Back in May 2019, developer Blue Manchu released a rogue-like first-person shooter called Void Bastards, a suggestive title for a suggestive game. Void Bastards was met with much love from critics and fans alike upon its debut in 2019, and five years later, Blue Manchu is back with another vibrant rogue-like adventure. But while Wild bastards has the same style and tone as its spiritual predecessor, there are some major differences when it comes to gameplay.
In short, Wild bastards is a roguelike first-person shooter just like Void Bastardsbut it has an extra layer of turn-based strategy that its predecessors didn't have. This gives Wild bastards a completely different sense of pace, and while that may disappoint some fans, there's still plenty worth checking out. However, not all Wild bastards' element makes a satisfactory effect.
Wild Bastards has an engaging sci-fi story
After a very short prologue, Wild bastards' the core premise is revealed, and it's a pretty engaging, classic sci-fi/western story. Aboard the mysterious sentient ship The Drifter, players must travel the galaxy collecting the souls of their dead ex-crew members, all in hopes of eventually reaching the Promised Land, a haven for bots, mutants and xenos.
Wild bastardsThe story is simple but effective and gives the player a strong incentive to continue racing through the galaxy. There are also lots of fun little in-universe Sci-Fi explanations for game mechanics, like The Drifter's feel being the reason behind the game's roguelike loop. Wild bastardsthe main campaign took about 9 hours to beat on normal difficulty.
Wild bastards also features a procedural campaign mode, a challenge mode, and an Iron Man mode if players want an even tougher challenge. These extra modes are a nice addition that helps the game feel like a complete package, but their modifiers won't change the core loop that much.
Wild Bastard's game loop bites off more than it can chew
Wild bastards throws players in at the deep end, and it's not afraid to let them flop around for a little while. From the beginning, Wild bastards gives players a lot of overlapping systems, and they often find that out for themselves during the opening hours of the game. This gives a scary first impression.
But after a round or two, Wild bastardsThe first obstacle begins to disappear and an engaging gameplay loop emerges. Players will soon get into the rhythm of turning to a new sector in search of a new Outlaw to unlock and begin the long process of rescuing them. Once in the new sector, players must plan their route through the stars, with each planet offering an important upgrade along the way. Once over a planet, players beam down to the surface, and that's it Wild bastards' new turn-based strategy elements come into play.
With a party of 1-4 Outlaws, players arrive on a planet mapped out like a board game, with key points of interest scattered along linear paths. Players have a certain number of moves per turn, and the general goal is to grab as much loot, upgrades, mods, and valuable resources as they can before a powerful boss comes to hunt them down and force them to leave the planet empty-handed.
In addition to upgrades, resources, and useful tiles that restore the player's movement or health, Wild bastards' board game-like planet maps are full of combat encounters such as roadblocks and enemy patrols. Reaching one of these battle encounters forces players into a challenging first-person showdown, where they must shoot down all enemies to progress.
This core loop is repeated for Wild bastards' overall, but it remains quite engaging thanks to the game's many overlapping progression systems and evolving mechanics. In each sector, players will encounter at least one new gameplay mechanic. These can be permanent upgrades like Aces, Tonics that give the player a way to heal team members, and the Pal/Feud system that sees the player's gang of Outlaws drop out or befriend each other at random intervals. This mechanic, which is drip-fed to the player throughout the game, provides a sense of rewarding progression that is key to a roguelike, but it's not entirely perfect.
A big problem with Wild bastards' gameplay loop is that while unlocking these mechanics feels immediately rewarding, some don't have that much of an impact on gameplay. The Pal/Feud system is probably the best example of this. Initially, this system seems very in-depth, with players presented with a large chart explaining who's feuding with who and who's friends with whom, all shown through various lines connecting Outlaw's icons.
At the beginning of the game, it matters which characters are fighting because they can't beam down together. However, once the player has unlocked six or more Outlaws, this system can be largely forgotten, as they'll probably always have a duo they're happy with, regardless of who's fighting. This then means that the Beans resource is almost redundant, as the player rarely needs them to heal feuds. This criticism extends to a great deal of Wild bastards' game mechanics, with many that feel fun to unlock, but ultimately lack the depth needed to make them engaging for the duration of the game.
Unfortunately, with this lack of depth, Wild bastards' game loop can start to feel quite repetitive after a few hours. This is especially true if players don't enjoy the turn-based nature of the game's planet map, as it takes up a large portion of the gameplay.
Wild Bastards' Outlaws are a mixed bag of likable villains
As the name suggests, a lot of Wild bastardsThe story and gameplay depend on its cast of Outlaws. Throughout the game's main campaign, players will unlock a total of 13 playable Outlaws. Just like its spiritual predecessor, Wild bastards' distinct cartoon-like art style does a great job of making each of the game's 13 Outlaws stand out, and the game's voice acting goes a long way to cementing the characters' personalities.
Gameplay wise, each Outlaw has a unique weapon and special ability. In theory, it means that Wild bastards offers 13 different game styles. But again, things are not quite as good as they seem on the surface. In reality, Wild bastards' 13 Outlaws is a mixed bag, at least in terms of gameplay. While Wild bastards is home to tons of useful characters that have powerful, versatile weapons and special abilities that feel very satisfying to use, it's also home to a good few that just aren't worth bringing into battle.
While opinions on certain Outlaws will vary depending on the player's preferred playstyle in first-person shooters, there are some Outlaws that are objectively weaker than the rest. Smoky's flame-breathing finger gun looks cool as hell, but it's incredibly weak, and its reload time, for example, is way too long. In a standard FPS, these characteristics wouldn't be much of a problem, though Wild bastards is a difficult game where every shot counts. There is simply no room for weak Outlaws, because weak Outlaws mean a quick death, and death means the abrupt end of a run, the need to restart, and a strong sense of frustration that quickly clouds the entire experience.
Unfortunately, this leads to Wild bastards' roster feels a bit unbalanced, and by about halfway through, players will have found their favorite set of four Outlaws and will likely ignore a large portion of the roster. That said, things get better with the game's Ace upgrade system, which gives Outlaws powerful stat boosts and new abilities. These Aces go a long way to making the list's weakest Outlaws a little more bearable, but it still won't convince players to trade their favorite four.
The Wild Bastards land more shots than they miss, but it's a close call
Wild bastards is a very vibrant, very ambitious game that goes out of its way to add new game mechanics and playable characters. But while that effort is certainly laudable, there's no denying that many of these elements just don't hit as hard as they should. There is still plenty of room for fans to have a good time Wild bastardsbut that time will not be free from moments of confusion, frustration and a little boredom.
Wild bastards is now available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Game Rant received a PS5 code for this review.
