Hard West - Previews

I did notice at one point during the battle that a silhouetted figure appeared after one of my move actions. It turns out, enemies cast shadows, which you can spot, but since all you saw was a shadow, it lets you know there's a person there, but doesn't offer any other information. It strikes me as a mechanic that seems fairly innocuous, but may well play a huge part in the game. If you can stick to the shadows, and find your enemies by the shadows they cast, you can stay out of sight until you're ready to move in for the kill. Maybe.

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Like XCOM, your characters are placed on a grid with full and half cover spread throughout the map. Where Hard West differs is that you can sometimes make your own cover. Flip a table over for some half cover, or open that basement door to turn half cover into full cover. Another innovation found within is its luck feature; this dictates how successful your actions or actions taken against you will be. You use luck to make hard shots, reduce or even avoid any damage inflicted on you. The abilities you equip before combat affects the luck you have and unfortunately, once you use it all, your luck can literally run out.

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Before you and your hired guns enter a battlefield, you’re able to prepare exactly how you want to tackle the situation. Guns, and gun upgrades, let you manage range and damage. Hard West is also silly as all get out — I walked into a Cannibal Farm mission with an absurd quad-barrel shotgun. Cannibals are spooky enough to justify that many barrels. More importantly, though, is the collectible card element of Hard West. Progress, purchases, and exploration lets you draw cards that imbue characters with new abilities when equipped. Lifesteal, accuracy improvements, and other effects make life easier, but it’s the more active skills I enjoyed most.

Fanning your pistol compromises accuracy, but allows a gunman to deal more damage faster. The ricochet is by far my favorite, though. Pinging a bullet off a nearby bucket to take down an enemy hidden around the corner feels fantastic. Launching it off a bucket, into an anvil, off a water pump, and into the face of a sniper on the second level of a barn? Next level.

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