I’m no stranger to the immersive sim genre, with countless under my belt, but I’ll be honest when I say that I made numerous mistakes going into Blood West. Straight off the bat, I wanted to play it like your typical shooter. I tried to gun down everything in my path with a sawed-off shotgun. That’s not an ideal way to play Blood West. You must make strategic, careful choices. And hey, try out a different approach. Once I did that, my enjoyment of the game skyrocketed. So, what did I think of Blood West? Here’s our full-length Blood West review!
Editor’s Note: Goblins & Ghouls did receive a copy of Blood West from the developer/publisher/PR for this review. It does not, however, impact our impressions or the outcome of this review.
An Immersive Sim, Not An FPS Speedrun
As I mentioned, I attempted to play Blood West as a pure first-person shooter, with the occasional melee stealth attack mixed in, and that’s a mistake. Again, your most basic enemies are the slow-moving zombies, but that’s fine. It worked for a time. But you’ll have a bad time in a shootout against anything more powerful, like the bird-like gunslingers or shotgun-wielding dommy-mommy.
Why? Because tensions are high, adrenaline is pumping, and you’re liable to miss your shots while frantically trying to dodge incoming rounds.
You can imagine what happened in my first hour or two. I died—a lot. I continuously died, which meant dealing with curses that lowered my overall health, stamina, and fighting capabilities. It’s an absolute mess to deal with, but thankfully, Blood West provides a path in the form of challenges for the totem to remove curses.
But then it clicked. I entered the church with a brand-new approach, stealthily moving through the tunnels while taking down my foes silently with the starting axe. As I approached the main room, I stealth-killed the two bird gunslingers overlooking the central expanse, then tossed a Molotov into the group below. With chaos ensuing, I retreated into the tunnel once more and whittled away the survivors with my shotgun as they came stomping around the corner. It was a satisfying conclusion to an early-game quest that should not have taken me this long to complete (yeah, total game journalist moment, I know!).
But that’s where the fun of Blood West lies in its complexity and choices. You have options to complete objectives, with no single route or plan any more viable than the other.
Do Graphics Matter?
No, obviously. If you’re the type of player who puts a lot of stock into the appearance of a game, like you need the highest-quality graphics running on the most recent game engine, then you’ll be sorely disappointed by Blood West. It’s an old-school-styled game with graphics to match. But for many, that’s perfect. It has charm. It’s unique. In today’s ever-changing gaming landscape, where every developer tries to outdo each other with the most realistic graphics, it’s nice to be reminded of our roots. Video games need to be fun, first and foremost.
I didn’t come across any graphical glitches or fragmenting during my time with Blood West. It ran smoothly. The textures looked appropriately dated, and I loved every inch of them. Despite their pixelated appearance, the monsters were authentic and grimy and still proved more than challenging and terrifying at times. I caught myself running away multiple times. But hey, that’s a valid strategy in Blood West!
Is Blood West Replayable?
While Blood West does feature a main storyline that remains the same for each playthrough, how you tackle it, along with how and what side quests you complete, is totally up to you. As such, you can play through the experience multiple times and have a unique perspective in each playthrough. That is one of the biggest boons of Blood West. As an immersive sim, there are so many options.
On my first playthrough, I went with a more heavy-handed approach. I stuck with the initial axe, as I was enamored by the heavy swing and strike, and then paired it with a sawed-off shotgun for a close-quarters combat approach. As I mentioned, this method didn’t serve me very well through each encounter. I had to improvise.
But on my second playthrough, I wound up taking a more stealth-oriented approach. I opted for long-range weapons and a knife for up-close takedowns. Both runs were satisfying, though.
Do I Recommend Blood West?
Yes! Without a doubt, I can confidently recommend Blood West to anyone interested in the immersive sim genre, tough experiences, or the Wild West with a mixture of supernatural thrown in for good measure. It’s an exceptional little game that should provide tens of hours of gameplay to the average player. More for those who throw themselves into immersive sims wholeheartedly.