9th August 2024 - Indie developer Silvine Game Studio is excited to name the date for the release of their Turn Based Strategy title, Artifice: War Tactics, that has been in development for four years, on Steam PC and the full release is 16th August 2024.
Already this distinguished and deeply planned/researched creation has been finely tuned and skillfully worked on over this extended period to ensure a game of depth, challenge and not least quality. It has already won, or been nominated for, a number of awards!
Opening up to a new world of Challenge
Developer’s Silvine strategy game adds another dimension to a genre that is sometimes overlooked as being formulaic, very simple in design, presentation and procedural play. Artifice: War Tactics is a turn-based strategy roguelike game with a unique asymmetric combat system. In this game, enemies set up attack zones, while your champions can actively evade and disrupt strategy using their traits, abilities, or items.
Studio Quote - Technology/Inspirational
Neeraj Kumar, Founder. Silvine, ”Our studio specialises in both design and technology. Creating an art-heavy game has been a challenge for us, one we have successfully negotiated! We conducted extensive research, made iterations, and received a lot of help from colleagues with specialised expertise. Our inspiration stems from games like XCOM, Into the Breach, and Darkest Dungeon.”
The Game
Unleash your tactical prowess in a mediaeval fantasy world where survival depends on thwarting enemy ambushes with an array of champions at your disposal. Defeat powerful bosses to conquer strongholds and lead your army to victory!
Chaos ensued as civil war broke out in every kingdom, demanding its rulers to bow down to Theosus, or face the wrath of the people. In the end, not many remained to challenge Theosus as he became Ozaria’s sovereign. Years later, Sirion, the keeper of the relic, reached out to the mortals of this realm to rally against the tyranny. He gathered all the rebels to form the Conclave and entrusted the last of the stone fragments to them. You are the leader of this Conclave, and even though your chances of success are slim, it is up to you now to overthrow this false god.
Gameplay - visually cool, challengingly perfect!
Presentation and action is via the asymmetric grid combat system where you can execute an impressive array of combinations and synergies. Every action carries consequences. The animation and special effects that accompany each move add real impact to the game’s authenticity and overall ambience, just one of many impressive features.
Setting up to play, each turn base move follows a number of sequences/choices at the player's control. Observe enemy positions and deduce where they’re most likely to set up an ambush. Anticipate where the enemy is most likely to move during the following turn to position your champions. Position your champions strategically. Set attack zones and engage your enemies to create chain reactions of combos, maximising your victory and striking as many enemies as possible. A user-friendly interface gives lots of information about the enemies’ powers and move positions and there are various key presses that will bring up further helpful information. After only a short period of time and your first success Artifice becomes very intuitive.
Look out!
The biome hazards come in four types: Sandworm, frost wraith, Poison Ivy, and Floating Rune. They can be both dangerous and useful. If you are able to hit the enemies while they are next to them, they also attack the enemies. On the other hand, if you end up taking a hit while next to them, you might end up losing a shard (life), which will make the battle more difficult. Using them wisely is important for a master tactician.
Features & Facts
Every unit has its own move and attack patterns, as well as unique traits and abilities.
After winning 4 battles, you can challenge the boss.
If you defeat the boss, a new island will unlock.
There are a total of 3 islands and 1 final boss fight to complete.
Collect any items or resources that enemies drop when defeated.
Win the battle and earn rewards based on achieving secondary objectives and in-game drops.
Visit the loadout area to equip great items and upgrade your champions.
Experiment with different objectives and aim for the rewards you need the most.
About Silvine Game Studios
Founded by Neeraj Kumar, Aubhik Nath, Ekta Verma, and Vishal Mohan, Silvine Game Studios is an indie developer based in Chennai, India. After their success with Asura: Vengeance Edition, the team reunited to create Artifice: War Tactics. Learn more at Silvine Game Studios.
Some game genres are so rare, it’s a miracle when a new game releases in that style. I personally call this genre: stealth tactics. The actual genre is Real-Time Tactics, but I find that name doesn’t really cover this (sub)genre. If you have ever played games like: Commando’s, Desperados, Robin Hood – The Legend of Sherwood or Shadow Tactics… You know what sort of game I’m talking about. A game features a rag tag group of heroes. Each hero has unique abilities. They must get through big groups of enemies. They do this one by one to progress the group’s goals. The game I want to talk about today is called Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew. This was the last game by the studio Mimimi. Is this game the swansong to close down this studio, or is it a game that’s better left forgotten? Before that, I invite you to leave a comment in the comment section down below. A comment with your thoughts and/or opinions on the game and/or the content of the article.
Promises of amazing treasure
In this game, you play as the crew of a special pirate ship named the Red Marley. Each main member of the crew has a black pearl in their chest, granting them unique supernatural abilities. These unique abilities come at a cost of being cursed to a sort of undead status.
The Red Marley’s captain fell in battle, and now the Inquisition is after the biggest treasure of the ship. Now, the Red Marley’s crew doesn’t want this to happen. So they do everything in their power to avoid this from happening.
The story in this game doesn’t take itself too seriously. The story is written like it’s a Saturday morning cartoon. A story arc can be contained in one or a handful of episodes, but always has an ending. While almost everything in the story ends well for the main cast, the story and writing never looses its charm. I felt like I was transported back into the time I woke up for the weekly Pokémon episode. I knew that the main problem of that week’s episode would resolve by the end. Still, I kept rooting for the heroes.
One of the biggest reasons I kept rooting for the main characters is because of the voice actors. Their performances are extremely well done. They bring a lot of personality and life to each character. They make the characters stand out like real, actual people. This script must have been immense, since the characters sometimes react on the actions you preform with other characters. There are 8 main characters, and more if you buy the DLC packs. If you start counting how many unique voice lines that bring to the table… And that’s the tip of the iceberg. The enemies for example, when they come together also have unique dialogue between them.
It’s possible to write an article by itself about the world building, story and voice acting in this game. I can also assure you that when I write this article, I’ll keep gushing about it all. A great example is how the save & load function fits into the story. It enhances the world of this game. Yes, you read that correctly. When you save, you store a memory in the Red Marley. When you load one of your saves, the Red Marley uses its powers to restore that memory. Your characters also respond to your saving and loading action and this brings even more charm to this game.
In these types of games, the replay value is quite high. Especially since you tackle all missions in various ways and each playthrough is going to be different. In this game, it’s taken even a step further. You can choose the order to revive your crew. You can also choose the order to finish the missions of that chapter. I can assure you that your playthrough will look nothing like mine.
The main quest is quite enjoyable to play through. I actually became really immersed in the world of this game. At the moment, I’m playing through the final missions of the game and the DLC missions. I’m having a blast. Thankfully, I can easily start a new playthrough of this game. Then I can experience it all of it over again and take a totally different route. And maybe I can do the little side quests and pirate tales as well. Since, that’s content, I haven’t gone into too much yet.
Your playthrough of this game will take you somewhere between 27 to 37 hours. That is, if you want to beat the main story and DLC’s. But, if you want to fully finish this game… Oh boy, then you’ll have a game that’s close to 80 hours on your hands. I already mentioned the crew tales. But there are also mini-challenges you can go for during the missions to earn badges. Let’s not forget the achievements you can earn. Well, most of the achievements are related to the main campaign.
Now, I have one complaint about the badges in this game. Earning some of these badges is extremely tricky. Sometimes, you don’t get all the information you expect to. For example, there is a badge on each map for using all the landing spots of that map. But guess what, there is no easy way to see if you already used a landing spot or not. It’s a shame that some badges work like that. Especially since some of these badges make you go out of your way to play in an unique way. A more challenging way to spice up your normal routine.
Apart from bragging trophies, these medals don’t really add up to much. But, I honestly don’t really mind that. Since, it’s fun to gather these medals and have some bonus challanges during my playthrough. It keeps me on my toes and it’s really enjoyable.
Mindblowing abilities
I’m still quite impressed at how balanced this game is. Each character has their own unique abilities. It’s best that you always have a character with an ability that can move guards from their position. If you don’t have that, the game will actually warn you. You are going to make it extremely challenging for yourself.
Personally, I’m playing through this game on the normal difficulty setting and your decisions actually matter. Before starting each mission, study the map well. Try to remember each map as well as you can. Since you are going to revisit each map at least once or twice. It’s extremely important to choose the correct landing position.
You would think that the game will be a bit boring if you always bring the same crew into missions. But, the game rewards you using different characters for missions. You gain more vigor if you play with certain crew members during certain missions. If you earned enough vigor, you can upgrade one of the unique abilities of your characters. This upgrade will give you more and better tools in your arsenal. Now, these upgrades can make the game much easier. You can always turn off the upgrades while on the Red Marley.
In the introduction paragraph of this article, I quickly explained how this game works. So, let me tell you the gist of it. In this game, you go from mission to mission, completing various goals in each one. These goals can range for example from rescuing an informant or stealing an artifact. In each mission, there are various enemies patrolling the area. Your goal is to find the weakspots in their patrols and dispose of the enemies without getting spotted.
Now, getting spotted isn’t the end of the world in this game. Depending on where you are spotted, it’s possible to escape and hide somewhere. You just have to avoid taking damage, since your health is limited, and you can’t heal during the mission. If you aren’t careful, it’s easy to get swamped or overwhelmed with guards. Especially when a guard with a bell spots you, the traces you leave behind or sees a dead body. When this happens, you have a limited amount of time to kill that guard before the bell is rung. When the bell is rung, more guards will emerge from nearby barracks and swarm to the location.
On top of that, there are also some unique enemy types outside your regular patrol goons. The first type I want to talk are the Kindred. These annoying buggers bring something quite unique to the table in this genre. Kindred are always connected with each other. If you don’t kill these all at the same time, they will revive each other. But, this is only the start of your troubles.
You also have Prognosticar. And let me tell you, these are even more challenging. To defeat these enemies, you need to have two units ready. One unit needs to be spotted or attack the Prognosticar. Since as soon as that happens, your unit gets trapped. This trap will go on and damage your unit until the unit either dies or is rescued. When the Prognosticar is using his trap, he can be attacked and killed. But do it quick. The trap is damaging your unit. You are also stuck in place. This situation is dangerous.
It also matters if the mission is taking place during day or night. The big difference is that in the daytime, the enemies have a bigger field of view. During the nighttime, some enemies will carry a torch on their patrol. This gives more light to other units. They can spot you sneaking by if you aren’t careful. There are also various torches dotted around the map, and you can put them out. The enemies can’t stand torches that are put out and will go out of their way to light them again.
It’s also important to know if an enemy stops in their patrol to talk to another enemy. Since if you kill one of them, the other enemy will start looking for them. They will start running around and if you weren’t careful, will find your tracks and spot you.
Learning those little mechanics is essential in this game. Never forget the tools you have in this game! This ranges from the abilities of each character to how for example view cones work. There is something called view cone surfing. If you want to dash to another place past some enemies… Understand that a full color in the view cone means they will spot you right away. Stripped sections of the view cone will cause you to be unseen if you crawl by. Also, it takes a few moments of you being spotted and the alarm being raised. You can run quickly enough past an enemy. Alternatively, you can run from view cone to view cone. It’s possible to get past unseen.
If you are afraid that you will get overwhelmed by all the information of all the little mechanics, don’t worry. The difficulty curve in this game is perfect. This game also has solid character tutorials. Each character tutorial guides you through 2–3 rooms, teaching you the abilities of each ability and their unique use cases. At the end of each character tutorial, you get a puzzle room. Putting to the test if you can use that character correctly. During the game, you can always open your logbook from the pause menu, where all tutorials can be watched again.
This brings me to the abilities of your characters in this game. If you have played similar games, you’ll recognize certain abilities and others will be quite new and unique. Now, some of these abilities will have a unique spin to it. For example, your sniper only has one shot. But, when you retrieve your sniper bolt… Your sniper can shoot again.
There are also extremely unique mechanics, like your Canoness has very fun abilities. She can pick up dead bodies in her canon to launch them at enemies to knock them out. But, you can also pick up allies. You can fling them over a group of enemies. This will give them a better hiding spot. Or your Ship Doctor, she can create one hiding spot out of thin air. Or your navigator, she can stop time for one enemy, allowing you to easy sneak by. And your ship cook can throw a special doll. This doll allows him to teleport to that location. He does this as soon as you click the button. Oh, and if you place that doll on an enemy, it sticks to that enemy.
You might be annoyed that I somewhat spoiled things in the above paragraph. But I have only told the tip of the iceberg here. I have left out several characters in that little summary and they have mindblowing abilities as well. Each map is created in such a way that it doesn’t really matter which characters you take into battle. Since you can finish it using any of your characters.
The Swansong of Mimimi
When Klamath and I started streaming Commandos, I wanted to play a similar game. One I haven’t played through. Since I first started playing through Desperados III again, and that was beaten in a few days. Since, I really enjoyed Desperados III, I bought the next game from the studio.
As somebody who enjoyed Desperados III quite a lot, I was happy to see things return in this game. I can’t tell you how much I love the speed up button. While I wish you can adjust the speed of it… The slow wait can be annoying. Sometimes, you have to get an enemy right where you want them. On top of that, you also have the showdown mode. With the press of a button, you can stop time and plan out your units their next move. Once you press the enter key, either still in showdown mode or not, the actions will be executed. It still feels amazing when you execute a well timed attack to take out difficult set of enemies.
Something that’s extremely useful is how you can rotate the camera in this game. Sometimes an enemy walks behind a building or some rocks… So, if you can’t rotate the camera, you wonder from where you are taking damage. Also, the ability of outlining the enemies, ladders and hiding spots help with that as well. As you can see from my screenshots, I always play with that feature enabled.
Sadly, there are a few ladders that don’t get an outline. Most likely since the developers forgot to put a certain tag on them. I remember one in Angler’s Grave, at the top right. It’s not too far from one of the mission objectives, the informant. Thankfully, these very minor oversights rarely happen. Overall, this game is extremely solid and blast to play through.
The controls are extremely solid. I had to get used to one thing. To execute certain actions, I had to hold the left mouse button instead of just clicking. This sometimes tripped me up but a quick reload fixed that problem. I only have one minor complaint about the controls. Depending on the camera angle, there were rare moments where your character refused to go to a location. I suspect it has to do with where you click. Your unit always wants to look for the shortest way to reach where you click. Sadly, this trips something up in the pathfinding and your unti refuses to go to their destination. Thankfully, a quick camera movement can fix these moments. And also, I’m glad that these moments are quite rare.
Something that’s even more rare are some minor visual bugs that can happen sometimes. Sometimes an UI-element refuses to dissapear. I had that happen twice, when I shot an enemy holding down an exit rift with the Canoness. The stars indicated that the enemy was dizzy. They hovered above the enemy’s head after the rift opened. Even after I killed the enemy, these stars remained visible. There are sometimes minor visual bugs happening like that. Thankfully, they are extremely rare and sometimes are quite funny. One time, one of my units was standing perpendicular on a ladder when I stopped it going up the ladder. The only annoying bug was that I couldn’t retrieve two bodies. They lay in a remote part of Angler’s Grave. It was almost impossible to get rid of two bodies. Maybe, it’s possible. I don’t know, I honestly gave up and earned the badge of hiding bodies on a later revist.
In such a big game it’s to be expected that sometimes things can go wrong. But it surprises me how little goes wrong and how polished the overall game is. Scrolling through the patch notes of this game, I noticed that the developers fixed many issues. They also added a lot of new content to the game. The last update to the game was even a modding tool for this game. These mods go from chaging your character models to adding new maps. I think I’ll play around with the mods after I have fully beaten the game. I’m extremely close, since I’m in the final missions of the game.
Now, earlier I talked about the UI. The UI is quite easy and helpful. There are several unique icons to inform you where certain things are. For example, where you left the paper doll when using the ship cook. There is only one thing in the UI I dislike. And that’s the list of save games. You get a little screenshot of the location of the save and a time stamp. And that’s it. You can’t give a special name or note to them. So if you are looking for a certain save… you either need to make notes OR just go through all them until you het it.
It’s the only real complaint I can give about this game. There is just a lot that this game does right. Like how you can scroll to zoom in or out. When you scroll again at the max zoom level, you see a live map. This map shows where all the enemies are. The only minor complaint I have about the map is that ammo chests aren’t marked on there. Also, quick note on the ammo chests… Almost every character has the same visual for their gun. Now, if another visual appears above the ammo chest, it doesn’t matter. The ammo chests are never character specific.
Visually, this game looks breathtaking. The attention to detail in this world gets a big thumbs up from me. The world really feels alive and somewhat real. The little animation details for example when an enemy stops at a prison cell to talk to inmates… This is just amazing. The immersion level is even higher with that.
The soundtrack is very catchy and a joy to listen to. It made certain moments in the game even more thrilling. The music has been created by Filippo Beck Peccoz, he also created the music for Desperados III. The soundtrack really fits the game like a glove. I’m so glad I bought the soundtrack DLC,. Now I can add the music to my music library to play while I’m at my dayjob.
This brings me to the sound design of this game. The sound design of this game is amazing. I’m playing this game with a good headset and I don’t think this game is playable without sound effects. A great example is, when you get spotted. You not only get a great visual hint of a yellow line turning red of the enemy spotting you… You also get some sound effects informing you that things are about to go down. On top of that, the sound effects add so much extra impact on taking down enemies. This makes it even more rewarding when you finally take down that one pesky enemy.
One thing I haven’t talked about yet is how flexible this game is. I have touched upon that by talking about how you can only choose three out of 8 characters per mission. And you are encouraged to experiment with different combinations. Now, when you open the options menu, you’ll be blown away. You can change almost everything. The controls like the shortcuts for abilities can be tweaked to your liking. You have quite a lot of control to tweak the volumes, the controls, the visuals… Even tweak certain game mechanics to your liking. Don’t like the save reminder? You can turn that off.
There is still another thing that boggles my mind that was added in this game. You can create a custom difficulty. The only complaint I have there is that the UI fails to explain the differences. I find it challenging to understand all the settings. You get a short explaination about the setting, and then you have a slider you can set. But, what’s the difference between 1 and 2 on the slider? That’s something the UI doesn’t really tell.
When I was writing this article, I kept looking at my notes and thought: “Oh, I forgot about that.”. There are just so many things in this game. The fact that in some missions, you must kill enemies in unique ways. In one mission, you have to lure enemies to a certain location. You need to do this 4 times. You do this instead of killing them. It’s a breath of fresh air. You’d think that having only a handful of maps would make this game boring and repetitive, but no. The maps are not only large but also used in extremely interesting ways. Revisits of a map make it easier to start, but each area is used in a mission. So, there is still a lot of challenge in the revisits.
Oh, there is one more thing. The question if you should buy the DLC’s or not. Let me just tell you this, I bought the game on sale with the DLC’s included. I’m so happy I did! Since the additional content in the DLC’s adds so much more to this game. They come highly recommended.
Now, I have left out a few things for you all to find while playing this game. This article is already getting quite long. I want to leave some things as a surprise for people interested in playing this game. I think it’s high time to wrap up this review and give my conclusion and final thoughts on this game.
Conclusion of this treasure hunt
The negatives:
-Unable to add notes to quick saves. -Some minor (visual) glitches can happen. Thankfully, they are rare and rarely/never gamebreaking. -The UI of custom difficulty could have been executed better.
The positives:
+ A masterclass in it’s genre in terms of gameplay. + Extremely flexible with options. + A modding tool. + A love-able cartoony story. + Amazing voice over work. + Superb soundtrack. + …
Final thoughts:
When I started playing Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew, I had extremely high expectations. Mimimi blew me away with the amazing Desperados III. With this swansong of a game, they not only met my expectations, they blew them out of the water. This game showcases the achievements of passionate people. These individuals are dedicated to creating the game they love.
It didn’t take long before I fell in love with the cast of this game. The charm drew me into the world of this game. Apart from some minor things, it’s hard to find things to critique about this game. The only thing I can critique are small bugs that barely impact the gameplay of this game. This game really feels like a finished product and it’s a thrill ride from start to finish.
If you really want to find things this game does wrong… You’ll either need to be extremely nitpicky or just have the game not clicking with you. If you find this game too easy or too difficult, just tweak the setttings to your playstyle and voila.
If you enjoy games like Commandos or Desperados… You’d do yourself a disservice to not check out this game. Give the demo of this game a try, and see what you think. I wouldn’t be surprised that this game sinks it’s hook into you like it did with me.
It’s a shame to see that this game studio closes. Thank you to everybody who worked on this amazing title and I hope to meet your work in other games. This final game you all created together is a real piece of art. It’s a masterclass in game development and shows how well you know the community for games like this. I’m so happy that this game exists. Since it wouldn’t surprise me that I’ll play through this game several times now.
Before I ramble on and on about this game, I think it’s high time I wrap up this article. Otherwise, I’ll keep praising this game to high heavens and back. So, with that said, I have said close to everything I wanted to say about this game. I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to be able to welcome you in another article, but until then… Have a great rest of your day and take care!
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Hard West, a turn-based tactics game set in the American Wild West. A game with style.
Hard West—back in the days when the West was wild.
I first played Hard West a few years after it was first released, but it’s been a few more years since I’ve last spent time with it. What has stuck in the back of my mind since playing it is this word, style.
Hard West looks great.
But what do I mean by “style”? It’s such a subjective term anyway.
Was it the foreboding, monotone narrator that speaks to you as you play? Was it the narrative itself, a violent Wild West tale of struggle and revenge, with a supernatural twist? Was it the visual style? Or was it the luck-based mechanic and poker-style character upgrades?
Poker card mini game
Perhaps it was the overall presentation of Hard West that conjures up these recollections.
Stylish presentation and narration in Hard West
But style without substance does not a good game make. It’s got to have good gameplay, and it’s got to be fun to play.
Is Hard West the complete package? Does Hard West deliver on the substance, as well as the style?
It’s time to grab your six-shooter and saddle up as we head west into Hard West.
Aces high, but will your luck run out in Hard West?
The Game
Hard West is a turn-based tactics game at its core, but before you get anywhere close to guns blazing, this is the Wild West, and there’s a tale to be told.
The start of the “Hard Times” scenario
The story is ever present in Hard West, with a narrator not only introducing the story and missions, but providing commentary throughout.
Setting the scene
Hard West begins with a six-year-old Warren on the Oregon Trail with his parents.
Happy trails, or…
Life is a struggle, and Warren’s father ends up on the wrong side of a band of outlaws and the whole family is captured. Breaking free, Warren’s father sets out to find his wife. This is where the tutorial mission begins, and you get your first opportunity to load up and let loose some rounds on the tactical map.
The OutlawTorn
Hard West splits its time between the tactical map, where the gunfights take place, and the strategic map, where you can explore locations and undertake side missions. Anyone familiar with the XCOM series will feel at home with Hard West.
The strategic map in Hard West
You have the standard action points when on the tactical map, and for the most part, it’s all about movement, cover, shooting, and reloading.
All about the action points in Hard West
Hard West differs from other tactical shooters with its shooting mechanics. Where other games take into account conditions such as range, shooter skill, weapon type, and cover of target to determine the chance to hit and then randomly generate the result, Hard West takes out the randomness by using a target’s luck.
Wait, luck?
Intuitively, this doesn’t make sense at all, until you understand how luck actually works.
The shot misses, but luck is running out for the target.
Basically, each time a shot is fired at a target, the target’s luck total is reduced by the shooter’s chance-to-hit percentage. But you don’t know what the target’s luck total is. You just know that if you keep shooting at the same target, their luck will run out eventually. When luck is reduced to zero, the shot hits.
Luck runs out
As a quick example, if you have a 75% chance to hit a target, but their luck is 80, you’ll miss. But their luck will be reduced to 5, so anyone else shooting at the same target that turn will hit them.
It seems counter-intuitive, as you see your percentage chance to hit, but then the success of the shot doesn’t depend on a randomly generated result at all. Once you grasp this mechanic in Hard West, it drives your strategy, as luck can regenerate. As a target, you can’t stay in one place for too long, as if the enemy is able to see you, they will hit you eventually. Once a target is hit, their luck total is significantly replenished, and the cycle starts again.
Warren takes a hit—but his luck goes up.
Taking cover is still a good tactical decision, as the lower the chance-to-hit percentage, the lower the hit the luck total will take.
Always stay in cover.
Visually, I like the look of the tactical missions in Hard West. You can rotate your view, and zoom in, which is most useful when planning your moves to ensure you click the correct square on the map grid.
Planning movement
Gunfire produces great sounds and smoke effects, and the hits are suitably bloody.
Blood and gore in Hard West
Tactical missions in Hard West are usually last-person-standing affairs, where the aim is to take out all of your enemies.
Simple objective: kill everyone in town
There is variation in mission design though, where some missions don’t start out in combat mode. This leaves opportunities to move your team into good positions, search areas, attempt rescues, and subdue enemies prior to guns being drawn.
Stick ’em up!
The strategic map in Hard West moves the story along, as you explore the territory you’re in by visiting places of interest.
Traversing the strategic map
Essentially, these excursions provide you the opportunity to develop your characters by acquiring new equipment. Better equipment will provide boosts to character statistics such as health, luck, movement, and aim.
Trading at a shady joint
Character statistics are also impacted by boons and afflictions, which can come about from actions taken during the side missions on the strategic map.
Old Man Murray’s inebriation affects his aim.
There is also a thematic system for improving character statistics through the use of poker ability cards. Having up to five poker-card slots available, you can further boost the impact of individual cards by forming poker hands.
Play your best hand.
There’s a lot to like in the implementation of the strategic map in Hard West, with the wide range of firearms and stat-boosting trinkets and consumables on offer, to the branching choices of locations to visit and explore.
My first choice in firearms—the Elephant Rifle
Hard West does explore some challenging themes, as it’s not purely a classic Wild West tale of revenge. I played through the first two scenarios in Hard West (out of eight, which you don’t have to play in order), and by the end had come across the occult, the undead, human sacrifices, and cannibalism (those latter two being optional).
Hard West appropriately falls under the “Weird West” genre, which mixes traditional Western stereotypes with horror and science fiction.
Hard West has some hard themes.
But before we get weird, I think it’s time we rejoin Warren’s father as he sets out on his own to find his wife and bring about some frontier-style justice for his family…
Better watch your back…
The Replay
The first scenario mission is a tutorial mission, but it doesn’t hold your hand long. Once you’ve learned how to move, take cover, and shoot, you’re on your own.
All alone in Hard West
You lead Warren’s father through the outlaws’ camp and teach them that they messed with the wrong guy today.
Never knew what hit him...
Unfortunately for Warren’s father, there’s a grim discovery awaiting him once the last outlaw standing has breathed his last.
Warren’s mother’s head in a box
There’s also the foreshadowing of the horror to come, as before the last outlaw died, he was rambling about some unholy obligation.
More than a decade passes, as Warren and his father continue the struggle for survival. They turn to mining, as a gold rush comes their way, in the hope of making it to Oregon.
There’s gold in these here parts.
This leads to the strategic map, as you purchase some prospecting operations from “The Masked Man” who controls the mining in the area.
Strategic map mining
Mining allows you to build up some cash reserves to purchase better equipment and engage with other side missions.
The local gunsmith
It’s an interesting experience traversing the strategic map, as you never know when you might need cash or what you might need it for. For example, following an attack on the homestead, you can opt to build an escape tunnel in case of further raids. If you don’t have the cash, you can’t build it, and even if you do have the cash, you won’t know if or when you’ll need this tunnel and what benefit it might provide.
Building an escape tunnel will use up most of your money…but will it pay off?
And speaking of the attack on the homestead, this becomes the second tactical mission. Warren is also further invested in protecting his territory, as he has fallen in love with a woman named Florence.
Warren and Florence in happier times
So there’s a love story in Hard West. From a tactical perspective, Florence becomes part of the team. Turns out she’s pretty handy with a firearm.
Florence preparing for battle
The homestead mission sees you starting inside your house as bandits swarm in. It’s a claustrophobic encounter with nowhere to hide. It’s a tricky balance of moving from window to window, reloading, and taking out the invaders when you spot them.
A homestead surrounded
Following this homestead defence, Florence discovers her parents didn’t survive the attack. It’s at that point she decides to fight back.
Warren also has other concerns, as his father has been persuaded by a mysterious and charismatic man to buy a lucky amulet. Warren’s father is sick of the struggle, and has succumbed to the supernatural.
Snake oil salesman
But Warren’s father’s frustrations will have to wait. The local Mexican crime lord has been demanding more and more of your gold mining profits the more successful you have become. Florence chooses to secretly parley on your behalf, and is promptly captured.
It’s time for a rescue mission in Hard West.
Florence is gone!
This mission makes use of the subdue command, where you can use stealth and force enemies to “stick ‘em up”.
Hands up!
Using this to your advantage, subduing a guard frees up the other member of your team to sneak into The Mexican’s compound and steal the jail key.
The “key” to success is locking the guards inside.
This not only allows you to free Florence, but also lock some guards inside an area of the compound, thereby reducing the numbers in the final shootout.
Stealth mode is over—it’s shootin’ time!
And there is a shootout, as soon as you free Florence.
Vengeance is calling.
Here’s a gameplay video of the Florence rescue mission:
Following the mission, and to no one’s surprise, Warren’s father’s amulet doesn’t work and soon disintegrates. This leaves Warren’s father distraught, and he soon spirals and ends up cursed. Eventually, he leaves.
Warrens’ father is cursed, making prospecting impossible.
It’s just Warren and Florence now in Hard West. And there’s smoke on the horizon.
Warren and Florence prepare to defend the homestead.
The homestead has been set on fire and it’s a final defence.
All Warren has built is going up in smoke.
It’s very similar to the earlier homestead mission, except bandits are already in the house. If you built the escape tunnel mentioned above, you can start the mission inside the house.
Not sure if starting inside the burning building is an advantage or not…
It’s a repetitive affair.
Florence clearing the upper level
And following the final shot, it’s also the final affair in the first scenario mission.
Florence finishes the job.
Storywise, Warren and Florence are now on the run. But from a gameplay perspective, this was an abrupt and unexpected end. There were only four tactical missions, and two of them were quite similar. I know cliffhanger endings build up the suspense, but this was all over too quickly.
But what next for Warren and Florence in Hard West? Do they make it?
Let’s find out.
Warren’s next move
Where the first scenario only hinted at some supernatural forces, with Warren’s father and the cursed amulet, the second scenario immediately puts the “weird” in “Weird West”.
Deal with the devil
So Warren has been offered the solution to all his problems in return for his soul. Yep, that old classic soul trading tale.
But Warren doesn’t budge.
But maybe he should have. Gunmen are surrounding the saloon Warren and Florence are in…
Enemies at your back
You can’t win this fight, and Warren has to watch Florence die, before he gets overwhelmed himself.
Florence falls...…and Warren joins her.
But Warren takes the deal with his dying breath.
And awakens in a coffin outside the saloon.
Undead Warren
Take a look at the intro to the As Good as Dead scenario:
It’s time for an undead revenge, as Warren takes on the whole town.
Warren wants revenge.
Now, you can’t actually take on the whole town, as if you end up with Warren surrounded by too many hired gunmen, you ain’t gonna last long.
I decided to hole up in a building and slowly snipe encroaching targets.
Warren welcoming a hired gun
In Hard West (at least on the normal difficulty I was playing on), the gunmen never completely swarm you, but wait for you to make the first move. In this mission, I had to take peeks outside and around the building to spot the targets.
I was never left facing more than a couple of targets at a time, so I easily picked them off. What was strange at the end was finding four gunmen congregating in the next room of the building, just waiting for Warren to show his face.
Outnumbered, but there’s not much coordination from the enemy…
So the AI was a bit unusual in this mission, as these four gunmen could have just swarmed Warren and made life (death?) difficult for him.
At least if undead Warren takes a hit, he now has the Nightmare Regeneration power, which allows him to recover health each turn when it’s dark or he’s in the shadows.
Nightmare Regeneration
Following this undead rampage, the stranger who offered you the deal with the devil tells you he can help you find “The Masked Man”, but that he doesn’t want to do so too easily and spoil the hunt.
The stranger wants more death.
Warren thinks he can cause enough damage himself to bring “The Masked Man” out of hiding on his own.
In this second scenario, the objective is to cause enough property damage and take your revenge.
There is also an optional side mission involving killing 100 people along the journey of the main scenario. This is where the human sacrifice comes in, as you can offer the companions you come across up at an Indian totem of a despicable god.
A spiteful deity whispers to Warren.
I decided against sacrificing my companions, as I preferred them to be breathing and to have a gun in their hands during the tactical missions.
Better to have allies around when Warren takes a hit.
The next mission is another rescue mission, where someone by the name of Old Man Murray is being held captive. Old Man Murray might have some information on “The Masked Man”.
Time is of the essence, as Old Man Murray happens to be a captive on a cannibal farm.
Old Man Murray’s not going to be held captive for long. One way or another…
Old Man Murray’s on the clock in the mission, as you need to rescue him within ten turns or he’ll bleed out. Or you can just leave him to die. Ten turns is more than enough time to get to him, and that’s what I decided to do, subduing one of his guards.
Again, I was more interested in whether or not Old Man Murray could handle a six shooter than sacrificing him.
Turns out Old Man Murray can more than handle himself.
A more disturbing choice is also presented in this mission: Do you allow Warren to partake in some of the meat from the farm?
Warren considers cannibalism.
The more I reflected on this choice, the more disturbed I was by it. I’m just glad it was a choice, and I’ll leave it at that.
It’s not long before you locate “The Masked Man” and prepare for the final showdown. This would only be the third mission of the scenario. Again, it felt like this scenario was ending before it really got started. Or perhaps more accurately, most of your time in Hard West feels like it’s on the strategic map and not in tactical missions, which you might expect given the genre.
The Masked Man missing no more
You do get one more opportunity at a tactical mission with an optional one involving a rather wealthy demon.
Demon hunting
It was a straight-forward mission, ending in a final shootout with the demon.
A demon approaches…
He was tough, as he had more health than normal enemies, and his health regenerated. It took some concentrated fire from my team of three before his luck ran out.
Demon slayer
The riches were worth it, with some more gold, special items, and a handful of poker cards to assist with the final mission preparation.
Dead demon makes you rich.
Like the previous three missions in this second Hard West scenario, there was not much to do in the final mission except take everyone out.
More of the same in the final mission
It didn’t always go to plan, but with Warren able to regenerate health, a slow and methodical approach to moving across the map to where “The Masked Man” was holed up.
Advancing through the compound
It definitely helped having two hired guns with me (rather than sacrificing them…), as the guards on the compound were tougher.
Tougher enemies with more health
Finally, “The Masked Man” revealed himself.
The Masked Man holed up inside the house
After trading long-distance snipes at each other for a few turns, “The Masked Man” soon came up close and personal.
Some claustrophobic close combat
But by this stage it was three versus one, and Warren and his little posse prevailed.
The Masked Man’s final stand
While a satisfying revenge for Warren, to avenge his death and Florence’s death, what of Warren’s soul?
And what of the voice in Warren’s head telling him that Florence can still be saved, with her soul trapped in purgatory?
Well, that’s a tale for another time…
The Verdict
So is Hard West more style than substance?
To put it this way, I think the greatest strength in Hard West is also its greatest weakness, and that is its pace.
Hard West is a fast-moving experience. Whether or not that’s a good thing depends on what you’re looking for.
Be quick or be dead in Hard West.
The visuals, the sound effects, the narration, they all draw you into Hard West. But scratch beneath the surface, and you might find yourself wanting more out of this Weird West experience.
Just who is The Masked Man?
I found myself wishing both scenarios were longer. You start to invest in the characters and the storyline, and then it’s over after several tactical missions and you have to start again with a new scenario. Following the first scenario, it’s a non-linear progression, with three branches to choose from.
Time for a new scenario…
The tactical missions themselves are short and repetitive affairs. The effect this had on me was I felt like I was spending more time on the strategic map than in shootouts.
Shootouts aren’t as common as you might expect.
The narratives that accompany the side missions on the strategic map are well done, and it’s almost like a choose-your-own adventure story. They add depth to the stories, but are very tangential to the tactical missions—I wondered how much they actually enhanced the overall tactical experience.
X marks the spot.
And should you want to experiment with choices made in either the strategic or tactical maps, the save-game system prevents this, as Hard West autosaves for you. Once you make a decision on the strategic map, you’re locked into it. If you want to try a different approach, you have to start the scenario again.
Likewise, on the tactical missions, Hard West autosaves at the start and at the end. There are no mid-mission saves available. So, you have to complete each mission in one sitting. If you fail a mission, you don’t fail the scenario, and can reattempt it.
Warren goes down. It’s restart or quit—there is no reload.
While it was sometimes frustrating not to have the flexibility to save my game whenever I wanted, the short tactical missions and short scenarios work well with this save-game system. If you find yourself needing to restart a mission or a scenario, you’re not losing hours of effort. I found myself in both situations, and it wasn’t as much of an annoyance as I thought it would be.
It was a nice change of pace from mission-based games where you can save at any time, as it forced me to not just think out my next move on the battlefield and the strategic map, but it forced me to accept the consequences and follow the story through to the end.
Losing an ally—you’ll have to restart the mission if you want to avoid it.
Hard West scenarios are short and deadly affairs, and this fits the Wild West theme. If you go in knowing what to expect (and what not to expect) the overall experience will be more enjoyable. To do so, you need to embrace the abundance of style Hard West brings with its visual presentation, narration, and Wild West-inspired mechanics (such as luck and poker cards), and be forgiving of the repetitive missions and fast-paced scenarios.
Hard West may not have the deepest gameplay, and I didn’t care for the more extreme themes in these Weird West vignettes. But Hard West is one gaming experience where style over substance actually works.
Following Warren’s father’s footsteps into the next scenario
4
So, have you played Hard West?
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