Highlights
- Western video games offer a unique and enjoyable gaming experience that combines elements of the Wild West with different genres, showcasing the creativity of the gaming industry.
- While there are few games set in the Wild West, those that do exist, like Red Dead Redemption and Hard West, provide immersive gameplay and captivating storytelling that fans of the genre will appreciate.
- From action games to RPGs and shooters, there is a wide range of Western-themed video games available, catering to different preferences and offering opportunities for co-op play and exploration.
Video games have become one of the best ways to escape to another world and indulge in different kinds of genres. Horror or sports can be easy to break down into video games, but other worlds have taken longer to become the norm. It’s taken some time, but games that center around cowboys and indulge in the Western genre are now big hits.
Red Dead Online: 10 Most Usable Emotes
Looking to have some fun with 'Red Dead Online'? Here's a look at the 10 best & most usable emotes you can use to lighten up your in-game experience!Western video games are a great filter to put over first-person shooters or action games. In fact, there are many excellent video games that fans can check out if they like Westerns and cowboys, and they're not limited to these two genres either! It's a testament to how creative the gaming industry is that they've managed to craft so many unique and delectable titles with this particular backdrop that are hard to resist.
Updated October 18, 2023 by Ritwik Mitra: Games set in the Wild West are few and far between, which is genuinely puzzling given the sheer potential of this setting to entice players with its gritty nature and fast-paced gunplay.
Titles like Red Dead Redemption certainly come to mind when one talks about how much this setting has been represented in gaming... but there aren't many other titles that players can recall, which is a shame. There's still a lot of potential for the Wild West to become a mainstay in most games, but players can still enjoy a wealth of amazing titles that capture the intricacies of this setting in its entirety.
15 Evil West
Surprisingly enough, there were two games released in 2022 that used the background of the Wild West to tell a riveting tale... and were named in a similar manner too. While Weird West ended up being more memorable for the majority of players, another title that players still enjoyed despite the combat being slightly unbalanced was Evil West.
The game is certainly not deep or thought-provoking in any way... but it doesn't need to be! Evil West is just a fun, light-hearted romp where players utilize a wealth of weapons to wallop their enemies to kingdom come. The best part is that this game can also be enjoyed in co-op, making for a great game to enjoy with friends!
14 Red Steel 2
The Wii is certainly one of the most successful consoles of all time, but there's no denying that this system was meant to appeal to a more casual audience. This made it a great hub for party games and imaginative platformers... but mature action games were always going to struggle on this platform. A great example of this is MadWorld, a stylistic action game that should've been a huge success but ended up being a commercial disappointment.
8 Action RPGs With Great Weapon Crafting Systems
Fun crafting mechanics can be a tricky thing to pull off successfully. Luckily, these action RPGs implement their crafting mechanics well.This was the fate that awaited Red Steel 2 as well. The game utilized the Wii's motion controls in a pretty intriguing way, and people who did check out this game for themselves loved how visceral and satisfying the combat was. Unfortunately, the game's incredible set-pieces and great setting didn't boost sales in the slightest, making it one of the best games on the Wii that was criminally overlooked by the masses.
13 Wasteland 3
The Fallout series has evolved from its isometric CRPG roots to become one of the most beloved post-apocalyptic RPGs of all time. However, many hardcore fans miss the golden era of this series. Thankfully, the Wasteland series has done a great job of filling up this vacuum.
While the world of this post-apocalyptic CRPG can feel quite derivative, there's no denying thatWasteland 3 is an absolute blast to play through. The gameplay is more refined than ever before, and the unique mix of Western elements and the aftermath of a brutal nuclear war makes for a great time as players fight both bloodthirsty humans and nightmarish mutants!
12 Weird West
Weird West
- Released
- March 31, 2022
- Developer
- WolfEye Studios
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG
True to its name, Weird West is easily one of the oddest games on this list that shouldn't work, given the sheer number of gameplay systems it messes around with. Players control multiple characters, but somehow, the game feels like an immersive sim once players start interacting with the world and realize just how logically its elements react to each other.
While the game should be chastized for repeating environments over and over, there's no denying that Weird West is a great title that fans of unique indie RPGs should check out. The writing is bizarre yet enjoyable, and the Western influence gives the game a unique charm of its own that will engross players to no end!
11 Westerado: Double Barreled
An incredible indie game that more people need to play, Westerado: Double Barreled combines a classic Western revenge plot with procedurally-generated mechanics, allowing for near-endless replayability as players explore a small yet reactive open world where they have free reign to do pretty much whatever they want.
12 Indie Games With Fantastic Stories
Plenty of indie games have compelling narratives that are hard to forget. The following examples are some of the genre's best.The game has its flaws, with combat being pretty tricky as the game's perspective makes aiming rather finicky. However, these are minor hiccups in what is otherwise a brilliant game that will keep players smiling and engaged throughout the entire experience as they either follow the revenge plot to a T or goof off and kill everyone during their quest to discover the murderer of their family.
10 Red Dead Revolver
Red Dead Revolver
- Released
- May 4, 2004
- Developer(s)
- Rockstar San Diego
While it failed to make anywhere near as big an impression as either of its two sequels, Red Dead Revolver was still a pretty solid game when it was released for the PS2 and Xbox back in May of 2004. Sadly, it hasn't aged all that well, though there's still enjoyment to be found for those who like cowboys and Western movies.
More than anything, Red Dead Revolver provides a unique and interesting window into the origins of one of gaming's biggest franchises. These humble beginnings would eventually lead to true greatness, and exploring them is a must for anybody who considers themselves a fan of Rockstar's Red Dead series.
9 Hard West
Polish studio Creative Forge hasn't developed all that many games since it was founded back in 2011, but it has been responsible for a few good ones. The pick of the bunch is arguably Hard West, which, as the title suggests, takes place in a fictionalized version of the American Old West. What the game's name doesn't convey, however, are the supernatural elements that help to shape this surreal experience.
Those who liked Red Dead Redemption's Undead Nightmare DLC should take a lot of enjoyment from Hard West. As well as undead cowboys, players can expect to encounter a whole host of other terrifying threats (including ghosts and demons) as they struggle to survive the lynchings, rituals, and shootouts found so prominently throughout the game.
8 Darkwatch: Curse Of The West
Darkwatch: Curse of the West is a glorious mash-up of elements that are trying so hard to find mass appeal that it’s a little heartbreaking it wasn’t able to spawn a long franchise of weird titles.
The shooter mixes the Western genre with gothic horror and traces of steampunk as it tells the story of Jericho Cross, a vampire cowboy who’s looking to wipe out a larger evil. Darkwatch leads to a very different take on the Western genre, and it’s something that deserves another chance.
7 Wild Guns Reloaded
Wild Guns was a popular Super Nintendo title that tells a story about revenge and family honor, albeit with a very cute, unassuming art design. Wild Guns Reloaded re-masters & modernizes the classic game and delivers a very satisfying title for Western fans. The game is a streamlined take on shooters and brawlers while also lovingly re-contextualizing the classic genre.
The 10 Best Western Games Ever Made (According To Metacritic)
There are quite a few quality western games out there. If you need any help deciding on which to check out, just see what Metacritic has to say.Wild Guns Reloaded doesn't lose the heart of the original title, and the addition of new characters helps make this quirky Western shooter even more entertaining.
6 Gunman Clive HD Collection
It’s been encouraging to see how important art design and visual aesthetics have become for audiences. There used to be a time when only advanced graphics got people’s attention, but there’s more of an artistry to the look and feel of games now, especially when it comes to indie titles. The pair of Gunman Clive games are a perfect example of this.
They’re indie sidescrollers that involve gunslingers in the West, but the scaled-back art design is where these titles feel unique. An HD collection has helped bring the games over to modern audiences and keep these games alive.
5 Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD
Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath
- Released
- January 25, 2005
- Genre(s)
- Shooter , Action-Adventure
It’s not unusual for a franchise to produce spin-offs that take the games in radically different directions, and Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath accomplishes something difficult here. It takes the surreal universe of the Oddworld games but turns them into moody Westerns with an original slant.
Stranger's Wrath is a grizzled bounty hunter who just wants to get enough money to complete his goal. The ruthless world of Gizzard Gulch is a great expansion to the Oddworld universe, and a re-master in 2012 helped Stranger’s Wrath not get forgotten.
4 Gun
Before games like Red Dead Redemption came along and essentially perfected the Western genre, there were games like Gun that were attempting the same thing -- but a generation earlier. Gun is very ambitious for its time, and it puts players in a sprawling open world that’s full of outlaws and bandits who are eager to eliminate anyone who gives them a dirty look.
5 Best Western & Cowboy Games (& The 5 Worst)
From The Oregon Trail to Red Dead Redemption, these are the best (and worst) Western games out there.Gun excels with its extensive side missions and how it fleshes out this world. While its heights have since been surpassed, it was formative back on the original Xbox and PlayStation 2.
3 Desperados 3
Desperados 3
- Released
- June 16, 2020
- Developer(s)
- Mimimi Games
- Genre(s)
- Real-Time Strategy
The Desperados series of games on the PC are a worthy inclusion because they’re set back during the late 1800s when the West was at its most ruthless, & they utilize the strategy genre of games to look at this old-time corruption.
Desperados 3 has players on the hunt for bandits, but there’s a varied team of help that’s provided to track down these criminals in various settings. It may be slower and less graphically advanced than other games on here, but it builds the tension of a robbery or heist as effectively as anything else.
2 Call Of Juarez: Gunslinger
Not all of the Call of Juarez titles are set back in the days of the Wild West, but the series has gradually learned that it created some of its best work in that time period. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger features Silas Greaves, a bounty hunter who’s at the end of his rope and progressively frustrated with this derelict community.
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger also provides a "duel" mode, which is a fantastic addition that allows multiplayer mayhem to invade the premise. It's not a perfect title, but it features a tortured anti-hero at the center of it all.
1 Red Dead Redemption 2
Red Dead Redemption 2
- Released
- October 26, 2018
Red Dead Redemption 2's inclusion at the top spot shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Its predecessor was already a masterpiece (and even Xbox’s Red Dead Revolver is a highly polished take on the genre for its time), but the sequel improves upon everything and creates an even more satisfying experience.
The open world of Red Dead Redemption 2 is the new standard to strive for, and whether players are stopping bandits or just leisurely tending to horses or kicking back at a saloon, the game ensures that it’s as detailed and enjoyable as possible.
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