West of Dead

West of Dead is a classic representative of twin-stick shooters with a distinctive top-down view. The game was created in the independent British studio Upstream Arcade, founded by two former employees of Lionhead Studios (Fable, Black & White II). The game is for one player only.

Plot

The action of the game takes place in the town of Purgatory in the state of Wyoming. The year is 1888 and the place where the main character, dead man William Mason, wakes up is a dark place, filled with death and sin. The game is not a classic Wild West - it is full of chaos and dead outlaws, humanoid wendigoes and witches, which must be eliminated.

William Mason, who looks like a comic book protagonist, wakes up as un undead, and all he has stuck in his head is the image of a man in black. So begins a journey full of corpses, which for him is like a nightmare. A nightmare filled with supernatural phenomena that become a reality straight from a dark, unique westerns.

Mechanics

West of Dead is a traditional twin-stick shooter with top-down view, so it's all about defeating numerous enemies. In addition to the shooting system typical of this genre, the hero can avoid attacks and gunfire by rolling, sliding on the ground and over obstacles, as well as hiding behind covers. The action is very dynamic and the number of dead bodies is overwhelming. The game also draws elements from roguelikes to reduce the feeling of monotony. Randomly generated locations help diversify the gameplay.

Technical aspects

West of Dead features characteristic visuals, resembling a comic book. The appearance of the main character, voiced by Ron Perlman (the Fallout series), resembles Marvel's Ghost Rider. The visuals adopt dark tones.

Last updated on 18 November 2019