Blood West (v4.6.2)

<img decoding="async" src="https://shared.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/1587130/extras/BLOOD_WEST_GIF_episodes_EN.gif?t=1730435580" /> Boomer Shooters are having a moment right now. Over the past few years we have seen a slew of modern takes on classic Quake II vibes games, from the demonic Prodeus to the campy but action-packed Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun. Seeing games that look like they came from my early teens running at 144 frames per second with advanced movement options really does get my nostalgia flowing. With this renaissance of “new old games”, I have been rather surprised that we haven’t seen more immersive sims in the same vein as Thief or Deus Ex hitting the front pages of Steam. Sure, we have Gloomwood that is currently in Early Access that cribs directly from the Thief bag of tricks, but for the most part developers are sticking to the balls-to-the-wall gameplay motif of id Software’s heyday. Maybe I am just out of the loop, because Blood West completely blindsided me. <img decoding="async" src="https://shared.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/1587130/extras/BLOOD_WEST_GIF_weapons_EN.gif?t=1730435580" /> Awakening from the underworld, you are the Undead Gunslinger. Instead of simply leaving this mortal plane like everyone else, you are stuck in the cursed canyons of this hellish Western landscape, tasked with appeasing the ancient gods and ridding the world of the curse that damned the entire population. It’s a simple setup that gets things moving, and while the voice acting is definitely a little B-tier, the lore surrounding everything else is dripping with atmosphere. Every time I found a new item I gleefully opened up my inventory to read the flavor text, especially for the weirder items like monster eyes and severed chicken heads. While it doesn’t come out in the “main story”, there is a lot of great narrative inside of Blood West, and as a tone piece I think the developers have really hit something great here.