Evil West review: strong Doom-like combat, middling vampire western

In Punch a Monster Evil WestAnd the link of an armored fist to an enemy body produces a comic sound effect that sounds like a cinderblock smashing into a piece of frozen beef. If you punch the monster again, it will break apart like a water balloon with ketchup. Some moves can cause a monster to vibrate when it’s punched. You can shoot another enemy, and the arms of that opponent might fly away. There will be blood fountains everywhere. Monty Python and The Holy Grail’s Black Knight suffering from hypertension.

It’s important to mention the texture of Evil West’s violence up front because, ultimately, it’s what carries the entire game. Flying Wild Hog is the company behind this latest. Shadow WarriorThe reboot series Hard ResetThis is a supernaturally infused version of the 19th Century westward conquests of the United States. A vampire conspiracy, we’re told during the opening, has existed in the nation “since the time of the Founding Fathers,” resisted by monster hunters belonging to an organization called the Rentier Institute. The mythological approach to historical setting can help you portray the past in a unique way. Unfortunately, Evil West, despite devoting a lot of time to its narrative, doesn’t seem all that interested in its story beyond the foundational premise of mixing a pulpy monster movie with a semi-passable Western.

Image: Flying Wild Hog/Focus Entertainment

It doesn’t help that protagonist Jesse Rentier, a blankly determined supercowboy decked out in a notched wide brim hat and layers of ornately patterned black leather, is a real dud. Jesse has to carry quite a bit of. Evil West’s storytelling on his beefy shoulders, and he’s not quite equal to the task. He, along with the other members of the Rentier Institute (including its leader, Jesse’s gruff, horse-faced dad), are an uneven combination of deadly serious action heroes and quippy scamps. It is not clear whether their writers should make fun of the absurdity or give boring, dull commentary about it. (While exploring, Jesse will half-heartedly utter “moneyyy” at the sight of a bag of coins or “burnnn” when lighting giant spiderwebs on fire with a flamethrower. None of these limp jokes are nearly as funny as the fact that he has the words “RENTIER INSTITUTE” embossed on his gauntlet.)

If the story leaned a bit further into the inherent camp of its premise, finding more joy in the ridiculousness of its dialogue and the dramatics of a plot about stopping a nefarious conspiracy led by an immortal little girl vampire, it’d offer a better time. This is how it is. Evil West’s half-baked attempt at a story — there are plenty of cutscenes and inter-mission levels that involve walking around a home base hub to pick up scraps of in-universe text — detracts from what the game does best: offer up a barrage of combat arenas populated by a variety of monsters seemingly delighted to be ripped, shot, and beaten apart by Jesse.

Jesse, a man who pounds through sun-baked desert canyons and misty forest trails, is surprisingly sexy for someone who carries around a lot of weight like an forgotten teenager. Gears of War backbencher. He nimbly zips around the battlefield and launches himself at enemies like a stubbly cannonball — one of his abilities is, appropriately enough, named “Cannonball.” The deliberate weight of his movements carries over into the rhythms of Evil West’s shooting and punching, too.

Image: Flying Wild Hog/Focus Entertainment

As Jesse traipses around America, he gains new weapons and upgrades from the institute’s engineers or as pick-ups in the field. You can see the perfection in Jesse’s pacing. Evil West’s gradually expanding loadout and ability set is never overwhelming and, as a result, encourages improvisational tactics that make full use of every weapon at Jesse’s disposal. In this sense, it’s not unlike the increasingly complex mix-and-match combat of the original DoomThe rebooted sequels to games. To be clear, it’s completely possible to win most fights with a limited selection of weapons. However, a field full of flying, burrowing and charging vampires can be cleared with the best weapons. Evil West’s arsenal of gruesome killing tools. Like the old adage goes, there’s a key for every lock; Jesse has a weapon suitable for opening up every monster.

As enjoyable as the combat is, though, it’s still disappointing that the only good way to interact with the assembly of vampire freaks in Evil WestThey are transformed into red goop explosions. While there are bits of talk about the parasitic nature of America’s westward conquest, Evil WestOtherwise, it pays little or no attention to American history in late 19th century America. This makes it difficult to get any useful information. And this isn’t for lack of opportunities: The plot immediately places the leaders of its expansionist United States in conversation with literal vampiric monsters who thrive on sucking the life force from others. Although the game does make a slight comment on the harshness of its surroundings, there is not enough time to clarify any point of view.

Image: Flying Wild Hog/Focus Entertainment

It falls even flatter when approaching specifics — take, for example, a menu description’s claim that a hulking species of vampire is “native to the Jenu Tribe of North America” when the reference seems, instead, meant to cite a creature from Mi’kmaq folklore called “Jenu.” Though the mistake likely stems from simple carelessness, it’s a pointed sign that Evil West’s creators weren’t as concerned with servicing the particulars of its setting as they were with using it as a kind of mood board for cutscenes and battle arenas.

Still, disregarding the downtime spent on its charmless characters and bland plot, there’s an undeniable thrill to the fighting. The rest of the game could have packed as many punches as the main character does in beating the insides. Evil West’s vampires, it would be easier to recommend. As it stands, it’s not much more than a series of better-than-average monster-pummeling arenas interrupted by uninspired storytelling.

Evil West The game will release on November 22nd on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Windows PC. Focus Entertainment gave us a pre-release downloading code to review the game on PC. Vox Media also has affiliate relationships. Although these partnerships do not impact editorial content, Vox Media could earn commissions for products sold via affiliate links. Find out more. additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.