Blood West

A breath of fresh malodorous air, Blood West's take on ponderous demonic murder in a Wild West that is as weird as it is wild feels overdue for a setting that has otherwise stagnated with traditional open world efforts and fairly dunderheaded shooters. Sure, it's a little rough around the edges and the low-poly, retro 90s visuals invariably won't be for everyone, but there's an old-fashioned earnestness to its design and approach to progression that is almost overwhelmingly endearing all the same.

Blood West is an excellent game for fans of stealth games. It makes use of classic design ideas from games as wide ranging as the seminal Thief titles, to more modern ones like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. in order to shape its mechanics and general gameplay loop. The progression system encourages exploration, which is made all the better thanks to excellent level design.

At first glance, Blood West harkens back to classic first-person shooters with its self-described low-res, low-poly 3D aesthetic. However, the game’s emphasis on stealth aligns it best with some classic first-person stealth titles. Blood West takes contemporary mechanics, pairs them with the spirit of classic stealth titles, and paints it with a brush of eldritch horror.

Blood West is a great addition to the horror western genre with level design and a range of approaches that would be fitting for an immersive sim. The chapter bosses can be a little underwhelming, but after nearly 30 hours spent in this world, I highly recommend you do the same. Just don’t expect to come back alive…

For a game centered around the ideas of a Southern Gothic cowboy game, it proves to be both fun and exciting. With plenty of survival horror mechanics that are sure to leave you on the edge of your seat. Make sure to catch Blood West if you're a fan of any traditional cowboy shooters or horror games alike.

Blood West is a particularly tough-as-nails cowboy-themed take on the stealth-focused immersive sim genre, a type of game centred around sneaking through labyrinthine environments and taking anything that isn’t nailed down. This style of game was made famous by the Thief and Dishonored franchises, amongst others. I can certainly appreciate much of the effort that has gone into Blood West, with a beautiful and modernised take on 90’s 3D graphics and several suitably complex towns and forts...