Wild Bastards is like Sci-Fi at High Noon | Review
Power packing posse potentially pilfers planets
WACO, Texas (KWTX) - *Code provided by Publisher
What do you get when you mix aliens, mutants, robots, and humans with a spaghetti western and wrap it all up in a fresh comic style? Well, you get the newest title from Blue Manchu studios, Wild Bastards. With an unique mix of strategy and FPS combat there are many ways to take on the galaxy’s worst it has to offer. With grit, determination, a hardheaded ship, and god willing a few cans of beans you and your posse may just be able to make it to Homestead. Before we get ahead of ourselves Let’s take a look at some of what this tactical FPS has to offer.
We begin our story on board the Drifter, a sentient system jumping spaceship. All but two of our intrepid outlaws have been hunted down. Luckily the Drifter has a plan. Hunt down the helixes left behind by your slain compatriots. Use these Helixes to resurrect your fallen allies and find the mythical Homestead. A place where all beings can live together in peace. This won’t be an easy task however as Chaste and his children will stop at nothing to cleanse all non-humans from the galaxy. So just how will you complete this insurmountable task? Just like any other conflict. Managing resources, managing relationships, strategically moving around ever-changing maps, and of course a large dose of gunfighting and explosives.
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At its core Wild Bastards looks like a typical strategy game. You start on a map of the system you’re in set your path then pass through several locations to pick up resources toward your goal. Each node can be a planet or an event. If it’s an event you resolve the event and move on, pretty straight forward. If it’s a planet, however, to move on you need to destroy a beam jammer on the planet’s surface. This requires you to jump to the planet’s surface and proceed through several showdowns with hired guns in order to reach your goal. While you can just sprint towards the end, you’re an outlaw and what outlaw worth their salt would pass up an opportunity for some Ill gotten loot? Each planet has opportunities to get items from Aces to level up your outlaws to beans to repair relationships. You don’t have unlimited time though as Chaste and his family are constantly hunting you and the longer you stay in one place the more dangerous that planet becomes. You must decide if that last piece of loot is really worth dying for.
Luckily for you in your ever growing fight you have plenty of weapons and skills in your arsenal. From up close and personal from a lizard with an electric lasso to the last thing you see being the glint of a robotic sniper with a .50 cal. Weapons are only one part of the puzzle here as each member of your group has special skills known as stunts. From igniting enemies surrounding you to just outright killing a random enemy these stunts can turn an unfavorable situation into a winnable fight in moments when used correctly. I will say that sometimes the gunplay can feel a bit stiff and jarring in the moment to moment gameplay. Especially when going up or down ladders that just teleport you to the top or bottom. When compared to modern day FPS experiences this title can feel very strange but within the system Blue Manchu has created works perfectly fine.
Now you can’t take every outlaw on every mission so you may be wondering who should I take? Well with the help of the drifter you are able to preview what enemies and statuses you will run into in each location. Storms that strike if you stand still to long better bring someone mobile like Hopalong. What about swarms of Kyotes that try to overwhelm and flank well then Preach and her minigun can make short work of them. With 13 unique outlaws to choose from there’s no shortage of ways to adapt and win.
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As you proceed through the various systems and locations you will grow in number and power by picking up Aces. These Aces allow you to level up a character each time you grab one. Once you get back to the drifter with an ace it will present you with three choices that will grant a permanent buff to a single random outlaw. The more Aces you collect the more powerful the hand that holds them. Life is hard on the run and like with any group tensions rise and bonds will strengthen and falter over time. As you go throughout the galaxy arguments can cause certain outlaws to disagree causing feuds that make you unable to send certain people down together. This adds another layer to the decision of who to send to the surface and what talents are worth the most to you. Don’t worry though, as a stronger relationship is only a meal away as beans will allow you to settle a feud or even build friendships.
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Wild Bastards offers a unique blend of tactical resource management and strategic FPS action. Though feeling a bit stiff at times has a fun gameplay loop with a story that’s involved enough to be interesting but not so heavy as to draw away from the gameplay that truly makes this title shine. With plenty of combat, mechanics, Characters, and systems to sink your teeth into Blue Manchu has created a title that doesn’t quite fit in in any one place but is certain to find a niche where it will settle nicely. I give Wild Bastards a 7/10. For Hardwired I’m Alex Richardson.
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