![]() ![]() The genre was then further developed by arcade hits such as Asteroids and Galaxian in 1979. The shoot 'em up genre was established by the hit arcade game Space Invaders, which popularised and set the general template for the genre in 1978, and spawned many clones. The genre's roots can be traced back to earlier shooting games, including target shooting electro-mechanical games of the mid-20th-century and the early mainframe game Spacewar! (1962). There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of character movement, while others allow a broader definition including characters on foot and a variety of perspectives. It’s a shame, as lines really do start to lose their punch the fifteenth time you’ve heard William comment on picking up an upgrade or that a character wishes to speak with him.Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs) are a sub-genre of action games. The nature of repetition in roguelite games does unfortunately mean that you will undoubtedly hear the same lines over and over again, though. He brings a level of depth and believability to William that likely wouldn’t have felt anywhere near as effective with another person playing the part. Ron Pearlman provides an excellent performance, with fantastic one liners and great story moments all delivered in his unique, guttural tone. The art style plays into this dynamic of light and dark really well, adding an extra layer of spectacle to each encounter. Ping one of the lights in the room and it will suddenly light up, stunning enemies briefly and filling the immediate area with light and giving you a brief advantage. Lighting plays a big role in combat, making each room you enter dark and foreboding with a tangible sense of dread. Later on in the game there are a number of special fights with hunters who are also able to use cover and special abilities, making for some incredibly tense Wild West shootouts.Īll of this action and violence is set against a stylistic cel-shaded visual style which wouldn’t feel out of place in a comic. It provides players with a playground composed of fast, brutal and snappy combat encounters that gradually increase in difficulty. It’s in these moments that West of Dead really shines. With the right planning and stealth, it’s possible to surprise enemies and take a room out in a few quick moves. It’s a classic set up that incentivises further attempts with the reward of better weapons and equipment, making William’s journey just that little bit easier as you head into the later chapters. William can also refill his health and health flask between each level by drinking alcohol – who’d have guessed huh?Īs you progress through the world, each combat encounter increases in difficulty and tension. This feeds the overarching metagame, unlocking new upgrades and weapons that can then be seeded into your next run. The shop stocks weapons, items and modifiers, so there’s plenty of opportunity in each level to stock up on firepower and stat buffs.īetween each level there is a hub area where you can spend Sins, the other collectable in the game. You will also run into a shop where you can spend the iron picked up from defeated enemies. Stat increases enable you to level up William’s health, perception to deal out more damage, or resourcefulness to improve how effective you are with items. Throughout each level you can find weapons, items and stat increases. It follows the established formula we’ve seen in other titles, but the gunplay really sets it apart. ![]() Much like the rest of the roguelite genre, each run in West of Dead is unique, with death sending you back, to the beginning to face freshly generated world with a new layout, weapon drops and encounters. Weapons, items and modifiers are all mapped to the shoulder triggers and buttons, letting you almost glue your thumbs to the analogue sticks for movement and aiming, only tearing one away to tap a face button to dodge or get into cover with the face buttons. The twin stick shooting provides a nice level of freedom in how William aims, although I did find this could be hindered by auto-aim at times – a feature I would love to be able to turn off. There’s plenty of weapons to choose from and it didn’t take long for me to find the weapons that fit my play style. William approaches each combat encounter with a mix of pistols, shotguns and rifles from the period, as well as a number of throwable items and combat modifiers. ![]() There are three weapon types in West of Dead: long, medium and short range. ![]()
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