In May 2019, developer Blue Manchu released a roguelike first-person shooter titled Empty bastards a suggestive title for a suggestive game. Void Bastards was met with much love from critics and fans alike when it debuted in 2019, and five years later, Blue Manchu is back with another vibrant roguelike adventure. But while Wild bastards carries the same style and tone as its spiritual predecessor, there are some major differences when it comes to gameplay.
abbreviation Wild bastards is a roguelike first-person shooter as well as Void Bastardsbut it has an extra layer of turn-based strategy that its predecessor didn't have. It gives Wild bastards a very different sense of pace, and while this may disappoint some fans, there's still plenty worth checking out. Although not all Wild bastards' elements have a satisfactory impact.
Wild Bastards has an engaging sci-fi story
After a very short prologue, Wild bastardsThe basic premise is revealed and it's a pretty engaging, classic sci-fi/western story. Aboard the mysterious sentient ship The Drifter, players must travel the galaxy collecting the souls of their dead former crew members, all in the hopes of eventually reaching the Promised Land, a haven for robots, mutants and xenos.
Wild bastardsThe story is simple but effective and gives the player a strong motivation to continue their journey through the galaxies. There are also lots of fun little sci-fi space explanations for the game's mechanics, such as The Drifter's sentience being the reason behind the game's roguelike loop. Wild bastardsIt took about 9 hours to beat the main campaign on normal difficulty.
Wild bastards it also has a procedural campaign mode, a challenge mode, and an Iron Man mode if players want an even harder challenge. These extra modes are a nice addition to help the game feel like a complete package, but their modifiers don't change the basic loop that much.
Wild Bastard's game loop bites off more than it can chew
Wild bastards throws players in at the deep end and isn't afraid to let them thrash around for a while. from the beginning Wild bastards it gives players quite a few overlapping systems and they are often left to figure it out for themselves in the opening hour of the game. This creates an intimidating first impression.
But after a round or two, Wild bastardsThe initial obstacle starts to disappear and an engaging gameplay loop emerges. Players will soon find themselves in the rhythm of warping to a new sector in search of a new outlaw to unlock and begin the lengthy process of rescuing them. Once in a new sector, players must plan their journey between the stars, with each planet offering a key upgrade. Once above the planet, players will be transported to the surface and there Wild bastardsNew turn-based strategy elements come into play.
With a group of 1-4 Outlaws, players enter a planet that is mapped out like a board game, with key points of interest spread out along linear paths. Players have a certain number of moves per turn, and the general goal is to collect as much loot, upgrades, mods, and valuable resources as possible before a powerful boss arrives to hunt them down and force them to leave the planet empty-handed.
Like upgrades, resources, and utility tiles that restore a player's movement or health, Wild bastardsThe board game-like planet maps are filled with combat encounters such as roadblocks and enemy patrols. Achieving one of these combat encounters forces the player into a challenging first-person showdown where they must shoot down every enemy to advance.
This basic loop repeats for Wild bastards” but remains fairly engaging thanks to many overlapping progression systems and evolving mechanics. In each sector, players will encounter at least one new game mechanic. These can be permanent upgrades like aces, tonics that give the player a way to heal team members, and the Pal/Feud system that causes the player's outlaw gang to break up or befriend each other at random intervals. These mechanics, which are instilled in players throughout the game, encourage a sense of rewarding progression that's crucial to a roguelike, but it's not quite perfect.
The fundamental problem with Wild bastardsThe gameplay loop is that while unlocking these mechanics is immediately rewarding, some don't have that much of an impact on gameplay. The Pal/Feud system is probably the best example of this. At first this system seems very elaborate, players are presented with a large chart that explains who has feuded with whom and who is friends with whom, all represented by various lines connecting the Outlaws icons.
At the beginning of the game, it depends on which characters are fighting, because they cannot transfer together. But once a player unlocks six or more Outlaws, they can pretty much forget about this system, as they'll likely always have a pair they're happy with, no matter who's in contention. This then means that the bean source is almost redundant as the player will rarely need them to heal disputes. This criticism applies to several of them Wild bastardsGameplay mechanics, many of which are fun to unlock, but ultimately lack the depth needed to keep you engaged throughout the duration of the game.
Unfortunately with this lack of depth Wild bastardsThe game loop can start to repeat itself after a few hours. This is especially true if players don't like the turn-based nature of the game's planet map, which takes up a large portion of the game.
Wild Bastard Outlaws are a mixed bag of likeable crooks
As its name suggests, a lot of Wild bastardsThe story and gameplay depend on the cast of Outlaws. During the game's main campaign, players will unlock a total of 13 playable Outlaws. Like its spiritual predecessor, Wild bastardsThe distinct comic book art style does a good job of making each of the game's 13 outlaws stand out from the rest, and the game's voice acting greatly reinforces the characters' personalities.
In terms of gameplay, each Outlaw has a unique weapon and special abilities. In theory it means Wild bastards offers 13 different play styles. But again, things are not as good as they seem at first glance. actually Wild bastards' 13 Outlaws is a mixed bag, at least in terms of gameplay. While Wild bastards it's home to a lot of useful characters that have powerful, versatile weapons and special abilities that are very satisfying to use, it's also home to a few good characters that just aren't worth putting into battle.
While opinions on some Outlaws will vary depending on the player's preferred first-person shooter playstyle, there are some Outlaws that are objectively weaker than others. Smoky's flame-spitting finger gun looks great, but it's incredibly weak and its recharge time is too long, for example. In a standard FPS, these features wouldn't be a major concern, but Wild bastards is a tough game where every single shot counts. There's simply no place for weak outlaws, because weak outlaws mean quick death, and death means an abrupt end to the run, the need to restart, and a strong sense of frustration that quickly darkens the entire experience.
Unfortunately, this leads to Wild bastardsThe roster feels a bit unbalanced, and about halfway through, players will find their favorite set of four Outlaws and likely ignore much of the roster. That being said, things have improved with the game's Ace upgrade system, which gives Outlaws powerful stat boosts and new abilities. These aces go a long way in making the weakest Outlaws on the roster a bit more tolerable, but it still won't convince players to trade their favorite four.
The Wild Bastards shoot more than they miss, but it's close
Wild bastards is a very lively, very ambitious game that strives to add new gameplay mechanics and playable characters. But while the effort is certainly laudable, there's no denying that many of these elements just don't hit as hard as they should. There's still plenty of room for fans to have a good time Wild bastardsbut that time will not be without moments of confusion, frustration and a bit of boredom.
Wild bastards is available now on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Game Rant was provided with a PS5 code for this review.
