Ah, the Old West. While many of the tropes surrounding the Wild West are heavily romanticised, there’s still something undeniably attractive about the fantasy of the cowboy, the duster coat-wearing revolver-toting lone wolf who wanders the frontier and aids those in need. There are plenty of great PS4 games that cater to this fantasy, too; whether you want sandbox games or more straightforward shooters, you’ll find lots to enjoy. Here are the best PS4 Western games you can play right now.
Red Dead Redemption 2
No list of the greatest PS4 Western games – or, indeed, the greatest games, full stop – would be complete without Rockstar’s magnum opus Red Dead Redemption 2. This is, quite simply, one of the most fully-realised and well-crafted open worlds ever made, and even if the actual story missions themselves are a little lacklustre, getting lost in Red Dead 2’s world is reward enough. Hang out with your fellow cowboys, play some minigames, or just stand in one of the game’s breathtakingly realistic towns and watch time go by.
Evil West
Evil West was unfairly slept on when it was released, but if you’re after some classic, old-school third-person shooter action, you could do a lot worse than Flying Wild Hog’s game. Jesse Rentier is a classic dyed-in-the-wool cowboy archetype, and he’s dedicated to fighting supernatural horrors in the name of his father’s Institute. Doing so entails engaging in varied, exciting combat against a range of enemy types, each of which requires a different strategy to overcome.
Wild Arms 3
This PS2 classic is available either to buy as a standalone product or to enjoy as part of a PlayStation Plus Premium subscription. It’s a great JRPG that follows the fortunes of four gunslingers brought together by chance, and it mixes dungeon-crawling with overworld exploration and old-fashioned “talk to everyone twice” town mingling. The story and soundtrack are surprisingly great, and the Old West vibes will make you want to see this one through to completion.
SteamWorld Dig 2
Although SteamWorld Dig 2 is nominally a steampunk Metroidvania, it has more than a whiff of the Wild West about it thanks to its aesthetics and soundtrack. You must dig your way through a massive underground world full of secrets to find, searching for a robot who vanished in the tunnels before you. Dig 2 is not a very long game at all, but it’s as long as it needs to be; it explores all of its core ideas to their fullest and then gets out of its own way, making it the perfect “snacky” experience.
Wild Guns Reloaded
If you’re looking for a game that accurately simulates what a classic Western shootout feels like, then Wild Guns Reloaded should be right up your alley. It’s a zippy arcade shooter in which you control one of several different gunslingers, all of whom have their own weapons and different strategies for taking on enemies. You’ll fight your way through various stages and boss battles, drinking in the dusty Wild West saloon town atmosphere as you do so.
Weird West
Weird West is that strangest of beasts: an isometric immersive sim. On the face of it, the game looks like the classic CRPGs of old, but don’t be fooled; this one shares more in common with games like Dishonored or Deus Ex than it does with Baldur’s Gate. Playing as a predetermined range of kooky characters, you must explore this Wild West world, which is teeming with Lovecraftian nightmares to uncover and strange twists on classic monsters with which to do battle.
Hard West
Tactical RPG aficionados need look no further than Hard West for their Wild West fix. This is a sort of XCOM-style turn-based tactics game that alternates between strategic combat and narrative decision-making. The combat is fast and fluid, so if you’ve ever felt like turn-based battling was ponderous and slow, this is very much the game for you. There are eight different story scenarios to enjoy, as well as a variety of extra hand-crafted turn-based missions to take on when you feel like a challenge.
West of Dead
If you liked Weird West and Evil West’s more supernatural and fantastical approach to the Wild West, then West of Dead should also be on your radar. This twin-stick roguelite combines procedurally generated levels with frantic, fast-paced shooting and cover mechanics. The voice acting is top-notch, too, with main character William Mason voiced by none other than Hellboy’s Ron Perlman. The game gets a little repetitive, but play it in short bursts and you’re bound to have fun.
Desperados III
The Desperados series hails from a time when real-time tactical games ruled the roost, so if you’ve played Shadow Tactics or the Commandos series, then you know what you’re in for here. Desperados III revolves around a misfit cast of cowboys and outlaws looking to take revenge on a notorious bandit. Each character has their own specialty, so you’ll need to use the varied skills of your team and your own strategic genius to make it through each level.
El Hijo: A Wild West Tale
We want to close out this list by giving a shout-out to an underappreciated gem. El Hijo: A Wild West Tale is an isometric stealth adventure set during the days of the Old West. Unlike many Wild West games, you don’t play as a grizzled outlaw in this one; rather, you play as a plucky young boy who must escape from his captors and make his way through a series of locations patrolled by no-good bandits and other ne’er-do-wells bent on harming him.