Hard West, a weird-western strategy game released for Linux & SteamOS, some initial thoughts

Hard West is a game I've been really looking forward to, as it blends XCOM style strategy with a really interesting setting.

Initial thoughts
For some reason the game had no sound at the start, when I opened PulseAudio Volume Control the "FMOD Ex App" was turned right down. I'm guessing I turned down another game at somepoint that shows up with the same generic name, so try that if you also see the issue.

The shadows on High settings flicker a bit, which is annoying, and it seems you cannot change graphical settings during the gameplay at all, so that's quite frustrating. You will need to exit back to the main menu to do any settings changes.

Performance wise I have no issues with it, everything on High seems to give me a very good and playable experience.

Graphically, I'm pretty damn pleased with the game. The map isn't all that much to look at, but the battle areas are actually quite beautiful I thought. As beautiful as the mostly orange, yellow and brown theme is anyway, but I think it looks quite nice.

I completed the initial tutorial level, and the game instantly quit to the desktop. Not exactly the experience I was hoping for in a game as interesting as Hard West. I sent this issue, and the shadow flickering to their official support email they advertise on their Steam forum, so hopefully they can track it down.

The second run seemed much nicer, and I didn't get a crash, so I was able to get a much better feel for the game. I was expecting it to be like XCOM, but it's really quite different. While it has turn based combat, the feel of it is different too with it being much faster paced.

Honestly, Hard West is nothing like I expected. Outside of battles you have a weird map-view where you travel around excavating gold. It's quite different, and I'm not sure if it was all that fun clicking different areas of a map to travel to. It's a simple "click here, read the options, pick an option" and then see what happens. It felt like it suddenly turned into some sort of adventure game. There's strategy to it though, as some mines are quite deep so you can keep going using different tools you acquire from people, but you could risk injury to characters. Honestly, at first I didn't like the map view, but it grew on me quite quickly as I started to really ponder my choices at each place I visited.

The battles are actually quite good, not as in-depth as XCOM, but you do have access to "cards" you can equip to each character to give them unique abilities, like longer sight which is extremely useful. Be careful though, losing certain characters will result in an instant loss, and you will need to replay the mission. I wouldn't go starting a mission if you need to go and do anything soon, as there's no saves available during missions which is damned annoying.

One of the things I dislike about the battle system, is how small the arrows are to switch between enemies. I didn't even notice they were there at first, as nothing pointed them out to me.

The notifications you along the right side of the screen vanish too quickly sometimes for me to read what I've been given, or what I've gained. I would much prefer being able to manually remove them, or have them stacked up somehow.

Final thoughts: Nothing like I expected, but actually quite interesting to play. If you're a fan of strategy games, but want something a little different I can recommend Hard West, but you may want to wait for a few patches for a more stable experience.

About the game (Official)
Welcome to the Wild West like you’ve never seen it before. When a tragic turn of events sets one man down a path of supernatural chaos and revenge, he must brutally hunt down all those whom wronged him. Follow Warren on his descent into the darkest recesses of the human soul, and try to survive in a world full of hard choices and even harder consequences. Because in this world, death is a constant presence and the black pacts which you make with forces beyond human comprehension will forever haunt all those around you.

Fight and survive through 8 unique story-based scenarios, and try your hand at 40 individually designed turn-based combat missions. Journey deeper into the world of Hard West and meet a colorful cast of playable characters whose fates are intimately intertwined with yours. Together you will need to make divisive choices to uncover the ultimate plans of the ancient powers at play, as you unravel a deep narrative storyline featuring multiple endings depending on the choices you make during the game.

You can grab it on GOG, or Steam. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.