With Red Dead Redemption 2 being the most critically acclaimed western game of all time, it’s hard not to think of it whenever a game about cowboys appears online. Sure, reaching Rockstar’s level of detail and character work is borderline impossible, but with tales about outlaws in the Wild West being so iconic, the genre will continue to be explored anyway. Fortunately, the upcoming Steam game Westlanders seems to be a lot to satisfy those who feel like the Western genre peaked with RDR2.
First-person may have been optional in Red Dead 2, but it’s the main perspective used for this particular game, with the camera only zooming out when players are driving their customizable wagon around the country. Visually, the game is downright stunning, and players can expect a dynamic world full of unexpected encounters. They’ll hunt and survive attacks from wildlife, have shootouts with bandits, and discover hidden locations within the open world.
However, Red Dead fans will want the Housebuilding song at the ready if they give this game a try. Because instead of building being relegated to a story-driven epilogue sequence, Steam’s Westlanders makes it an integral mechanic. Players will build not just their ideal homes, but entire settlements, filling the land with connected hubs that can be fully automated, ensuring the game appeals to fans of games like Satisfactory as well.
Westlanders Features
- EXPLORE an open world on your own or in co-op with a group of friends.
- FIGHT hostile gangs and deadly wildlife via first-person shooter mechanics.
- SURVIVE a range of ailments caused by different environments, from suffocation in mines to waterborne illness to frostbite.
- DRIVE a customizable wagon around the world that serves as a mobile campsite and a gateway to meeting intriguing characters.
- EVOLVE your character via skill tree upgrades, base additions, and improved tools via crafting.
- BUILD and automate massive outposts, connecting them through roads to build trade networks.
Survive and thrive in a Wild West open world. Alone or with friends, explore, fight, and build from your customizable wagon. Expand into bustling settlements, recruit allies, and forge a network to tame the wilderness and build your legacy.
Westlanders’ World Has All the Red Dead Essentials
With Red Dead Online support lacking, cowboy enjoyers with a co-op group could end up seeing Westlanders as a viable alternative. Time will tell if the game can deliver intriguing storytelling and interesting strangers on par with what’s seen in Rockstar’s beloved western franchise, but it’s promising “fascinating characters” throughout the world. Beyond fun characters to interact with, players will apparently be able to “find lost secrets” and hidden locations as they explore. Additionally, a range of threats have been promised, from hostile wildlife like wolves to NPC gangs that will shoot back at players when they let their guard down.
Scratch & Peek
Identify the cover art while scratching off as little foil as
possible.
Rather than offering basic biomes that boast no real differences beyond visual changes, Westlanders is keeping Rockstar’s eye for detail in mind with their design, as each will be carefully crafted to stand out from the last. Players won’t just find unique wildlife in different areas, but region-specific crafting resources as well, motivating players to spend time in each area and consider building a base within each locale. Additionally, area-specific ailments are planned for this game; spend too long in a winter area without warm clothing and protective items, and risk ending up with frostbite. Breathing issues from mines and waterborne diseases from swamps are listed as other potential problems that can arise, making Westlanders a borderline survival game at times.
Much like Red Dead Redemption 2 players could improve Arthur’s gear over time via hunts, shopping, and other activities, Westlanders’ protagonists will get stronger as time goes on. A tech tree has been promised that will provide access to powerful gear and useful structures, while players will be gathering resources to craft every melee tool and firearm they could ask for. Random events will shake up exploration and provide more opportunities for crafting materials, and they can serve as a way to make the game’s outpost system feel alive, as players will have to periodically defend their homes against scavengers and packs of wildlife.
Publisher Team17 has had its hands on numerous successful games, ranging from Overcooked to Hell Let Loose, which suggests that a high level of quality for Westlanders is almost guaranteed.
Westlanders’ Automated Settlement Building Could Make a World of Difference
Speaking of outposts, this is where Westlanders starts to stand apart from the biggest name in the Wild West genre. Everything starts with the players’ trusty wagon, as instead of just bonding with a horse of one’s choosing like in Red Dead, groups will be able to decorate what is essentially their old-timey mobile home. They’ll choose which player does the driving, what horses said player commands, and what attachments go on the wagon to improve stats like storage. Sitting in the back of a custom wagon on a long ride is plenty immersive in its own right, but once players have decided where to set up camp, the wagon becomes a gateway to full-on settlement building.
Settlements have become a key feature of Bethesda games like Fallout and Starfield, and managing the people that reside within them has been a go-to approach for automation-centric indie titles. Fortunately, fans of any take on video game settlements should be pleased with what Westlanders has in store. Players will design and decorate all the buildings within their custom-made towns, unlocking new decorative items and structure types via the aforementioned tech tree. Once their settlements are built to their liking, players can start working on Death Stranding-like road networks to connect their settlement to another player-made base.
After players have constructed their ideal network of towns, they can work on the automation process, with developer Breach Studios promising “factory-like precision” when Westlanders releases on Steam in 2027. Players will be able to use the riches gained during their adventuring to hire specialized workers, managing their individual assignments and wages. Each of these workers will come with distinct pros and cons, though their proficiency will increase the more work they do. With players able to create trade routes across their custom-made roads—and hire even more workers to patrol and protect them from thieves—gamers are essentially building a trade empire that lords over the game’s world. In Westlanders, players aren’t just adventurers or outlaws, but CEOs, and that gameplay variety should keep co-op parties entertained for hours on end.
