Positives:
- A charming throwback to some linear action-based games from the Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 era.
- Combat feels pretty good.
- Weapons themselves are great, with just enough variation.
- Enough enemy variation to remain interesting.
- Visual style is solid, eye-catching stuff.
- Not afraid to go over the top in any way.
- Even though the writing isn't anything incredible, I do enjoy the blend of vampire hunting and Western.
- It's a game in the Big Dumb Fun genre, and it has enough of that.
Negatives:
- Definitely starts to drag as it moves along, especially with the boss battles.
- By being an intentional throwback to a different era of gaming, it does bring with it some dated elements.
- I did find far more bugs and glitches than I expected to.
Consensus: "Evil West" is another game I don't think I'd have considered had it not been released on Game Pass recently. After finally getting to play it, this is one of those 7/10 games that I think will carry a reputation that far supersedes its rating. I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes one of those games where players hail it to the highest skies above. For me, it's a fun little game for a quick playthrough. It kinda felt like a throwback to the Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 era of gaming, before everything had an open-world, uber-deep RPG mechanics, live-service features, or some combination of the three. It's a fun, no-frills linear action game, and it's all the better for it. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but given that it's not a crazy long game, it's definitely worth a playthrough. And with the fact that it's on Xbox Game Pass, now might be the best time to jump on it if you haven't already.
Final rating: 7 out of 10 "Good"