The Legend of Cyber Cowboy review

As evidenced by the popularity of the TV series Westworld, first in the ‘70s and then once again in 2016, the sci-fi and Wild West genres blend surprisingly well. It definitely seems that Westworld played the biggest influence for this this top-down twin-stick shooter, as opposed to the cinematic dud that was 2011’s Cowboys & Aliens. Fallout 4 may have held some appeal for the creators of Cyber Cowboy too. You never need to stroll through Fallout’s wastelands for long until coming across a cowpoke armed with a peculiarly fitting laser rifle.

As much as I’d like to tell you more about this shooter’s cybernetic star, it’s void of anything resembling a backstory or plot. As soon as you press start on the title screen, you’re thrown straight into action. This means it also foregoes a tutorial, although you could make the case that one wasn’t needed. It’s a simple case of aiming, shooting, and dashing out of harm’s way. I was however left wondering if I was overlooking a mechanic or whether there was a way to swap weapons. Not even the options menu held the answers I was looking for, offering only the essentials such as a language select.

The Legend of Cyber Cowboy review

The Legend of Cyber Cowboy has randomised stages, but to call it a ‘roguelike’ seems off the mark. There are no power-ups, random instances, or upgrades – permanent or otherwise. The only things you’ll find to assist in your quest to defeat five super-sized bosses are an assortment of new firearms, ranging from a minigun to a laser rifle. It’s a simple, and predictable, case of heading from room to room clearing out enemies and collecting coins before locating the stage’s weapon vendor, who holds a meagre selection of two weapons. Every stage also has a room with a single health pack and an ammo clip, which you may need to backtrack to should you discover this room while the health gauge is almost full. While there’s no map, stages are small, and enemies don’t respawn while backtracking.

A good thing too, as the experience comes across as unfairly challenging as it is. The starter pistol is weak and slow yet relied on heavily to progress, each enemy takes 3-4 shots to kill, there’s just one measly health top-up per stage, and some enemies – such as those carrying sniper rifles or shotguns – pack a hefty punch. Indeed, if you arrive on a boss’ doorstep with very little health left then your chances of survival are slim. The game’s saving grace is that you can continue as many times as required from the start of a stage. The only downside to continuing is that it’ll greatly extend your ‘best time’ for that run.  

The Legend of Cyber Cowboy review

Very quickly a loop emerges. And it isn’t one that’s vastly pleasurable. Essentially, survival depends on stumbling across the weapon vendor and the health/ammo room as quickly as possible, removing the potential to die elsewhere or take any more damage before a boss battle. Said battles aren’t anything special, pitting our nameless cowpoke against chunky pixilated beasts that spew bullets and fire missiles while you whittle their health bar.

I couldn’t shake the fact that The Legend of Cyber Cowboy relies on luck rather than skill, especially when it comes to stage layouts and which weapons the vendor has in stock. The sniper rifle is delightfully overpowered, while other weapons have very limited ammo supplies. Rolling back to an earlier paragraph, the ability to switch weapons and save the ‘big guns’ for the boss would’ve been beneficial. Even more so would’ve been more health packs or the addition of power-ups. It’s a pretty no-thrills package with only the well-drawn 16-bit style pixel art standing out. If you’re curious, flip a coin three times. If you get ‘heads’ each time you may have enough luck to make it through The Legend of Cyber Cowboy. If not, best of luck partner.

eastasiasoft’s The Legend of Cyber Cowboy is out 1st Jan on all formats.  

SCORE
4