[PREVIEW] Far Far West – Pure Co-op Chaos

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Right now, Far Far West is running a demo as part of Steam Next Fest and if you haven’t heard about it yet, this is a wildly chaotic cooperative FPS set in a supernatural twist on the Wild West. It’s not a complex game to pick up, it’s a 1 to 4 player multiplayer adventure where you and your friends become robot cowboys, taking on bizarre bounty contracts to level up, earn money, and grow stronger.

In the demo, one mission I tried was set in eerie, frozen land, filled with skeletons and all sorts of creepy enemies, but we’ll get into that a bit later. What really stands out is how every scenario is just packed with chaos: tons of action, exploration, and travel. Now, if you can rally a few friends to join, this is where it really shines as teamwork is important here. Sure, you can play solo, but it just doesn’t give you that same feeling. Now’s the perfect time to jump in, especially since the demo gives you a solid chunk of content. Oh, and I almost forgot. There are also spells in this game, so it’s not just shooting.

Cooperative Multiplayer Where Teamwork is Important

To kick things off, Far Far West centers you in a main hub area. It’s your home base, where you can upgrade your spells, improve your weapons and customize your cowboy’s look with new skins. What’s great is that the player who hosts the session is the one setting the mission, so they create the server, and you just jump in. The demo already has a huge community, so it’s really easy to find other players.

I ended up teaming up with a group that was a mix of veterans, one guy was level 53, alongside a few of us starting out, like me at level 1. Once you pick a mission, each one has its own objectives. But once you leave the hub, that’s when things get massive: the maps are huge, packed with main quests, side quests, and these secret missions you stumble upon. For example, in the frozen area, we found this odd side task to build a snowman, though we couldn’t quite figure it out.

These side quests reward you with cards: special perks you equip for that run, but are limited to only one player sadly, like boosting your damage, health, or speed. Now, the shooting itself is pretty straightforward. You have a main weapon and a secondary one, like a pistol, but you can unlock things like bows, sniper rifles, and more as you progress. And honestly, teamwork is crucial since so many enemies spawn and the world is just so big that you’ll be riding your horse a lot to get around. Luckily, everything is marked on the map, so you never feel lost as you ride from one objective to the next.

Huge Variety of Enemies Followed By a Bad AI

The gunplay and spell casting in Far Far West feels really solid. It’s not overly difficult to get the hang of as there’s a nice balance since there is no proper recoil. You can scope in to get better accuracy, though honestly, hitting enemies is pretty intuitive for the most part. What really drives the game’s forward is how it throws you into these chaotic situations.

Take, for instance, the last major challenge I faced before the final boss, there was this totem we had to destroy, and it came in two waves. The first wave was just a storm of enemies, so many types, some hurling bombs, others shooting, some charging with swords, others even holding shields. There’s a real variety, but what was a bit underwhelming was the AI. Sometimes they completely fixate on one player, ignoring everyone else, which breaks immersion a bit.

Still, despite that, the game stays fun because it never drags you into mindless grinding, it always keeps you moving forward with a clear goal. Back to that totem fight, the second wave was more difficult. The totem started spewing blue hazards on the ground, so you had this constant pressure to jump and dodge. What I really appreciate is how abundant the ammo is, you’re never left scrambling, and health boosts are always scattered around.

The Final Verdict

The difficulty also scales by mission, from easy to very hard, so it keeps you on your toes. And you can even use the environment, like throwing dynamite to clear enemies. Plus, the variety of spells is a total blast. They start off simple, but as you level up, you can unleash massive attacks like fire tornadoes, even a full-on atomic bomb. It’s just a really fun, wild ride that keeps you coming back for more.

In the end, Far Far West falls into that familiar co-op formula where you repeat missions, but each scenario offers a unique twist. While this definitely isn’t my personal go-to genre, I can absolutely see myself jumping in with friends. It’s worth noting this is launching in Early Access, and even now, the demo has a decent amount of content to experiment with. Sure, there were a few optimization hiccups, like FPS drops here and there, but overall, I had fun just exploring. So, if you’re on the hunt for something a bit offbeat and unique during Steam Next Fest, this one is a really solid pick.