The West

In 2009, The West was nominated browser game of the year. This free-to-play MMORPG lets you explore the west, dueling other players, building towns– basically living the like the American cowboys of long ago.

 Gameplay

You start off in a tutorial, as usual with most games; the very first quest is to get rid of some outlaw. You challenge him to a duel and of course you win. The duel mechanics are bland. You watch the fight without really engaging in it.

You explore the world building and dueling. Quests drive some of your actions, but outside of that you have free reign as to what you do. Some of your quests involve building and dueling, but some also include simple tasks like gathering wool.

Most tasks take a few minutes to do, or longer, so you will have to wait. Which is great for casual gamers who don’t want to become enslaved by a game, and become one of those crazed gamer zombies that never seem to see the light of day.

Like many of Innogames other products, the best way to get ahead is to buy, with real money, in game money (in the case of The West: nuggets). Nuggets will allow you get a variety of game benefits.

At level 10, players chose between four class types, each with 4 archetypes. The classes are:

Adventurer – Trapper, Wanderer, Indian, Prospector

Dueler – Bounty Hunter, Gunslinger, Bandit, Hangdog

Worker – Cowboy, Quaker, Craftsman, Mortician

Soldier – Cavalryman, Mexican, Mercenary, Iroquois

The biggest difference in between The West and every other game by Innogames is the avatar. You play as a single character instead of an unknown controller, or as a whole group of people. One big improvement, in my own opinion, is the ability to hide the chat box.

Graphics

The graphics are decent. They are the same quality of other games Innogames has created. There is enough detail for it to be interestingly realistic, but not so much as to be overwhelming. Peeking out of the clouds onto the land below, you see a lake, buildings and several other things. The water and land textures are not very realistic at all. Honestly, it looks more like you are looking at a colorful, illustrated map.

Bottom Line

The West is a new theme to the same game. Innogames has created several games that all have the same basic attributes: city building, similar interface, similar navigation and controls. If you already are a fan of Innogames (creator of Grepolis and Tribal War), then The West is a fun new theme that you will likely enjoy.