Hard West will be bringing tactical gunslinging now it’s funded

CreativeForge want western-themed XCOM gameplay to be a thing, and their dreams will be realised in the fully-funded Hard West.

Hard West, which is being developed by CreativeForge has now been funded, smashing the goal of $70,000 with nine days still to go on the Kickstarter campaign. It was a no-brainer, really: when you start bandying around phrases like “XCOM” and “RPG” it’s bound to attract attention. It’s also set in a dark version of the Wild West, so that at least sets it apart from the crowd.

Hard West unsurprisingly promises to be hard. This game world is a “lifetaker” according to CreativeForge, with everyone fighting to survive in the rugged backwaters of the wild west. The tactical combat also promises to stretch the old brain cells with the ability to use the environment to pull off some nifty shooting tricks via careful trajectory planning.

There’s going to be more to the game world than your average western towns with barrels, outlaws and saloons, too. There’ll be supernatural horror elements to be discovered while moving around the world’s map – which looks relatively large, based on what’s been detailed so far.

I’m not massive fan of westerns, whether it be films or games, but Hard West does look like it’s bringing a unique take on the XCOM tactical combat style that’s proved so popular with PC gamers. It’s not due out until later next year and there’s still nine days to go on the Kickstarter, so if you like what you see, then throw some change at this one.