The Wild West is one of the favorite time periods inside the audiovisual world. Western is one of the most important film genres in history and the videogame world has taken its good doses of sun-bathed duels. We’ve already seen so many similarly themed games that a little innovation is like a breath of fresh air. This is exactly what Wild Bullets is, a fun arcade that challenges you to face an entire mob of demons that are threatening your town.
You could be thinking to yourself that the whole “demons that invade a town” is not super unique, but it is the perfect excuse to develop the incredible fun that Wild Bullets offers. That’s right, this tiny game is packed full of surprises for your smartphone’s screen.
This arcade challenges you to get rid of all the enemies that appear on your screen. To help you out with your mission, there’s a grid that allows your protagonist to move through the screen. Basically, you can move horizontally and advance by throwing punches or move backward by shooting your weapon. You’ll have to consider your moves so you can advance in the setting that’s filled with enemies in this peculiar adventure. Enemies, shots, bombs…it’s basically madness.
The game was developed by Tobias Örnberg and includes key aspects that make it stand out in this already saturated videogame scene for smartphones. The first thing that should be noted is that Wild Bullets invites you to advance quickly using its system of combos that’ll increase if you destroy your enemies before the bar reaches the minimum. Watch out though, the action demands moderation, which means that each move becomes a risk or reward and you’ll have to choose in a matter of milliseconds. The ‘patience’ that’s required is provided by the amazing coverage system included in the game: as soon as you advance towards an object, you’ll become immune to your enemies’ bullets as long as you don’t lift a single finger. You’ll have to consider if the coins are worth the effort or not.
Since we’re talking about that shiny metal, we might as well mention another key aspect of the game: the doors that’ll transport you to an evil world. If you stumble upon one of these portals, you’ll enter hell itself. Here’s the trick: hell is filled with gold. As you may imagine, the devils won’t let you grab it as easily so you’ll have to be quick and accurate if you want to make the most out of your trip to hell. Keep in mind that your adventure will be over if you fall into any of the lava puddles. You can continue where you left off if you spend a certain amount of coins or you can watch an ad. The coins can also be used to purchase different objects in the store, unlock new characters or permanently improve the characters that you already own. Difficult decisions left and right.
Your final objective is to destroy the four big bosses in the game. These battles are pretty intense because the mechanics change depending on the boss that you’re facing. Luckily, you’ll upgrade your sheriff as you advance through the screens: after you complete a level, you can pick one of three randomly generated skills. This element provides the unpredictability that the roguelikes demand (or roguelite if you’re strict about your definitions). Each round is different than the one before which provides incredible replayability.
We can’t really say that Wild Bullets is an easy game to play, but you’ll get the hang of it after a few minutes. Its frantic action and unpredictability invite you to play and play until you reach the end. And we haven’t even talked about its beautiful pixel art and its incredible BSO in chiptune. We like to talk about games that don’t receive the recognition that they should and Wild Bullets is definitely in this category. Download and play it because it’s definitely worth the while. Otherwise, who’s going to save us from the demons in the Wild West?
Wild Bullets for Android [APK] | Download
