Take a spaceship and a bunch of misfits. Next, add a Spaghetti Western theme to all of it. It’s likely a recipe for an outlawish adventure, and Blue Manchu’s Wild Bastards aims to achieve this flair. But, there’s a little twist to this.
It is a roguelike strategy-based first-person shooter with a few looter-shooter mechanics. Sounds a bit much, doesn’t it? Wild Bastards tries to inculcate all of these, and for the most part, does justice to it all.
But, everything could have worked better together if not for the lack of balance that makes the game appeal to a very niche audience, and if you belong to part of an outlandish category of players enjoying a lot of things at once, this game might just be for you.
The Wild Wild Wasteland in Space
The sounds of gunfire as bullets ricocheting across a meticulously designed map felt cinematic to me. Enemies would often talk among themselves, repeating lines and conversing about my impending doom. As I shot through the hats, heads, and heavy machinery, I’d end the game with a “looks like they folded!” and conclude things.
Also include an acoustic guitar, a sunset over a wasteland-esque scene, and a cowboy hat. Yep, it’s that kind of a game! Add to this the sounds of country music accompanied by well-acted voice lines, and you’ve got yourself a first-person shooter that’s not afraid of redoing a theme in gaming that has been explored by many.
Overall, Wild Bastards’ art direction is simply wonderful. You can take a screenshot at any moment, and the clean, vector graphics will always be easy on the eyes. Whether you’re in the middle of an action-packed shootout or looking at things from a bird’s eye point of view, it’s all picturesque.
However, once the shootout’s over, you’re back to the tabletop mechanics. I wish I had started this review with what is considerably the most important part of this game – turn-based strategy. Unfortunately, that’s the part I liked the least, but hey; it’s not the devs, it’s me!
The Stakes Are High, and You’ll Have to Play by the Rules
Right from scratch, Wild Bastards makes it pretty clear that you’re going to be involved in many different kinds of experiences. This is a mixed bag of unique mechanics, among which few stand out, and others not so much.
When you’re not spending time with your favorite adventurers in a spaceship, you’ll be heading to a planet or star system where things work like a board game. You get a few moves each turn where you can decide how you go about each situation. Think, click, repeat. This part of the game is essential for many reasons.
First, it lets you acquire important mods and gear for your posse. For instance, Aces are these card-esque items that boost your character’s abilities and give them an edge over enemies during a shootout. Then, there are things you can buy, sell, loot, and even use against enemies when navigating a particular location.
Being a spiritual successor to Void Bastards, this game is a treat for those who enjoyed the previous game. This time around, the shooting sequences feel a bit more polished. In fact, they’re so good that I fell harder for these mechanics instead of the strategy bit of the game.
The Intense Shootouts Are a Highlight
Every time I dove into a shootout, I’d have to brace myself. These aren’t your run-of-the-mill first-person shooter levels where you are trigger-happy about anything and everything. Nope! It can be highly daunting based on how prepared you are.
Well, I clearly wasn’t, because I had to go through multiple playthroughs before I could successfully help my gang fly across the galaxy. That’s another part of the game that’s fascinating – how you discover novel star systems and enemies who pose new threats as you progress.
Fortunately, it’s the sleek feeling of accomplishment during a shootout that kept bringing me back. After every successful shootout, I would go on a spree of looting and shooting until I was prepared for the next encounter.
Despite the changing scenarios and perspectives, the game ran blissfully on my PC without any hiccups. Oh, and please wear your headphones while playing this one! The sound design is nothing short of impressive.
Shoot and Repeat Until You Earn That “Easssyy Money!”
I couldn’t help but notice how badly the developers wanted to try different things with Wild Bastards. Did they succeed? Absolutely, in most cases. Especially how the game felt as a result of adrenaline-fueled gameplay. Right when these mechanics started feeling a bit monotonous, the game granted me new characters to learn and master.
Although, even after understanding the basics and familiarizing myself with the game’s core mechanics, I felt a bit lost. For a reason or two, none of the turn-based mechanics and rewards felt incentivized enough. I kept looking forward to the shootouts, but the game wanted me to look elsewhere.
Even though a part of me wished that the developers worked more on the first-person gameplay bits and made the encounters feel more special, I understand why they weren’t necessarily given the spotlight.
On the surface, Wild Bastards is a title for those who wish to think before they shoot and not the other way around. With a gripping tale narrated by fitting characters and an art style that’ll gladly sit with you for a long time, this one’s a game I’d recommend to a few, but not everyone.
Wild Bastards Review (PC) – The Dawn of Roguelike Westerns in Space
The developers have done a fantastic job at possibly crafting a niche in first-person gaming that few can fully comprehend. Hopefully, with time, more gamers will appreciate this subgenre of strategy-shooters.
