Evil West: PS5 Review

Developed by Flying Wild Hog
Published by Focus Entertainment
Platform: PS5

Imagine if Red Dead Redemption was mixed with a vampire tale and elements of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and all swathed up in a soaking red bloodbath.

Well, imagine no longer because Evil West is here to stop you dreaming what could be.

Mixing the kind of scuzzy you'd expect in From Dusk Till Dawn with elements of Doom makes Evil West feel like a winning mix, even if the action occasionally gets quite repetitive and the gameplay feels a little old fashioned.

The third person shooter sees you in control of vampire hunter Jesse Rentier, who's out to save the day from pesky vampires and creatures that look like Lovecraftian bastardisations. Across 16 linear levels, Rentier must blast and pummel his way through the hordes, unlocking various abilities and powering up your Tesla-inspired electric glove weapon.

It's fairly standard stuff to be frank - even if tweaks to it all mean you can fire marauding enemies into the environmental elements to end their miserable lives. And in all honesty, the story's not much cop, feeling somehow tired and old school, despite this being a throwback game that's a blast from the past.

Yet, in its execution, and in its gradual unlocking of elements and skillsets, Evil West proves to be a welcoming, lumbering game that's keen to keep you playing and seeing past its flaws. It's hard to deny the buzz as the squelch of a creature hits your ears after being destroyed. And while some of the grappling mechanics feel like they've been deliberately slowed down for no real gain, the gameplay remains fun and combat chunky and rewarding.

But it's hard to get past some of the repetitive elements of the combat even if the game brings in more weapons. At its heart, Evil West is a pulpy beast of a game that will entertain for a few hours and won't leave you regret investing your time in, but it may leave you mournful that a little more wasn't thrown into the story side of things and the characters to produce something truly memorable.