Wild Bastards Review – Firing On All Cylinders

It’s been a rough week. Your entire gang is dead and their souls have been scattered all over the universe. The only way to get them back is to travel from planet to planet, gather their remains, and put them in space coffins in a mysterious sentient spacecraft, waiting for the resurrection. Just another day in the life of an outlaw, right?

Once one of the most deadly gangs in the known galaxy, now the Wild Bastards have been all but eliminated. But not all is lost, as the last two outlaws still alive, Casino and Spider Rosa, have boarded the Drifter, a spacecraft that seems to bring people back from the dead. It’s time to get the band back together and go back home, once and for all.

In Wild Bastards, the sequel to 2019 indie darling Void Bastards, our party shall travel from planet to planet in order to bring back outlaws from the dead while trying to survive enemy encounters. Each planet will feature sectors to explore, with different rewards depending on the path selected, with the final stop being the Helix, the remains of the Outlaw that we can resurrect after successfully completing the level.

While Void Bastards had you exploring big maps in FPS mode, Wild Bastards changes the experience by switching to a turn-based map. Here, your outlaws can visit shops to buy items, get data on enemies, and collect aces and other items. Encountering enemies on your path will lead to shoot-out sections. These are definitely the biggest part of the gameplay.

We will jump and shoot in smaller arena-like deathmatch levels, which are also quite varied, from zero-gravity planets to deserts, with the sole objective of being the last one standing at the end, after eliminating all enemies. We will start with a party of two, Spider Rosa and Casino, one wielding double pistols, the other with a deadly sawn-off shotgun.

While this makes for a more varied experience, since each FPS section doesn’t last more than a couple of minutes, it does tend to make things a bit repetitive. It’s all about warping to the planet, exploring the map, eliminating enemies, getting the item, and going back to the ship. These sections are rendered in a classic pseudo-VR Wild West recreation, much like if John Wayne was starring in Tron and wearing an Oculus Rift. They work really well, along with fantastic 2D art for all the different Outlaws. Top-notch voice acting completes the package, but it’s a bit of a shame that there is not really a lot of narrative, since Outlaws will simply bicker with each other and sometimes get threatened by other enemies.

After gathering a few outlaws, you will find out they don’t get along very well and feuds might happen from time to time. Since our party is limited to three or four Outlaws maximum, you have to be careful deciding which ones will go together and which won’t. Acquiring beans can resolve feuds and even make surprising friendships, which can help when the Outlaws are in a pinch. Tonics will restore an Outlaw who has been downed in battle to full health, but other than that you’ll have to wait for the next planet until they’re back on their feet.

Most of the loot you can collect (such as beans and tonics) is taken away after each planet, with new items being randomly awarded based on Infamy, which like experience points, are given out according to how many enemies you’ve killed. Aces will make your Outlaw stronger and more resistant, but they will be lost after you leave the planet. Cores are the one items you get to keep, as they are reserved for Outlaws and can improve their abilities, such as new powers, more health, armor, or damage.

Wait too long on the map and “The Prince” will start coming after you; a notorious bounty hunter who is better avoided altogether. The FPS sections are designed like classic deathmatch maps, with lots of hiding places, ladders, and teleportation points. You can even find items to replenish your health or perform special moves. Sometimes these moves will really change your fate in battle, such as the “Roulette” power-up that randomly kills an enemy instantly.

While the first few maps in medium difficulty are fine, enemies get stronger quickly once you have three or four Outlaws. This would be fair if the Outlaws also ranked up according to the difficulty, but they don’t. After Casino and Spider Rosa you get Smoky, who can easily damage themselves while emitting fire – he is just a big headache. Once your Outlaw runs out of health, they are out of the picture and have to be warped back to the ship. If all your Outlaws are injured, you are warped out and have to restart the whole planet.

In order to get to the Judge, the sniper, I was forced to lower the difficulty, and things don’t really pick up from there since there are other Outlaws that seem a bit useless. This, coupled with the fact that you will be only going after aces that power up your favorite Outlaws and not waste time with the others, will probably mean you will be using the same four Outlaws over and over. Since the premise of the story is all about trying to get the gang back together, well, it feels a little bit sad. I would be crying cyber tears, if I could.

Overall, Wild Bastards is a sequel that tries to modify some of the gameplay mechanics of the original Void Bastards, but it is not completely successful at that. Still, exploring and shooting remain pretty solid, the voice acting is great, and the art design is just spot-on. If quick, bite-sized shootouts sound like your thing, this will do the trick.

Wild Bastards

Wild Bastards is a sequel that tries to mod some of the gameplay mechanics of the original, but loses steam along the way

Pros

• Sweet art style
• Engaging quick FPS sections

Cons

• Unbalanced difficulty
• Repetitive gameplay mechanics

A copy of this game was provided by the publisher for review. Reviewed on PC.