Wild West and Wizards
- April 28, 2020
- Lavaboots Studios
- 3h median play time
Get on Steam"Wild West and Wizards" is a VR game that combines the old west and fantasy magic elements. Play as a wizard gunslinger in duels against outlaws and mythical creatures. With a variety of spells and weapons, customize your character and explore different levels for an immersive and engaging experience.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game features a unique blend of Wild West and magic elements, providing an interesting and engaging gameplay experience.
- The world is large and encourages exploration, with many quests and secrets to discover.
- The combat system is fun, allowing players to use both guns and magic, which adds variety to encounters.
- The game suffers from performance issues, including frame rate drops and input lag, which can hinder the overall experience.
- Many players find the game repetitive, with a lack of enemy variety and grindy quests that can feel tedious.
- The graphics and animations are considered low quality, leading to a less immersive experience compared to other titles in the genre.
- story114 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 70 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The game's story is generally perceived as uninspired and predictable, with many players finding the main quest forgettable and filled with repetitive fetch and kill tasks. While some side quests and NPC interactions offer interesting narratives, the overall storytelling lacks depth and cohesion, leading to a sense of disconnection from the main plot. Despite its shortcomings, the game provides a vast world to explore, filled with numerous quests that can be enjoyable if players focus on the exploration aspect rather than the main storyline.
“The world itself is cool to explore, there's lots of fun little secrets and hidden things as well as lots and lots of quests which are pretty clever and interesting.”
“I really like this art style and the story so far has been quite interesting and has drawn me into the game.”
“Interesting and well written quests with their locations clearly marked on the world map.”
“The main quest story here is just plain uninspired and predictable.”
“The story has some promise, but almost every story quest amounts to either 'go here to kill this' or 'go here to talk to this guy'.”
“There is one main quest line that you can finish to win the game, but most of the quests are just fetch and kill for random NPCs that you find.”
- graphics49 mentions
- 31 % positive mentions
- 61 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many players describing them as simple, low-poly, and occasionally bland, yet some appreciate the quirky, colorful art style that fits the game's theme. While some find the visuals charming and stylistically consistent, others criticize the reuse of assets and lack of detail, leading to a perception of rudimentary graphics. Overall, the game's aesthetic may appeal to those who favor gameplay and story over high-end visuals, but it may not satisfy players seeking cutting-edge graphics.
“The graphics have a very pleasant feeling, like an aquarelle painting.”
“I love the graphics as they give a dreamy look mixed with the western theme, making it an honor to the name of the game.”
“The low-poly aesthetic is honestly kind of gorgeous here, the guns feel and sound great, the dueling is snappy and tense.”
“The graphics just don't do the visuals justice; towns are clearly the same assets reused in a different layout. If the map was smaller and more focus was put on making everything look really good, that might've turned out better.”
“It's quite rough as one might expect for the money; the animation quality is not there, sound effects are lacking, and it's got poor graphics with lots of repeated assets, although the cartoonish art style masks it.”
“The graphics might be basic, the NPCs might be stupid, character creation might be little to none, and it may start off a bit slow.”
- gameplay43 mentions
- 35 % positive mentions
- 58 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the solid mechanics and engaging combat, while others criticize it for being repetitive and lacking depth. Many noted a polished experience with few bugs, but also pointed out limitations such as a lack of core mechanics and a grindy feel. Overall, while the game offers intriguing concepts and a fun atmosphere, it struggles with variety and complexity, leaving some players wanting more.
“It's got simple mechanics, decent graphics, good quest writing, and you get to lob poison at a bandit before blasting them with a double-barreled shotgun.”
“The gameplay is solid once you get a hang of the mechanics and each class is unique enough that you get a different experience with each of them.”
“It's one of those games that you could sit down and play for hours without taking a break, and for good reason: solid mechanics, mixed with classic concepts, topped off with the 'choose your own fun' type of gameplay that can only be found in an open world game.”
“I've only played through this game for roughly 32 minutes, but due to one mechanic, I immediately quit the game.”
“Core gameplay is quite repetitive; abilities and the dodge mechanic help a little, but it's not enough.”
“It is missing tons of core first-person shooter mechanics, such as crouching, picking up items and moving them in the world, and more than I'd care to list.”
- music33 mentions
- 52 % positive mentions
- 39 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally well-received, praised for its atmospheric quality and ability to enhance immersion, though many players note its limited variety and repetitiveness. While some find the soundtrack enjoyable and fitting, others suggest it can become monotonous over time, leading to a preference for personal music. Overall, the music contributes positively to the game's ambiance, but a broader selection of tracks would enhance the experience.
“The music is fantastic and really fits the atmosphere and sets the mood quite well, giving it a lot of the relaxing feel.”
“Combine this game with your favorite music albums and you get endless hours of immersion in a world mystical enough to feel new and grounded enough to seem plausible.”
“This game has a great relaxed atmosphere, the music is chill and not too stereotypically western while still hitting the mood.”
“The soundtrack is well done and atmospheric, but hearing the same few short songs repeatedly can wear you down.”
“The soundtrack is okay, you're probably going to want to put on your own music since sound isn't the biggest focus of immersion.”
“The music is sparse, the polygon count is low and the game has plenty of terrain to explore.”
- optimization13 mentions
- 23 % positive mentions
- 31 % neutral mentions
- 46 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting significant performance issues, including poor GPU optimization, lag spikes, and framedrops, particularly in certain areas. While some users noted that the game runs smoothly on higher-end PCs, others experienced frustrating bugs and a lack of performance options, leading to an overall feeling of underdevelopment. Despite these criticisms, a few players appreciated the game's low-poly aesthetic, which helped maintain clarity during gameplay.
“The game runs smoothly, with no crashes or slowdowns that I noticed.”
“This game is a lot of fun, runs smoothly, and has a distinct lack of cut corners that tells me the devs care about their game.”
“I feel that things are relatively well-optimized, and the low-poly look helps keep things readable and clear.”
“Ww&w had great potential but most of it was wasted on generic writing, generic quests, generic world setting, lack of differences between day and night, lack of enemy variety, lack of clearly described skills, shallow skill tree, poor optimization in GPU (but mostly worst in the forest area), poor polishing and worldbuilding overall, making it feel less developed and cared for than Salt.”
“Really poor optimization and annoying quest bugs make this game incredibly insufferable.”
“The game seems to have performance issues, really taking up a lot of the CPU when playing, not to mention the frame drops that occur in certain places, and although almost all of the bugs have been fixed, there are a few cheesy exploits, namely the blink spell, that tend to make you roll your eyes.”
- atmosphere12 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its captivating and immersive qualities, enhanced by a well-crafted soundtrack that complements the setting. While the music is described as fantastic and fitting, some players note the limited variety can become repetitive. Overall, the combination of a chill ambiance with intense combat creates a unique and engaging experience, though the vastness of the environment can lead to moments of emptiness.
“The idea and graphics are what made me give Wild West and Wizards a try, but the gripping atmosphere and feel of the environment are what made me stay.”
“The atmosphere is very captivating and immersive.”
“This game has a great relaxed atmosphere, the music is chill and not too stereotypically western while still hitting the mood.”
“That vastness adds to the setting and atmosphere, but also means that in the overworld and dungeons you will be walking across lots of emptiness.”
- grinding11 mentions
- 9 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 91 % negative mentions
Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be a significant drawback, with combat described as tedious due to weak weapons, slow reload times, and spongy enemies. While some appreciate the balance and mechanics, many feel that quests and combat require excessive repetition, leading to a frustrating experience, especially in the early stages. However, a few reviewers note that the grind lessens as the game progresses, allowing for more enjoyment in the mid-game.
“Underneath the lo-fi presentation lies a well-balanced shooter that isn't too grindy.”
“There are some interesting mechanics, but its biggest downfall is how grindy it feels.”
“Most combat ends up being slow and grindy as you pump an entire clip into a random mob.”
“The quests seem pretty grindy as it has you travel from one place to the next to do something and then back to the original place to turn it in.”
- stability5 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The stability of the game is mixed, with some users noting minimal visual and mechanical glitches, while others report significant bugs and unfinished elements, particularly affecting female characters. Overall, it appears to be in an early access state with varying degrees of stability.
“Extremely buggy, extremely unfinished, extremely wasted potential.”
“This is not to say it's flawless, as it's still buggy, and very clearly early access.”
“Very few visual/mechanics glitches, but you'll notice some activators only have one animation (i.e. some gates open on a switch, but they can't be closed again), but that's mostly about it.”
- humor4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is described as infrequent yet enjoyable, with some creative and unexpected quests that can elicit laughter. While players appreciate the witty writing and amusing elements, they feel the experience could be enhanced with multiplayer options. Overall, the game offers a good amount of humor, though it may feel somewhat sparse at times.
“Some quests are creative, funny, and unexpected; search every nook and cranny to trigger them.”
“Pretty funny with a lot to do, but I wish it had multiplayer.”
“It's quite empty but really funny.”
- character development2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Character development is criticized for its lack of depth, as all characters share a uniform design with minimal distinguishing features, primarily differentiated by basic clothing. Additionally, progression is largely dependent on equipment rather than meaningful character growth or unique attributes.
“They all use the same character design base with no distinguishing features other than clothes, which are also all basic.”
“Very limited character development; your attributes are only increased through equipment.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Users generally find the game lacking in replayability, with some describing it as boring and not worth revisiting.
“The worst I can say is that it's boring and unreplayable.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is perceived as lacking polish, leading players to feel as though they are experiencing an unfinished version of the game rather than a fully realized emotional journey.
