Wild Frontera

Developer: Tamarin Studious
Steam Release: Apr 2015
Hours Played: 5.5
Similar To: Blue Rider / Full Mojo Rampage / Gunnheim / Splatter / Utopia 9
Rating: 2/5 Parsnips

 



*No longer available on Steam. 

GAMEPLAY
Wild Frontera is a challenging action RPG where you take control of a gunslinger from the wild west. From a steep almost top-down perspective you follow a linear path while confronting a huge variety of villains and hazards. These range from an assortment of bandits and cowboys, cannonballs and laser-firing cannons, barrels that shoot bullets in all direction to wolves, dogs, chickens, raging bulls and bomb-dropping zeppelins. Throw in a few ghouls and spirits and you have everything but the kitchen sink. The environments cover most locations that recall the wild west, with your journey covering 8 tricky stages. Be prepared, this is no brisk saunter like a Diablo, Torchlight or Titan Quest. This is a tough, lose three lives and you're dead routine...and lose lives you most certainly will come Stage 3 or 4. 

BALANCE & PACE
Thankfully, there is a reasonably forgiving checkpoint system that puts you back on your feet (with all three lives replenished) at the critical point before your last death. You'll not have to do large portions of the game again but you will have to replay a lot of sections within stages because they're plain tricky. The game is controller compatible but I'd recommend the WASD keys and mouse for firing as the controller is cumbersome and slow. As you dodge missiles and kill enemies, the first two stages will seem reasonably negotiable but there is a sharp difficulty spike around Stage 3 or 4 where restarts come thick and fast. You'll pick up gold and upgrade stats and weapons at shops but I never felt I had enough gold. My shotgun was the best I could afford but I always felt underpowered.     

PRESENTATION & DESIGN
Graphically, the game is aesthetically pleasing and reminds me of Full Mojo Rampage. You have a great many environments associated with the wild west of the USA such as deserts, country trails, ranches and corrals - and these blend well to create the right atmosphere. The perspective is also noticeably steeper than your usual hack and slash action RPG and this gives it a unique quality. The menu of the shop also fits in with the character of the game despite the prices and stats of the guns being illogical and unbalanced. Outside the main game you have fairly plain menus with the leaderboards option being the most interesting. Unfortunately, the game strangely does not allow you to replay stages again so you cannot try for a better score or attempt to get more coins.

PROGRESS SYSTEM
There is no levelling up in Wild Frontera. You simply guide your character through the stages, stop at the shops to buy upgrades when the opportunity arises and attempt to get as deep into the game as you can. In this respect, you might say that getting to the highest stage possible is your main goal. Just keep your eye on the hearts in the top left and try to make good decisions when spending your gold in the shop. (I'm not sure I did.) To keep things competitive, there is a leaderboard option which stores your score in each of the eight stages. This score is ranked so you can see how you compare with the rest of the world; 77th at the tough Stage 4 isn't too shabby methinks. However, the downside is that if you cannot get past the trickier stages, then the content of the rest of the game will remain forever locked.  

CONCLUSION

For better or worse Wild Frontera goes down as a hardcore, old-school style game which might not sit well with those used to more forgiving games like Diablo III, Torchlight and Grim Dawn. In short, you'll need to take a step back, work out the patterns that enemies and their bullets take and then initiate your attack. The impatient, who like to stomp through a game by crushing their foes quickly and seeing a sea of dead bodies in their wake will soon be stomped on themselves. However, those who might like the sound of this more ponderous action RPG will still need to take heed of the game's limitations. Yes, it is difficult; yes, less than 20% have got beyond half way; yes, it can get frustrating and yes, it's hard to save up for anything half-decent from the shop. But if you're up for a challenging action RPG this might well be the one for you.