Across most platforms,Evil Westis in the 70s as far as reviews go on Metacritic. That shouldn’t be too surprising as the game is like a PS2 title in the modern era. It knows what it is and doesn’t exceed expectations, which is not a bad thing.
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It is a solid action shooter that tries its best to live up as a spiritual successor to something likeDarkwatch. The developer of this game, Flying Wild Hog, is probably best known for working on the recentShadow Warriorgames.Evil Westis a bit janky around the edges, but perhaps these ideas for patches could turn things around.
8A Map Would Be Handy
Unfortunately, 2022 has seen a recent trend of action games not containing maps. If they do have maps in the menus then they don’t have mini-maps or vice versa.Gotham Knightsis a good example of arecent action gameat fault for this mapping issue along withEvil West.
This game has no map of any sort, forcing players to do some guesswork as they look for hidden paths containing gold used for upgrades. Whether the developers put in a big menu map, a mini-map, or both is up to them.
7Cutscenes Don’t Have Subtitles
Subtitles are one of the most universal features seen in video games from action games to puzzle games. They are inEvil Westbut not where they matter. Subtitles appear while playing the game but they aren’t in the cutscenes.
This is the most baffling thing about the game because that is almost unheard of. This game deserves some kudos for defying expectations as funny as that sounds but hopefully cutscene subtitles can get easily patched in.
6Add A Photo Mode
Photo Modes, on the other hand, are not guaranteed features in games but they are becoming more common.God of War Ragnarok, for example, is a huge AAA game that launched without a photo mode. However, the developers have alreadyvowed to fix thisin Kratos' latest game with a future patch.
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Nothing has been said about a photo mode going into Evil West so far, but no news can be good news. This game isn’t the best-looking shooter on the market but being able to capture some of the action on screen would be cool.
5Reduce Motion Blur
There are a couple of screen adjustments players can make in the options menu. Players can reduce the size of the HUD, for example, by 50%. There is no way to remove it completely while in combat like inGod of War Ragnarokto sight thatglorious action gameagain.
Evil Westshould get that option patched in along with a way to reduce motion blur. For those that don’t take screenshots, motion blur will probably be an effect they don’t notice. Players that do like taking screenshots though can get annoyed by this effect since there is no way to slow things down with a photo mode.
4More Multiplayer Options
Evil Westhas abasic co-op modefor players to jump into online. This mode works for what it is although it could use some tweaks. Only the hosting player progresses in the game, which doesn’t have to be the case.
Friendly visitors don’t go home empty-handed, but it’s not as nice as progressing through the story simultaneously. Also, it would be fun to see more multiplayer modes in the game such as a horde mode as that could work well with the game’s current mechanics.
3Reduce Upgrade Costs Or Give Out More Money
The main reason why this game needs a map is that gold is so precious. Missing one treasure trove of gold could upset the upgrade balance. If the developers don’t include a map of any kind with a patch, there are other ways to help players out.
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They could reduce the cost of gold-based upgrades which pertain mostly to weapons. Blaster, for example, costs $5000 and imbues the revolver with electricity. It’s a cool power fora third-person shooterbut the cost of it, and other upgrades, will prevent players from mastering their skill trees effectively.
2More Customization Options
Gold is not the only thing players will find in treasure outcroppings. Sometimes they will unearth a new area of their skill tree. There are even costume changes for Jesse along with weapon skins. The variety and rate at which these customization options unlock are not great though.
It would be nice if players got to customize their outfits more besides swapping out one mute color pallet for another. Most players aren’t going to pickEvil Westup for fashion reasons, butother action gamefans do appreciate levels of customization like inBayonetta 3. That’s why a patch to include perhaps a color slider for each set of clothes would be nice.
1Add Cover
Players are mostly going to spend their time fighting off monsters inEvil West. However, as this is a game set inthe Old West, there will be some shootouts with humans too. The troubling thing about these sections of the game is that players can’t get into cover.
Most monsters don’t shoot projectiles, making it easy for players to dodge in combat. It’s almost impossible to dodge a bullet though, leading to deaths more often on the higher difficulties. It might be hard to implement cover-based shooting now, but there’s no harm in wishing it to be introduced in a patch.
Evil Westwas released on July 25, 2025, and is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
