowing him to pass over certain obstacles. Above all, you will need to know the attacks and patterns of each type of enemy (and there are many of them, between Confederate soldiers, desperados, demons, etc.) in order to be able to survive, and know who to attack first. West of Dead will also ask us to play with light. Indeed, it will be impossible for Mason to precisely target an enemy hidden in the dark, while lighting the torches, or sending a lantern, will stun the surrounding enemies.
HIGHWAY TO HELL
West of Dead also puts us in front of various boss fights, knowing that these are all optional. Clearly, it will be quite possible to get out of a level by dodging these particularly delicate fights. We thus faced a giant wendigo, but also faced several desperadoes whose wanted notices are posted in the bar which serves as the starting point for each game. Although the clashes are optional, they are quite remunerative in iron, and allow us to obtain memories that tell us more about the story. The problem is that as the levels are randomly generated, it will be possible to come across a boss at the start of the level when our character is not really optimally equipped. Depending on the weapons and equipment that we find and the merchant's stock, the games will therefore be more or less easy, which means that the propensity to survive will depend on our skill, but also on our luck. Once the frustration has passed, we still have a lot of fun on West of Dead, the title being a good example of an Easy to Learn, Hard to Master title.
From a visual point of view, the game is also attractive with its comic-style graphics, and some particle effects, even if it remains far from a triple A. The advantage is that the title does not require a lot of resource, and can display a high framerate even without having a large PC. On the other hand, we faced a lot of annoying little bugs, like when a Game Over came to end our game when we had 170 life points left. We also repeatedly saw our character disappear after a cover item reappeared right under our feet, while several complete crashes forced us back to the Windows desktop. We bet that these small inconveniences will be quickly corrected via updates, and that they will cease to harm the nerves of the players, already well tested by the intransigence of the title. The sound aspect is also a disappointment with a few rare themes that loop, and which end up getting bored quite quickly, even if the different music sticks rather well to the atmosphere. Likewise, almost no sound will come out of most enemies' mouths, whether they're attacking us, or being mercilessly slaughtered. Finally, we must also mention the wanderings of the camera which sometimes offers an angle of view that is more surprising than effective.
