Westerado: Double Barreled

Westerado: Double Barreled

Xbox One - World - Digital cover.

Developer Ostrich Banditos Publisher Adult Swim Published 2015-04-16 Platforms Macintosh, Windows, Xbox One Genres Action-adventure, Exploration game, Metroidvania, Shooter Themes Adventure, Western Series Westerado Distribution Commercial

Westerado: Double Barreled is a Western-themed adventure shooter developed by Ostrich Banditos and published by Adult Swim for Macintosh and Windows on 2015-04-16, and later ported to the Xbox One. This is a reworked version of Westerado which was originally published online as a browser game. Like the original, the game is programmed in Flash.

In the game, you play a nameless cowboy whose loses his family to a murderer. You goal is to track down the killer by learning more about his description through townsfolk. However, the townsfolk aren't very talkative until you first do something for them like defeating their enemies, retrieving items, or delivering messages. Once you have a detailed description of the killer, you must find him, confront him, chase him to his hide-out, and seek your vengeance. The game has many side-quests, dozens of achievements, and a few unlockable playable characters.

Personal

Own?	Yes. On Steam.
Won?	Yes. 35 achievements.
Finished	Main story: 2020-04-28.

I bought this game as part of a Humble Bundle. I gave it a shot because of the interesting pixel art, and liked it enough to keep playing. I beat the main story line.

Review

7	5	6	8	9

Best Version: Windows

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

• The story line, though cliche, is perfect for the game.
• That game has fantastic music.
• The pixel art is pretty good, and there is a lot of attractive background scenery.
• I like how the villain's appearance is randomized and must be pieced together by solving tasks.
• There are a lot of side quests which can be solved in various ways, which really adds replay value. After I beat the game, I immediately started it again to try different solutions.
• Unlocking different playable characters was a nice bonus.
• The various hidden money bags are enjoyable to find.
• Using "hats" for hit points was a clever way replace a dull mechanic with a common Western trope.

Bad

• The pixel art would do well to have darker outlines on the sprites to make them stand out a bit more. They blend in with the background a bit too much.
• Only allowing the player to shoot left or right made the gun fights a little too simplistic.
• For most dangerous areas you can simply hug the edge of the screen and go in and out shooting bad guys before they can shoot you. You can repeat this process until they're all dead.

Ugly

• Nothing.

Media

Box Art

• 

  Steam title card.

• 

  Good Old Games title card.

• 

  Xbox One digital cover.

Videos

Longplay - As hero.

Longplay - As sister.

Representation

Strong female character?	Pass	You can play as the sister, and there are many women throughout the game.
Bechdel test?	Pass	When playing as the sister, there are numerous women you can talk to.
Strong person of color character?	Pass	One of the playable characters is an Indian.
Queer character?	Fail	There are no queer characters.

The hero's mother is killed for the hero's call to adventure.

Links