![]() As a result, it's remarkably easy to move forward into cover and, in doing so, flank an enemy you didn't even know was there. While in games like XCOM they'll dash to cover when revealed, Hard West's cowpokes remain perfectly still. Hard West is a game about falling down six times and getting up seven.While the combat for the most part in Hard West is really enjoyable, there's one major drawback in that your enemies don't trigger when discovered for the first time. It's a more ragged take on turn-based strategy taking lumps is a central part of the experience. Hoping someone would wing one of my characters so I could use their shriek ability and deal 3 damage to every enemy in sight was a strange feeling, but in some ways that's the essence of Hard West's combat. While you can use consumables to boost your luck, the easiest way to fill the meter is to get shot. It also, bizarrely, sometimes has you hoping one of your characters gets shot.The thing is, the majority of special abilities in Hard West are powered by luck - some requiring a whopping 75 points to activate. Where Hard West's combat gets interesting, though, is in the card system. These are always worth exploring not only do they give you an advantage in combat, but they pad out the story in ways that make the missions memorable, rather than just another gunfight next to some tumbledown buildings.The combat missions in Hard West are solidly executed and will be familiar fare for anyone who's played a turn-based strategy game before. Different developers, different implementation criteria at the time, some had undo added at a later time, others yet would be too hard/much work to add it. In narrating key moments during combat missions, it also spoon-feeds you some tactical information from time to time. ![]() The understated voice acting punctuates the game's tragedy-laden story brilliantly. Too often story beats like these feel so rushed as to seem amateurish.By contrast the game's narrator, death, is fantastic. He also built an insanity gauge, so that whenever he visited a location, he could observe the gauge to check that area's Madness level.' While the desire to avoid swamping the player with a wall of text is understandable, that's an awful amount to absorb in just three sentences. Exploring locations on the map will help you acquire new items, new posse members and, crucially, advance the story. It's an interesting approach that keeps the campaign from feeling like one long slog, and it offers up a good deal of mission variety.While the obligatory gunfights play out in turn-based missions, much of the narrative substance comes from wandering and role-playing your way across the game map (this portion of the game is the equivalent of base building in XCOM). In one instance, the person you just spent a whole chapter controlling becomes the elusive figure your new character is hell-bent on killing. These scenarios (each one of which can be completed comfortably in one sitting) often intertwine, allowing you to explore the same story from both sides. Availability: Also available on Mac and LinuxHard West's campaign is split into eight separate chapters or scenarios each one centred around a particular character.
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