Space Western strategy shooter sequel Wild Bastards from Maximum Entertainment and Blue Manchu is ready to go on PlayStation 5. Learn more about this one in our Wild Bastards review!
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Space Western strategy shooter sequel Wild Bastards from Maximum Entertainment and Blue Manchu is ready to go on PlayStation 5. While prequel Void Bastards took things into more of a straight-up sci-fi territory, Wild Bastards takes that and puts a futuristic Western spin on things. You’ll be working on recruiting and managing a team of 13 colorful Outlaws who have certainly seen better days. The titular Wild Bastards used to be the deadliest gang in the whole galaxy… until a posse from the puritanical magnate Jebediah Chaste took them down one by one. With 11 of the Outlaws now in ashes, it’s up to the last two of them – Spider Rosa and Casino – to try and locate and resurrect all gang members before it’s too late.
With the game being played from a first-person perspective, you’ll be controlling each Outlaw with the left analog stick as you look around with the right one. Press the Circle button to crouch so that you can duck from damage and squeeze into tight spaces to take cover. Press in on the left analog stick to sprint. The X button will be for jumping. You can press the Square button to interact with ladders that need to be climbed or switches that must be pressed to activate lifts. You can aim by pressing the L2 button and can shoot at enemies by pressing the R2 button. Once you run out of bullets, press the Square button to reload. Just be careful since you’ll be left wide open while reloading! Since you’ll have more than one Outlaw on your side, you can switch between the ones currently deployed by pressing the L1 and R1 buttons.
You can play through Wild Bastards in one of five difficulty settings: Very Easy, Easy, Normal, Hard, and Very Hard. Very Easy can be a good option for those who want to experience the story with minimal challenge. Easy is for those who don’t play first-person shooters and want to be eased into things. Normal offers the standard experience, balanced for those of you who have played FPS before. Hard is a good one for FPS veterans who want to take on a good challenge. The last one is Very Hard, a great option for hardcore FPS players who want to jump into the deep end. You can also activate Ironman Mode, which will warp you back to the beginning of the sector when the whole gang is injured.
Once you beam down to a planet, it’s up to you to decide how much to loot and how you’ll move on the map so that you can make the most of your Action Points for that turn. Once they’ve run out, you’ll have to end your turn, and it will then be your opponent’s turn to move around to try and catch up to you. As you move from node to node, you could end up in a showdown fight against a variety of enemies, land on a health node where you can heal your Outlaws’ wounds, grab yourself some protective armor, visit a shop to use your Cramm to fully heal an Outlaw, buy some armor, or purchase Mods to equip.
Mods are special pieces of equipment that will boost an Outlaw’s stats and, if you’re lucky, add something special to your character. Purchase a pair of Midnight Boots to improve an Outlaw’s speed, which will be boosted even more if you wear them at night. Buy a Speed Loader to improve reloading speed by 50%. Grab the expensive but extremely useful Tracking Rounds so that your shots home on target, even if overall damage dealt is lowered by 20%. Grab a pair of Rocket Boots to add some armor to your Outlaw, increase its overall jump, and remove fall damage. You’ll have to equip as many Mods as possible if you want to stay alive because the game loves to bump up the challenge at a steady pace.
If things get too crazy, you should try to make a run for it and reach the Stairway. This is your ticket back to the Drifter so that you can be beamed back to safety before things get too crazy. Beaming back up to the Drifter is how you’ll get to savor your loot. Collect the valuable Helix of your fallen companions, and you’ll be able to revive them so that they can join the fun! Collect an Ace, and you’ll be able to level up one of your characters. Once it levels up, you can choose an Ace from the available options to permanently buff that Outlaw.
Pick up juice to power up Outlaw Stunts. Each Outlaw will have their own unique Outlaw Stunt – which is activated by pressing the Triangle button -so be sure to try them all! For example, Spider Rosa can activate Decoy, which can be used to pull enemy attacks elsewhere as they focus on a fake Spider Rosa. Casino can use Roulette, a fancy Outlaw Stunt that will kill one random enemy in one go! How useful is that? Grab some juice with Smoky, and he’ll be able to use his Outlaw Stunt to set fire to 3 random enemies, which is great news for when you’re going up against larger numbers of enemies.
As you defeat enemies in showdowns and knock down Chaste’s offspring when ambushed, you’ll be rewarded with Infamy. Infamy is very important since it can be exchanged for rewards at the start of each sector, depending on how much Infamy you’ve collected. As long as you defeat as many Chasteners as possible, the regular folk will take notice of your efforts.
Trophy-wise, this release has a full trophy list with a Platinum trophy waiting for you. The list is split into 12 Bronze trophies, 9 Silver trophies, and 6 Gold trophies. The objectives you’ll need to complete for that shiny Platinum include getting 2,000 Infamy in one sector, defeating an Ironclad, defeating a regenerating assassin, defeating three enemies with one boom rod, defeating 10 enemies with headshots during a showdown, getting an outlaw to level 7, completing the game, doing so on hard and very hard, completing the game on hard ironman and very hard ironman, collecting data for all enemies, and collecting all mods.
Space Western strategy shooter sequel Wild Bastards is a fun one to take for a spin on PlayStation 5. You’ll be working on recruiting and managing a team of 13 colorful Outlaws who have certainly seen better days. The titular Wild Bastards used to be the deadliest gang in the whole galaxy… until a posse from the puritanical magnate Jebediah Chaste took them down one by one. With 11 of the Outlaws now in ashes, it’s up to the last two of them – Spider Rosa and Casino – to try and locate and resurrect all gang members before it’s too late. Wild Bastards is out today on PlayStation 5 with a $34.99 price tag.
Disclaimer
This Wild Bastards review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy provided by Maximum Entertainment.
