Blood West

I can't believe this game doesn't get talked about more. This is the best immersive sim in decades (and yes, it is an immersive sim as far as I'm concerned). Everything about this game from the art style, the atmosphere, the setting, the enemy design, the map design, the weapons and buff / debuff artifacts etc, is absolutely sublime. As you enter into each new map, you're a lowly and weak undead, but as you get better weapons and upgrade your abilities, and start finding enough buff items to create synergistic builds, you will become walking death, sneaking through enemy ranks and annihilating them without effort (except the hellbears, which need a little bit of preparation, seriously, they will F- you up even at the end of the game if you make a wrong move). The feel of the guns is cellent, the way you can shoot enemies without being punished badly from a stealth perspective is a a really great game design choice. If there's a tough enemy round the corner, you can equip a shotgun, pop out and blast them in the face without every enemy for miles around rushing towards you, yet at the same time the stealth is balanced right so that you are punished for being careless. If I have any negative comments, it's that there are too many hellbears in chapter 3, seriously it feels like there must be 30+ of them on the map and even though they don't appear to respawn, they are still a pain to come across. I've actually owned this game for 4 years, and only played it for half an hour before dropping it the first time, then I came back last week and have cleared the game in that time (I haven't started the DLC yet). I feel like the original marketing for this game didn't really sell it well enough, it make it look like an action game and when I originally started it, I went in wanting action and found it to be very stealth heavy (especially early on when the enemies can really punish you and don't have any strong weapons). The marketing really should have said 'This is a stealth / action / immersive sim set in a very dark, horror western setting with a mix of stealth, ranged and melee combat, RPG elements etc, for fans of Thief, System Shock 2, Deus Ex etc'. Overall, an absolutely exceptional game that you must play if you're a fan of stealth games or immersive sims.

This has been a great game. Lots of challenge, fun story, and old school game play. 110% worth the price of entry.

Blood West is a genuinely good experience, although it also has some very visible design flaws. Visually and atmospherically, it is fantastic. Its strange supernatural western setting has a strong identity, the environments invite exploration, and the slow pacing suits the game perfectly. This is not a frantic shooter: you move carefully, observe your surroundings, choose your fights, and plan how to eliminate each creature. The monsters are varied and interesting both visually and mechanically, while the lore manages to spark curiosity without constantly interrupting the game to explain itself. When everything works, exploring, clearing an area through stealth, and learning how to use your weapons, dynamite, and limited resources is incredibly satisfying. Unfortunately, some design decisions actively undermine what the game does best. Having enemies respawn whenever you rest turns part of your progress into artificial repetition and makes methodically clearing an area feel less meaningful. Even worse is the save system: the game does not allow you to save freely, while simultaneously punishing death through lost resources, curses, and repeated progress. This becomes especially frustrating during boss encounters. You can spend the entire game dealing with certain enemies through stealth and careful preparation, only to reach a mandatory fight that suddenly changes the rules and introduces threats you could not reasonably anticipate. This leaves you with two equally bad options: go in blind and risk being punished for information you could not possibly have, or watch the encounter on YouTube and ruin the discovery for yourself. I installed a simple quicksave and quickload mod, and it noticeably improved the entire experience. Saving before experimenting does not remove the challenge or make the enemies defeat themselves. It simply allows you to learn by playing, test different strategies, and take risks without every mistake forcing you to repeat content you have already completed. It is surprising how much better Blood West becomes with such a basic feature. Overall, this is an easy game to recommend: atmospheric, methodical, full of interesting ideas, and genuinely rewarding to explore. However, it is also held back by a punitive system that too often mistakes difficulty for wasting the player’s time. 7/10 — A very good game with unnecessary frustrations.