WEST OF DEAD Is A Stylish Twin-Stick Shooter In Old West Purgatory
I mean, the headline says it all. Need you any more information? Revealed today at the XO19 event in London, West of Dead is one of several games flooding my inbox this morning. What’s so special about West of Dead? Well, it’s got a dude with a flaming skull for one. Voiced by Ron Pearlman. So that’s cool. more importantly, it’s announced AND launched into beta on the same day. That’s a ballsy move worthy of a character resembling but artistically distinct from Ghostrider himself!
Being slightly more serious, West of Dead does do a few things to set it apart from the crowd. Traditionally, twin-stick shooters are about packing as many flashing lights on screen as possible. It’s a level of seizure-inducing chaos perfectly suited for the Ritalin addled mind of a much younger Ted. Now that I’m older, I prefer games with a much more thoughtful approach. West of Dead seems far more calculated, allowing you to take cover, rush with melee attacks and bounce bullets off of walls. Which is enough to get me interested.
What else is in store for us in West of Dead? Idk, I haven’t played it yet. But here’s the Official Press Release:
Tonight, London was plunged into an inferno. On stage at X019 in London, the fast-paced twin-stick shooter West of Dead was revealed to the world. The game takes place in Purgatory, a place of gun smoke and darkness, sin and damnation, wendigos and witches. The Wild West has never been this dark.
Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Sons of Anarchy) stars as the voice of the main protagonist William Mason, a dead man awakened with only the memory of a figure in black. His existence sets into motion a chain of events that have truly mythic consequences. No one said dying would be easy.
Thrown into the unknown procedurally generated hunting grounds of Purgatory, your skills will be put to the test as you shoot and dodge your way through the grime and grit of the underworld. West of Dead evolves the twin-stick shooter with tactical cover usage, find out if you have what it takes to get through Purgatory with your soul intact.
Keep in mind, this is a limited-time beta. It’ll only run until November 25th, so you best check it out now. The game will also be coming to PC, PS4, and Switch sometime in 2020.