New Co-Op Shooter Blends Deep Rock Galactic and Weird West Together

For a game that opens its demo with an ‘unfinished and in active development’ disclaimer, Far Far West has a funny way of making every other demo feel incomplete by comparison. It’s got two main inspirations, and its first, 2018’s Deep Rock Galactic, cracked the code on co-op shooters by making the loop (the mission, the hub, the build variety) rewarding at every layer. Its second, Helldivers 2, proved that formula had legs, but even if it’s undeclared, Far Far West, from Lyon-based Evil Raptor and published by Fireshine Games, has a third spiritual and thematic inspiration — the Weird West.

But as an upcoming 1-4 player PVE co-op shooter, Far Far West does its own thing well, even with this lineage: robot cowboys, haunted deserts, and spell-slinging in the wild, weird west. It knows exactly what it wants to be and what space it wants to fill in the co-op shooter space, and it’s already fulfilling its great promise. It’s firmly an indie game, but despite being made by a team of seven, Far Far West feels more feature-complete than most finished games in this space, and the demo proves it.

Far Far West Captures the Best Qualities of Its Inspirations

Now, Weird West, in this context, is actually not the 2023 video game, at least not any more than it is the actual genre of weird western. Much like Far Far West, that game lies within the weird western genre, drawing on western settings with elements of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. When it comes to gameplay, though, the Deep Rock Galactic and Helldivers 2 comparison that’s self-declared on Far Far West‘s social media page holds up.

Features at a glance:

1-4 player co-op PVE bounty hunting
Six-shooter and spell combo combat
Multiple combat arenas and bosses, some unlockable via quest progression
Build customization via spells, gear, and upgrades
Varied bosses, cursed locales, and a giant ghost train
Lively hub town with vendors, minigames, and collectibles

Balance the critic averages

Easy (6)Medium (8)Hard (10)

That said, it’s important to talk shop about presentation and mechanics, and the hub town in Far Far West is its visually lush (if mechanical) heart. It’s lively, detailed, full of robotic townsfolk and animals to interact with, vendors that function as roguelike systems, a darts’ mini-game, a saloon, a sheriff, a shooting range, and a collectibles area. An active dev presence is felt here as well, with two or three characters in the hub literally linking players to Discord, feedback forms, and Steam reviews.

When out in the field, the mission areas that act as the core setting for this indie shooter’s fantastic gameplay loop are expansive and have plenty of optional objectives. Early area design can be repetitive, but three unlockable areas in the demo alone show real variety, with a fourth hidden just off the mission map. Though unavailable in the current demo (naturally), the team at Evil Raptor has also already done a few festive events with seasonally customized maps.

Solid Audio and Video

In terms of pure presentation, Far Far West actually might sit closer to Sea of Thieves than its other main inspiration, Deep Rock Galactic — vibrant, saturated, with skeletons everywhere. It’s nothing that reinvents the wheel, but it doesn’t need to; enemies are readable at a glance, and visual damage indicators are clean, which matters more than it might seem in a chaotic co-op shooter where four players are slinging spells and swapping sidearms simultaneously. The sound design is the one area that doesn’t quite keep pace, as though the western twang fits the setting well enough, it lacks the punchiness or distinctiveness that would elevate it from functional to memorable.

Far Far West’s Gameplay Is Where It Really Separates Itself

When it comes to actual moment-to-moment gameplay, Far Far West stands tall with a very solid game feel. The first thing players will notice is a lack of a sprint option, but the horse players get is fast and feels great to ride, and chaining jumps and dashes is genuinely captivating. Speed and jump height can also be upgraded alongside health, ammo, and spell cooldown, so there’s a real progression feel to movement itself. There is a sense of early Unity engine floatiness worth acknowledging; it takes some getting used to, but it’s easy to adapt to, and the fluidity and responsiveness are a well-made trade-off.

As a game with guns and spells, the combat layers beautifully on top of movement, with sidearms always carrying an elemental effect (revolvers, bows, dual revolvers, or ninja stars), and primaries (Shotguns, Miniguns, Snipers, Rifles) that have their own unique punches. There’s enough variety here to generate real build diversity and serious longevity, even before the spells come into play. The spell options consist of four elements, with five tiers each, and they feel as satisfying to sling as Avowed, which, for a seven-person indie studio, is very high praise.

One quirk with Far Far West’s gameplay is that, much like Helldivers 2, the lower-tier difficulties must be slogged through; the problem is that easy is way too easy, normal is simply too easy as well.

The Boss Design Keeps Things Fresh

Each of Far Far West’s bounties ends with one of several boss encounters, and thankfully, there are no missteps here either. The tutorial’s skull-with-wings sets the tone with bullet-hell chaos, but the ghost train players might encounter in later missions is meaningfully unique, feeling more like an aerial encounter. These bounties and bosses are random, it seems, which means it’s all the better for encounters that are varied enough that each one feels like its own event.

Far Far West Knows Exactly What It Is

Ultimately, Far Far West succeeds even pre-release because it seems to have a solid understanding of what should be. It’s easy to understand and appealing to the senses, it’s got meaningful gameplay without ever feeling bloated, and it’s clearly been built by people who love the genre. That’s a winning recipe that still somehow goes overlooked these days, but it certainly works here.

Far Far West has a planned release window for Q2 2026, but for now, the game has a demo on Steam that’s free and feature-forward. The demo already overdelivers, and it’s clear that the foundation is there in spades for whatever comes next. If Deep Rock Galactic‘s co-op loop and Weird West‘s magic-cowboy energy are your thing, Far Far West belongs on your wishlist.