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When I first played Void Bastards, the prequel to Wild Bastards, I almost immediately fell in love. The comic book art style mixed with sci-fi roguelike elements felt wonderful together. Coming off of that, I was extremely excited about Wild Bastards, which evolves the game while pushing it into a new Western theme, and after playing the demo, I think it will be a necessary game on the Steam Deck.

WildBastardsNextFestDemo 3

Wild Bastards is another roguelike first-person shooter but leans a bit more into the roguelike elements. As you go across different galaxies, you will choose different nodes to land on. Some of these will provide shops or give special rewards, while others contain planets to beam down to. These planets are where you get the bulk of the game. You will go to different areas on the map, which can contain enemies, shops to replenish health or buy modifications, ways to teleport across the map, and a way to head back to the ship. The shops contain items to buy with in-game currency, while the reporters will allow you to travel instantly to other teleporters on the map.

You move your crew across the map as if you were controlling your pieces on a board game while the enemy does the same on their turns. When you encounter these enemies on the board or go to roadblock spots, combat begins. You are taken to a smaller map and must remove a set of enemies. Each hunter has their own specific fun and ability that you can pick up, so choosing your team wisely will be very beneficial in the long run. The gunplay itself feels very smooth and a little weightless, like some guns don’t have enough power, but it still feels pretty good regardless.

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Before going into maps, you will choose the bounty hunters to bring down and get the chance to modify and level them up. You can also modify them while on the map and moving around.

There wasn’t much more to the demo than a little taste, but it was enough to excite me! It all felt like it meshed well and was fluid. I especially enjoyed the combat with its bite-sized segments that don’t overstay their welcome. It retains the amazing comic-book-esque visuals, which look phenomenal, especially on the smaller screen.

WildBastardsNextFestDemo 1

This also impacts the performance of the Steam Deck. The demo could handle 90 FPS on the OLED the entire time, which is wonderful. It’s not surprising, but because the combat takes place on smaller battlefields while retaining the less demanding visuals, it plays perfectly.

The demo for Wild Bastards is available now to try it out for yourself, and I highly recommend it!

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Noah Kupetsky
A lover of gaming since 4, Noah has grown up with a love and passion for the industry. From there, he started to travel a lot and develop a joy for handheld and PC gaming. When the Steam Deck released, it just all clicked.
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