“Westerado: Double Barreled” — Awesome Retroish Experience!
TITLE: Westerado: Double Barreled
DEVELOPER: Ostrich Banditos
PUBLISHER: Adult Swim Games
GENRE: Open-World Action/RPG Western
PLATFORM: Windows (via Steam)
RELEASE DATE: April 16, 2015
Westerado: Double Barreled is the latest game to be published by Adult Swim Games, coming off the tail of (in my opinion) the rather lackluster Oblitus. As a whole, Adult Swim Games publishes a rather mixed bag. Many of the games are fun and quirky (like Jazzpunk or Mega Coin Squad), but some simply don’t quite work out or are too filled with bugs. Yet, Westerado seems to be a surprising refreshment that has graced its way into our homes.
In Westerado, we take the role of a young man whose mother and older brother are gunned down and whose ranch is burned to the ground. Our quest is simple: to avenge their deaths by tracking down the murderer who killed them in cold blood. Yet, in order to accomplish this, we need to find clues to identify who the murderer is, and this becomes quite important. In fact, it is perhaps the key component of the game.
The world of Westerado consists of a large canyon and desert region, complete with a town, a fort, a Native American village, some caves and mines, and a lot more. The player must go around and talk to people, killing some and helping others, in order to gain more clues as to the identity of the man who murdered the hero’s family. Sometimes it is easy to gain someone’s trust while in other cases you may have to complete a variety of tasks in order to do so. But, here’s the rub: every time you play through the game, the identity of the killer will change some and thus, so will the clues you receive in order to identify him.
Personally, I love the retro art style of the game and think the soundtrack does the game solid justice. The open world style is impressive – some have even compared it to being a 2D Red Dead game. But, I admit that the game is not without fault either. The game seems to be forced into a 1280×720 resolution, even when forced to fullscreen (though this still looks fine), and I had some issues with redefining keys that required me to uninstall and reinstall the game twice. Ultimately, this was annoying, but not something that was game-breaking either.
At the top of this short review is a video of the first 30 or so minutes of the game so that you can get a good idea of what you are in for. Considering that after you complete the “Hero’s” story, there are three other story arcs to explore (as well as some co-op play), I think this game has a lot to offer. Thus, I think it is well worth the current $11.99 USD asking price!
