Adding to the list of immersive sim games is the isometric shooter Weird West from Friv2Online, the studio headed by Rafael Calantonio, who previously worked at Arkane, which is known for Dishonored, Prey and other cult games. Whether the new product manages to immerse itself in the way the best immersive titles do, we tell in the review.

The action of Weird West takes place in the Weird West - it's like the Wild West, only oneir witches, a religious clan of werewolves, brainless pigmen and other manifestations of the supernatural are added to the cowboys and Indians.

Here the player will have to go through five stories in succession: a former mercenary who again takes up arms after her husband and son were kidnapped by cannibals; a newly converted pigman who, in the process of transformation, has not lost the ability to think clearly; a representative of the indigenous population of America, who went on a dangerous journey on the instructions of the leader of the tribe; and other characters - completely different, but united by a mysterious mark on the neck. In the final, all the cards will be revealed, but the friv game knows how to keep the intrigue, and the scenario remains interesting until the very end.

The path of the heroes lies through cities, farms, mines, abandoned settlements and monster lairs. Moving around the global map, the player opens up new locations that he can get into. In the city, he would visit a saloon, a gunsmith and apothecary, hire assistants to keep him company, and buy a horse for more comfortable travels. If he wants, he can go to the bulletin board, where there will definitely be a couple of orders to catch criminals, for which there is a big reward: money is needed in Weird West, because weapons, ammunition and explosives are not lying on the road.

Therefore, you will have to take on any job: NPCs are happy to issue tasks, but it should be borne in mind that many of them are limited in time, and if you do not rush, you can fail the quest. Travel takes hours and days of the game calendar, so you need to plan your route in advance. Although, most likely, you will have time for everything, even if you take all the orders at once - the game is quite loyal in this regard.

Settlements are of interest not only as places for issuing quests and buying equipment. Weird West is an immersive sim, which means that the player has a certain freedom of action. Here you can enter any building, steal everything that is badly lying, if you wish - come into conflict with the locals, and at least cut out the whole city; for this, even a separate achievement is provided.

All actions will be reflected in the reputation of the character: help everyone you meet and diligently complete tasks - you will receive a bonus to karma and favor from merchants; steal and kill people in front of civilians - they will consider you a criminal and will not want to do business with you. And then they will put you behind bars, from where you can get out by paying a fine or after serving your term.

The immersiveness of the game is also felt in combat. Weird West encourages you to be creative, not just a head-on collision. A simple stealth will allow you to stun enemies who have strayed from the detachment; the main thing is not to forget to hide the body in the tall grass. An oil lamp can be broken with a well-aimed shot, and then set fire to the puddle formed and the enemies standing in it. Opponents wet in the rain will additionally fry an electric grenade. And the hero who catches fire will bring down the flame, tumbling into the nearest body of water. In addition, it will not be superfluous to use shelters and elevation changes.

The character's arsenal is limited to five types of weapons: a rapid-fire revolver, effective at medium distances; powerful shotgun; slow but long-range rifle; a bow for stealthy lethal elimination of opponents; piercing-cutting for hand-to-hand combat. There is also a whole range of explosive gadgets, from Molotov cocktails to a bunch of dynamite. Finally, the environment can also become a weapon: in a hopeless situation, nothing will stop you from grabbing a chair and throwing it at the enemy, or using a shovel as an impromptu club. And after the battle, be sure to check the pockets of the dead - there are cartridges, bandages and items that can be sold to the merchant.

Leveling in Weird West is done through relics that are hidden in nooks and crannies. During the battles, the characters do not gain experience, but at the same time, the game motivates them to carefully search the locations - this is the only way to get the artifacts necessary to improve their abilities.

There are few opportunities for development: four character skills, and three or four abilities for each weapon. For example, you can make the next shot from a rifle silent or unload a revolver clip into an enemy at once. There is some freedom in building character builds, but for me the leveling was spoiled by a very inconvenient mechanics of using abilities - on the gamepad you need to hold down three keys at the same time, which is not easy to do in the heat of battle.

While abilities remain unique to each character, perks carry over from one campaign to another. These are passive skills, such as a permanent increase in health, a higher jump, or a permanent discount from merchants. To buy privileges, you need to look for golden aces of spades - like relics, this is a rather scarce resource, which only the most curious players will have in abundance.

Interestingly, Weird West allows you to transfer equipment from one hero to another. It is enough just to find the protagonist of the previous adventure in the new story and take him to your team - he will gladly share the weapons, potions and gadgets accumulated in his scenario, and you will not have to save money for equipment.

Not only the contents of the characters' inventory are intersected: each new journey opens up previously unexplored areas on the global map, but during the course of the adventure, the heroes will also visit places known from past adventures, see the consequences of the decisions made in that "life", and even help out the protagonists who got into trouble. Only the unfinished quests from their stories cannot be completed, so all side quests should be closed in your own walkthrough.

Weird West is very atmospheric, immerses you in the world of the Weird West and gives you the opportunity to have fun using a wealth of game mechanics. However, the friv game also has its drawbacks.

First of all, this is an inconvenient control, both with a gamepad and with a keyboard and mouse. The behavior of the camera is unpredictable, and the shootouts become quite chaotic because of this. It seems to me that it was worth hanging the camera over the shoulder of the character, abandoning the isometric perspective, but at the same time, the poverty of the picture would have caught the eye too much - the game has very poor graphics with rather strong appetites for PC resources. And it's also full of bugs - no doubt it's worth making allowances for the lack of a Day 1 patch, but still I had to restart the game a couple of times due to interfering bugs.

That said, if you're looking for a good immersive sim game, Weird West is well worth your while. The debut work of WolfEye Studios was more successful than not, and although the new title falls slightly short of the best representatives of the direction, it has potential.