‘Hard
West 2’ developers on making a spooky Western with extra spaghetti
New
mechanics and a splash of Tarantino have allowed Ice Code Games to create a
sequel to a game it didn't make
NME
By
Andy Brown
August
4, 2022
Trying
to make a sequel that lives up to fans’ expectations can be tough, to say the
least. That goes double for Ice Code Games, developer of supernatural strategy
Western Hard West 2, because the studio didn’t even make the series’ first
game. So – how do you create a sequel that lives up to a game you didn’t make?
“We
approached the task with humbleness and respect,” says Ice Code Games CTO
Mateusz Pilski, talking to NME. “We thoroughly analysed reviews and opinions
about Hard West one and we spent a great deal of time brainstorming ideas
regarding ways to make this game ‘modernized’ and upgraded. We ended up
creating a massive document called Hard West Legacy – this document defined the
project and allowed us to set clear and solid goals. We also had the opportunity
to consult with developers of Hard West, since they’re based in Warsaw just
like us.”
Grzegorz
Ziemba, lead producer for Hard West 2, acknowledges the team had “pretty big
shoes to fill” – especially because of how popular the first Hard West was at
Ice Code Games.
“It
was exciting, as many of us were fans of the game. We had played it a couple of
years back and really jumped at the opportunity to create a sequel,” says
Ziemba. “As we knew the game well, we were able to focus our efforts on
figuring out…where can we go from here, how can we build upon this great game?”
For
Ice Code Games, building on the success of the first Hard West meant more than
just rehashing what had worked – the team wanted to bring fresh ideas to the
table. With that in mind, Pilski says the “main objective during the design
process was to make the game feel as Western as possible” – even if the concept of a turn-based shootout
seemed to clash with the frantic, messy flare of a classic Spaghetti Western.
“Gunfights
in western movies almost never look like typical turn-based battles in which
you carefully jump from cover to cover, most of the time hiding,” admits
Pilski, who says he started production by spending “literally every evening”
watching Western films to get a handle on the genre.
“Western
fights are more fast-paced, bold, full of bravado,” he added- and to capture
that essence, Ice Code Games bent the traditional rules of turn-based games.
This came in the form of a “game changer”: Hard West 2‘s new Bravado system, which
means that shooting doesn’t automatically end a turn, and killing something
refreshes a character’s action points.
“There
is no limit to kill streaks this way,” says Pilski. “Bravado is not about
shooting down one or two extra enemies within a turn – with proper planning,
foresight and exploitation of synergies between characters, the posse will be a
force of nature capable of taking down entire level sections before receiving a
single blow.”
Ziemba
adds that “Ricochet and Luck are both great examples of Hard West 1 mechanics
that we’ve built upon, that also support that Western fantasy and make our game
feel more aggressive.”
Ricocheting
allows players – and eventually enemies – to fire around an opponent’s cover,
bypassing their environmental protection with flourish. “Turtling won’t get you
far in Hard West 2,” warns Ziemba. “You better get out there and get them
before they have a chance to get you!”
The
team also used the sequel as an opportunity to revisit Hard West‘s Luck system.
Instead of acting more like a shield, Luck can now be used to increase the
chances of a shot landing. As Ziemba notes, this change is in line with Hard
West 2‘s “more aggressive” style of play and in tandem with Bravado’s potential
for combos, he says “this game is not about luck – it’s all about skill.”
In
tandem, Hard West 2‘s new systems push the game into feeling more like a
Western. Pilski says that whenever the team designed something knew, it
compared it to Magnificent Seven‘s iconic shootout scene and asked “did we
manage to convey that vibe?”
“We
put tremendous effort into figuring out what exactly makes a Western,” agrees
Ziemba. “As Mateusz said, Magnificent Seven was a very important reference, but
we also went through many other movies, from Sergio Leone’s and Sergio
Corbucci’s Spaghetti Westerns, through post westerns like The Unforgiven up to
modern Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez works – Django Unchained, From
Dusk Till Dawn and Desperado.”
One
of those entries – Tarantino’s vampire flick From Dusk Till Dawn – may seem
like the odd one out, until you remember that Hard West 2’s stirrups are
planted firmly in the genre dubbed Weird West, where Western fantasy meets
the…weird. Pilski says the team found “the most attractive thing about the theme
was this fresh combination of American Western and supernatural elements,”
adding that it felt like “a rather unexplored setting, compared to all the
cyberpunks, dark fantasy and zombie apocalypses” going around at the time.
To
that end, Ziemba says Hard West 2‘s visual style was inspired by weird west
graphic novels Jonah Hex and Just A Pilgrim. Pilski adds that the team also
played pen and paper RPG Deadlands – “It was so cool for me personally to
develop a game in the setting in which I played RPG sessions as a teen!” – and
invited the game’s co-creator, Matt Forbeck, to co-write Hard West 2‘s story.
The
result of Ice Code Games’ dedication to Westerns – and willingness to get weird
– is immediately obvious on Hard West 2‘s Steam page, which orders players to
“take control of a supernatural posse and catch the mysterious Ghost Train”.
It’s probably not a sentence you’d read every day, which is exactly what Pilski
was hoping for:
“We
are really hoping to bring something new to the table, to maybe enrich the
genre or at least propose a fresh approach with our aggressive,
Bravado-centered mechanics. The turn-based genre is 30 years old – not counting
chess. It should adapt to ever changing times and players’ expectations.”
“We
are very passionate about games and we want to share this passion with other
gamers,” adds Ziemba. “If someone enjoys our tactical game as much as we do, we
will feel we have succeeded!”
Trailer
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfiy6hKU0ZU
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