Great Western Games to Play that Aren’t Red Dead Redemption

People often turn to video games as a way to escape the stillness of everyday life and enter exciting new worlds full of adventures. Thanks to the iconic cowboy movies that penetrated the media decades ago, the genre started dominating the gaming industry, too. Here are some of the best Western games any fan of cowboys and guns would enjoy.

Desperados III

The Desperados series are played on the PC and they belong to the strategy genre. The games present the period of the late 1800s when the West was witnessing some more ruthless times filled with crime and corruption. Desperados III is a real-time tactic that takes the players on a heart-racing hunt for bandits, offering the help of a squad trained to track down the criminals in all kinds of surroundings. Although it might be considered less fast and visually stunning than some other popular titles, it features a ton of amazing and unpredictable action that arises from heists and robberies. 

Dead or Alive 2

Although it was created by Net Ent as a sequel to the original Dead or Alive, this online slot comes with slightly different graphics. It is also set in the Old West, but the interface comes with an aesthetic that resembles a comic book. However, the true tone of the game is set by the opening soundtrack that creates a somewhat eerie atmosphere of the American Midwest during the times that could have been better.  Dead or Alive 2 slot features three rows, five reels, and nine fixed paylines that together help the users reach the top prize of 2500x.

West of Loathing

As opposed to the majority of the games within the genre where everything is taken seriously, West of Loathing is a comedy that attracts even the players who are not interested in the genre. It is an RPG that takes the users on a wicked exploration of the world where no action should be skipped, including flushing toilets and riding ghost horses. The game is packed with mysterious events and supernatural characters like goblins and even demonic cows. The players can dive into solving puzzles and enjoy an amazing range of jokes with quality of humour way above the average of video games.

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger

Although its prequels do not look as modern as they used to before, the Gunslinger version still looks amazing thanks to the cel-shaded style used by the designers. When it comes to interesting features, the players are quite fond of the ‘cheat death’ mechanic that allows them to slow down the bullet rushing to kill them and get their health back if they manage to avoid it. However, this version’s true appeal is in its narration. The users take the form of the aged Silas Greaves who tells the story many years later, and with quite a few mistakes. The levels follow the narration and adjust the settings based on the story, often transforming themselves in front of the player.

Hard West 

Hard West is a strategy game that includes eight different scenarios featuring a variety of unique characters, all connected by Death. Each character is approached by a mysterious stranger offering them a chance to get revenge for a family member’s death. The supernatural stranger who may or may not be the Devil provides the characters with a range of supernatural abilities unique to each one of them. The characters are free to travel across the world visiting towns, purchasing items, and starting combats. In the case of fights, the protagonists can sense and attack the enemies by spotting their shadows.

12 Is Better Than 6

Although the name does not suggest it, what hides behind this title is a top-down shooter with a focus on stealth, careful shooting and ammo conservation. All the visuals are hand-drawn, using a colour palette that includes only black, white and red. The mood of the combat resembles a hectic atmosphere of a Wild West duel gone wrong with a bunch of men randomly shooting at everyone around them in a cowboy saloon. In order to start shooting, the user must first raise the gun using the right mouse button and then shoot with the left one. The gun is reloaded by hitting the ‘r’ key, and if the player runs out of bullets, they can try their chances by using a knife instead. 

With more and more players seeking cowboy-themed adventures they can enjoy on their PCs and consoles, the genre has an amazing variety of titles besides the famous Red Dead Redemption. We hope our list of some of the best Western games out there inspires you to try out a few of them yourself and get immersed in the well-known world of the old Wild West.