From the same developer that made the Shadow Warrior reboot games. Evil West is a third-person action/adventure beat-em-up. Now mixing the western genre with the paranormal is one of my favorite combinations ever. The game scratches that itch but not completely. If you're expecting a huge amount of different monsters/cryptids sadly this is not the game. The main monster/villain of the game is vampires. You have regular human vampires, actual giant vampire bats, hybrid enemies and then your regular human enemies.

What I find odd is why the developer didn't implement a combo/ranking system. Something accustomed to a game like Devil May Cry. For this reason there is zero consequences for playing poorly (besides dying obivously). The game also gets really repetitive because of this. The skill ceiling isn't too high so anyone can pick it up. Once you get the best overpowered upgrades the game does become a bit of a breeze. Even being able to play the hardest difficulty on NG+ makes it a cakewalk.

While there are other weapons the gauntlet is your main bread and butter. The weapons/tools you get throughout the game just spice things up a bit or can save you in a dire situation. The developer took the glory kill idea from Doom '16 as a way to gather health/energy. There is a heal button but it has a cooldown. The guns have infinite ammo but do weak to moderate damage depending on the enemy type. They are best used to shoot enemies in their weakpoints when they flash on screen.

The story is nothing amazing and all the characters are pretty one note. I do like the whole idea of a guild of monster slayers operating in the 1800's. And it really opens potential for a sequel(s). If the dev was to consider the idea I would love to see wendigos/skinwalkers as the main monsters. They are extremely under utilized. They would fit the western setting pretty well.

I played the game solo, twice, so I can't really comment on how the game is in co-op. But the game solely feels like a single player experience. I think the dev just added co-op because "everything is better with friends" adage. Good news for achievement hunters is the game's 100% is pretty easy. There is also no achievements involving mutiplayer/co-op so you're safe from having to drag a friend to help. The game can also be beaten in one sitting.

All in all, I'd like to see a sequel but add in that combo/ranking system.

The game is just incredibly amazing! The design of monsters and just enemies are incredible! Even in AAA games, there're no such amazing enemies, but here they are. Fights are amazing!

It's the kind of game you play just for the combat cuz it's fun to smash zombies in the face with a gauntlet and shoot them mid air when they go flying!