This review contains spoilers
I enjoyed westerado: double barreled - a fun little RPG with more choice than many games give you.
The game opens with your brother's death and the burning of your homestead by an unnamed bandit and sets you out on a path to revenge, giving you a clue about the appearance of the perpetrator. However, it soon becomes clear that this functions as little more than a motivation to complete the large amount of varied side quests dotted around the map, as as you complete each quest your reward is another clue as to your targets appearance.
There's a variety of paths you can go down, and I was impressed by the complete flexibility given to the player - you can kill any NPC you want (or a quest wants you to) , sure, but that might mean that another NPCs quest will fall through, or people will be hostile to you.
The dialogue is fun and compelling, and the option to pull a gun on anyone at any point leads to some interesting intimidation options which may go astray.
The map is reasonably sized, with an overground and an underground, however parts of it feel barren and empty, filled with not plot relevant bandits whose fights seem to purely exist to pad out the game.
The movement in the game is fine, with useful fast travel options and a decent running speed. The combat is uninspired but largely not unfun - you may only fire left or right while being able to move in any direction, and mostly becomes a rhythm exercise of waiting for the right time to take your shot so that you are not shot by another enemy while you have end lag.
The "main plot" of the game is fairly weak, with you discovering the identity of your brother's killer, who could be any NPC in the town and accusing them, which leads to a final dungeon and boss fight. Not bad, just not interesting, though you get the impression that the game wants you to focus on all the side quests.
Pros:
- appears to be replayable with multiple characters
- really flexible story
- engaging side quests
- fun dialogue
- good soundtrack
Cons:
- short
- combat is medium
- map can feel sparse
The game opens with your brother's death and the burning of your homestead by an unnamed bandit and sets you out on a path to revenge, giving you a clue about the appearance of the perpetrator. However, it soon becomes clear that this functions as little more than a motivation to complete the large amount of varied side quests dotted around the map, as as you complete each quest your reward is another clue as to your targets appearance.
There's a variety of paths you can go down, and I was impressed by the complete flexibility given to the player - you can kill any NPC you want (or a quest wants you to) , sure, but that might mean that another NPCs quest will fall through, or people will be hostile to you.
The dialogue is fun and compelling, and the option to pull a gun on anyone at any point leads to some interesting intimidation options which may go astray.
The map is reasonably sized, with an overground and an underground, however parts of it feel barren and empty, filled with not plot relevant bandits whose fights seem to purely exist to pad out the game.
The movement in the game is fine, with useful fast travel options and a decent running speed. The combat is uninspired but largely not unfun - you may only fire left or right while being able to move in any direction, and mostly becomes a rhythm exercise of waiting for the right time to take your shot so that you are not shot by another enemy while you have end lag.
The "main plot" of the game is fairly weak, with you discovering the identity of your brother's killer, who could be any NPC in the town and accusing them, which leads to a final dungeon and boss fight. Not bad, just not interesting, though you get the impression that the game wants you to focus on all the side quests.
Pros:
- appears to be replayable with multiple characters
- really flexible story
- engaging side quests
- fun dialogue
- good soundtrack
Cons:
- short
- combat is medium
- map can feel sparse