Supernatural strategy sequel Hard West 2 announced
Once XCOM a time in the West
It should be a good year for occult cowboys, between this month's Weird West and, announced today, turn-based strategy sequel Hard West 2 coming later in 2022. It's the sequel to the 2015 original, with a new developer at the helm, and there's a trailer below.
Apparently Hard West 2's protagonist has robbed a ghost train, and who'd athunk that would turn out to be a bad idea. Now you must chase the Devil across a bleak, supernatural wild west to reclaim your soul. That offers an excuse for some interesting level settings, including those that play out on horseback and on moving trains.
The most interesting feature to me is a new "Bravado State", which rewards you for playing aggressively by replenishing your action points for chaining together kills. That was the best part of Gears Tactics, a surprisingly satisfying twist on XCOM that gave that game's shoulder-padded meatheads their own crunchy flavour. I'm glad to see another game doing something similar.
Noted XCOM obsessive Alec (RPS in peace) had nice things to say about the first game in his Hard West review, particularly praising its combat while being uncertain of everything wrapped around it. "I'd say it's definitely worth picking up if your XCOM and Jagged Alliance itches currently feel unscratched, but expect something to dip in and out of, not some grand timesink opus," he concluded.
Hard West 2 is potentially a different proposition because it has a different developer. The first game was made by CreativeForge Games, who followed it up with the similarly strategic Phantom Doctrine. Hard West 2 is being made by Ice Code Games, who are otherwise known for the cyberpunk RTS Re-Legion.
It's due for release sometime in 2022, but in the meantime you can find more Hard West 2 details and screenshots on its Steam page.