Wild Bastards Review

I don’t know what it is about the Wild West setting and sci-fi that makes them go together like beans on toast, but time and time again this combination has proven true! Even in videogames, a lot of futuristic titles add a bit of that Western twang to their look or feel, with laser revolvers or mecha-saloons. Wild Bastards, the new roguelite from Blue Manchu, takes this concept and basically runs with it, marrying the cowboy hat to the laser rifle forever. What's more, this title happens to be a spiritual successor to Void Bastards, so what's not to love?

Wild Bastards sets off with Spider and Casino, the last surviving members of the titular group which happens to have been the deadliest gang in the galaxy. Having angered a foe too wily for even them in the form of Jebediah Chaste, the posse was eliminated one by one until our present duo remained. Things look a bit grim for them as well, as their spacecraft nosedives onto a planet, leaving them stranded and at the mercy of Chaste’s “Princes”, his sons. As in most Western tales, luck takes a turn for the better as a legendary ship, The Drifter, picks our heroes up and saves them from a certain end. The ship, however, is more than just a vessel, as it seems to have a mind, plan, and route of its own to follow, taking us into the game proper. The Wild Bastards are just along for the ride.

The gameplay can be divided into three phases: party management and navigation, exploring planets, and showdowns. In the planetary navigation view, you’ll be able to pick one of a number of routes to follow, all with their own unique encounters and hazards. Though you can’t be sure of the exact enemies or loot a planet offers, you’re given information on some key resources that can be found. Additionally, in this view you can manage your party, equipping them with mods, healing injured crew, or dealing with their petty squabbles (more on that later). Once a planet is selected, you’ll be able to pick between the Bastards you’ve unlocked so far up to a limit designated by your destination with a maximum of six.

Oh, right. There are two reasons the gang needs to touch down on all these planets: Helixes and warp locks. The former we’ll get into a bit, but suffice to say, they are key to whatever plan The Drifter has, whereas the latter is a device created by Chaste to block our heroes from travelling. They’re easily destroyed, however, as you can simply beam down, give it a kick and hey presto! While on the planet, you’ll be presented with a map containing nodes with resources to loot, buildings and other useful locations to use, and enemies in the form of roadblocks and roaming patrols. Each node is connected via a path, making for a small-scale map to explore! Depending on the number of characters you can beam down, you can form them up into four groups, either singular gunslingers or a posse of two, each with their own “movement” stat.

Most planets have a fair share of goodies... if you can survive long enough to claim them

Roadblocks, as can be inferred, block our intrepid gunslingers from progressing in a direction, necessitating some good old-fashioned gunplay to progress, whereas the roaming gangs and packs of critters often move about, but are (usually) less deadly. If you wind up on the same space as a meandering meanie or decide to take on a roadblock, you’ll step into the third phase, a showdown! But first, let’s mosey on back to those Helixes.

At the end of each “level”, i.e. the quadrant of space you’re in, there will be one of these golden Helixes. Housed in these caskets are the remains of a deceased Wild Bastard, which The Drifter seems to want you to collect. When gathered safely and returned aboard, your silent ally is able to bring your erstwhile compadre back to the land of the living, unlocking them for future use. As there are a total of 13 Bastards to choose from, you’ll not be wanting for firepower anytime soon!

The Judge is ready to bet back to business... Spider is ready for a nap

Each outlaw has their own weapons and skills to use. For example, Spider has four arms and can shoot with one of her two revolvers while reloading the other. Handy, eh? Smokey, the first outlaw you resurrect (at least he was for me) on the other hand, is made of fire and loves beans. He shoots flames from his fingers, which linger and cause damage to anyone stepping on the flickering flames. In addition to their weapon (which you can’t change, sadly) you can equip the outlaws with special mods which can boost your attack, heal your wounds between battles, and other beneficial effects. Each Bastard also has a special move they can perform, though each use needs Juice on a 1:1 basis, a resource which can often be found in each Showdown. These skills range from instantly killing an enemy to creating a holographic copy of you for enemies to shoot at, revealing their locations.

As you progress in the game, you will also collect Aces, special cards which represent level-ups for each gunslinger. Aces are keyed to individual Bastards, so you can’t simply gather a bunch and pour them all into your favourite. However, each time an Ace is collected and you make your escape from the current planet, you’ll be given the choice of three upgrades to the appropriate character. You can also find Core Aces, which are passive upgrades, and Charged Aces, which only work when your cowpokes are rested (i.e. they’ve not been planetside for a bit).

The Showdowns take place in small fenced-off arenas with multiple small buildings, caves, paths, towers, and other additional features you can use to hunt your foes and keep their bullets from hitting you. Before you take on each combat, you’ll be informed of the enemies you’ll be facing and any positive or negative effects in play. Once you beam down, you’ll be able to have a look around (no moving though) and plan ahead. When you’re ready, you press the indicated key and the Showdown begins! Depending on the encounter, your enemies may either already be present or will beam down, giving you some visual queues on their location. The locals aren’t fools though, they will keep moving and changing position to keep you on your toes and they even communicate with each other (to a small extent) checking in to see if anyone else is still alive.

The Showdowns are great fun and often fast-paced. The enemies are varied in their approaches, requiring you to develop a new strategy for each encounter while keeping in mind the behaviour of the enemies you have faced before. Do they lob explosives, hide and spam death orbs, or run at you with a stick of dynamite in their mouth? The constantly shifting environment also adds a great bit of variety to each encounter. A horrific storm may blast the field with lightning every now and again, requiring you to keep on the move if no cover is available. Thankfully the enemy is just as conductive as you, if not more.

Levels usually have a bunch of ziplines and ladders to help in traversal

The visual and sound design of Wild Bastards is fantastic. They’ve really nailed the laser Western aesthetic, with holographic bells over a hard-light tavern and wooden barrels transforming into turrets. The cel-shaded, comic book-esque design also makes the movement and weapons pop in a way that I wasn’t expecting. Each character also feels unique to play, with small differences making each outlaw a treat to switch between, even if some were more fun than others. For example, Hopalong, a serpentine humanoid with a laser lasso (don’t ask) actually slithers, instead of running when you are crouched.

The dialogue between the Bastards themselves and their foes are also fun and lighthearted, with Smokey’s love for beans, Casino’s constant gambling metaphors, and Spider’s… well, habit of eating her foes, all coming up. In fact, the relationships within the gang are a core mechanic as well, as feuding Bastards will not beam down onto planets together, whereas pals will help each other in combat if paired up! The enmity and good will between the groups seem to change randomly, though some plot beats alter them automatically. Each time a relationship changes, you’ll get a spot of dialogue between the two involved, explaining the newly formed rift or bromance! You can let them sort the problem themselves, as relationship events come relatively often, but you can also force the issue with, you guessed it, beans.

Beans = Friends

Pop open a can of beans (a resource you find on planets) and force a group member to share with another and their feud will be a thing of the past… for now. Make a neutral pair share the beanie goodness and they’ll be pals! I wish real life was this easy… in any case, beans are limited, as are items used to patch up injured comrades, meaning you’ll have to be smart with what you use the items on.

The main campaign, telling the story of the Wild Bastards, is a fun enough experience and it’s lengthy enough to not be over in a single session. Learning about each outlaw, getting used to their skills and quirks, and taking on new enemies in each segment was a blast. However, I did notice that I could only play one “section” of the game before becoming somewhat fatigued, especially once I was further in the campaign with multiple Bastards to manage. I’m not sure if it’s just due to the somewhat repetitive nature of the combat, even though you’re constantly switching out outlaws and facing different foes, but when it comes down to it, you’re really just shooting baddies in a small arena with a variety of guns. It can get old pretty quickly. However, the game is also very easy to pick and play whenever the mood takes me, so take that for what it's worth.

The 2D design of the enemies can make elevation a bit strange

Luckily, this roguelite is very forgiving if you do happen to meet your maker, as it’s not game over. Instead, The Drifter will pick you up and warp you back to the start of the section you were currently on. Sure, you’ll lose all your resources — sans the Aces you’ve collected — but you lose them at the end of the section anyway, so it’s no big deal. Try again and see what happens!

In summary, Wild Bastards is worthy of being called a successor to its Void Bastard pedigree. Though it focuses more on combat and less on sneaking past clunking space horrors, the great visuals, fun characters, and fast-paced combat are a joy to play! Just remember to not eat your beans in one sitting and space it out a bit.