"Evil never sleeps… but it bleeds"
Evil West is a third-person Action RPG developed by Flying Wild Hog (of Shadow Warrior and Hard Reset fame) in 2022.
You play as Jesse Rentier, experienced agent of the Rentier Institute, hunting down vampires and all manner of beasties for the government, and to protect the citizens of the United States. Oh, and in case the title didn't give it away, this all takes place in the Old West.
This game provides examples of:
- Action Dad: William Rentier is the father of Jesse, runs the Rentier Institute for the first bit of the game, and kicks just as much ass as his son.
- And the Adventure Continues: The end of the game sees Jesse, Dr. Blackwell, Agent Bloom and Edgar getting full support from President Cleveland to wage war on the vampire threat, as the true vampire leader Dominic Calvert is still at large. Also counts as a Sequel Hook.
- Automatic Crossbow: Your crossbow can be upgraded with an extended magazine, 2-round burst fire, and electric chaining rounds.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: Abnormally large leeches and spiders live in symbiosis with many vampire Mooks.
- Body Horror: A few vampires are so mutated they barely look human any more, but more like fused heaps of corpses that move around with tentaclcles, werewolves, or are afflicted with Gigantism and have crude cybernetics. This isn't even getting into their pets...
- Buddy Snaps First: Throughout most of the game, Secretary of War James Harrow has been a thorn in the side of main character Jesse Rentier, insulting him and his father, openly belittling his black, Chinese and female allies, and sending Jesse on dangerous missions under false pretenses for purely self-serving reasons. However, Jess is unable to lay a hand on him due to Harrow being more than willing to call President Grover Cleveland to have Jesse imprisoned for threatening him "unprovoked". By the end of the game, Dr. Blackwell takes initiative in shutting Harrow up again by openly punching him in front of President Cleveland when he tries taking credit for the Institute's triumph over Felicity (and insulting her again) and tells Cleveland about his corruption and abuse of power, prompting the President to have him dismissed and arrested.
- Corrupt Politician: James Harrow, The U.S. Assistant Secretary of War, who plots to acquire the Rentier Institute to use as he sees fit.
- Creepy Child: Felicity D'Abano was turned into a vampire as a child. While she is almost certainly older than that, she still looks like an 11-year-old. Who wants to murder you. In fact, it's she who puts William Rentier out of commission.
- Doomed Hometown: The manor, a stately mansion that the Rentier Institute operates out of, is attacked early in the game. The few agents that survive flee to nearby Calico.
- Flash Step: Jesse's gauntlet lets him perform a lightning-powered dash that can close the distance to enemies. He can also gain the ability to replace his sidestep dodge with a shorter-ranged flash step.
- Gatling Good: A Rentier Institute-made Gatling Gun is a late-game weapon that sports a high fire rate and damage, and can even be augmented to provide invincibility while fired and be converted into a Death Ray.
- Genre Throwback: Evil West is noted by many critics and reviewers to be a single player Xbox 360/PS3 Always Over the Shoulder Third-Person Shooter with a mix of Beat 'em Up elements. This is considered a good thing, as the game takes a formula that works while modernizing it. Unlike most shooters from the 7th generation, Evil West does not use any cover mechanics. Emphasizing on dodging, twitch shooting, and melee in-between. There is more of an arcade nature as all of your weapons are on recharge or cooldown; even your guns will auto-reload if you keep them stowed.
- Government Agency of Fiction: The Rentier Institute is funded by the government to fight vampires and other monsters. It's been operating for over 75 years and has 50 offices.
- Handicapped Badass: William Rentier had an injury to his leg that took him out of field service. He's no less capable than his son.
- Harmless Electrocution: Somehow, Rentier technology and its OSHA-retardant electrical discharges have been fine-tuned to be harmless to ordinary humans, while zapping anything that's infected with vampiric parasites or entirely non-human.
- Interface Spoiler: A non-secret achievement has the description "Defeat William Rentier", spoiling a major story turn.
- The Magic Versus Technology War: For centuries, the vampires have largely had the advantage thanks to the magical abilities their vampirism grants, their most effective asset being Glamours which render their hideouts completely invisible to human senses. However, with the advent of the Industrial Revolution, human technology has been rapidly advancing to the point where electricity can be used to dispel Glamours. D'Abano's main motivation for exterminating humanity is due him fearing humanity will reach a level of technological advancement that will be impossible for the vampires to overcome.
- Notice This: Objects you can interact with are marked by glowing chains.
- Our Vampires Are Different: All of the more intelligent vampires can disguise themselves as humans using Glamour. The highborn vampires, in their true form, look like humanoid vampire bats, while the rank-and-file lesser vampires are more akin to zombies of varying flavors. And that's not getting into Felicity's experiments with the blood of ancient monsters...
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Just to emphasize how much of an asshole James Harrow is, he insults the minorities working for the Institute and is openly misogynistic towards Dr. Blackwell.
- Power Fist: Jesse's gauntlet provides him the means to go toe-to-toe with the game's biggest baddies.
- Punk Punk: The game has a distinct electropunk feeling.
- Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: Attacking an electrocuted enemy with a melee attack results in Jesse delivering a rapid string of punches.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: President Grover Cleveland. After Jesse and friends save his life, and Dr. Blackwell brings to light James Harrow's corruption, Cleveland fires Harrow and promises to continue the government's support for the Rentier Institute.
- Shock and Awe: The Reintier Institute's bread and butter for fighting vampires. The only weapon that doesn't gain lightning powers is the Flamethrower.
- Shotguns Are Just Better: Your sawed off interrupts, breaks shields, and one-hit kills lesser enemies. It can be upgraded to fire anomalies, lightning orbs that latch on to enemies and zap em.
- Shout-Out: There is a town called Belmontville and one of the first members of the Rentier Institute was Eric Brooks.
- Staking the Loved One: Jesse is forced to put down his father after he finally turns.
- Super Mode: Jesse can trigger it by using three energy cells. Drastically ups his damage and lowers the damage he takes, but only lasts for a few seconds. Better make them count.
- Trick Bomb: Rentier grenades can be upgraded to stick onto enemies, separate into three bombs, or transform into an electrified mini-tornado.
- Vampire Hunter: Forget stakes and garlic, because Lightning Can Do Anything, even kill vampires!
- Video Game Flamethrowers Suck: The flamethrower's schtick is that it can stun some enemies while dealing continuous damage. However, not all enemies are stunned, and they can counter with a strong hit while you're stuck walking due to the flamethrower's low handling. Also, until you get the range upgrade, the flamethrower has to be fired at melee range.
- Weird West: Takes place in an alternate 1890s where vampires and humans are locked in a centuries-old struggle. The Trophy/Achievement "Sanguis Aeternus" you get for full completion actually says the "Weird West" in its description.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: During the swamp level, Jesse will repeatedly express his hatred for spiders and later again with bats added as an afterthought.
- Wolverine Claws: The Gauntlet features a retractable set for severing enemy limbs.
- Worm That Walks: The Bruch has the power to psychically coordinate hordes of bugs to form humanoid clones of itself, which swarm towards you so they can drain health and heal the Bruch.
