Edited by: Tiffany Lillie

Outlaws of the Old West is a promising survival MMO in Early Access, developed by Virtual Basement and published by Wandering Wizard. You wake up in a wooden coffin in the middle of nowhere, left with only the minimal clothes on your back and your will to live. With nothing but nature around you, it’s up to you to survive the harsh world and build a new life in the Wild West.

CHOOSE YOUR MODE

With multiple modes to pick from, Outlaws of the Old West offers a variety of playthrough experiences. You can choose to triumph alone in single player mode, basking in solitude and avoiding the harm of other players, or you can pick between the PVE, PVP, and RP modes in the online options. PVP is great if you’re looking to take down other players and become the greatest outlaw, and PVE is perfect if you’re looking to explore the world with friends or want to interact with others. While each mode has its own set of difficulties, there is a pleasant amount of variety to choose from.

SURVIVE THE ELEMENTS

Once you’ve picked your preferred mode, you’re faced with keeping your health and energy up, finding water to quench your thirst, hunting or harvesting food to avoid starvation, and finding a way to combat the extreme temperatures in each biome. With so many factors in play, it sounds like it should be a tooth-and-nail fight to survive… except it’s not. Once you find water and gather up a few resources, survival almost becomes a second thought. Food is pretty easy to come by and the rest of your needs can easily be met by crafting things like a campfire or a canteen to store water. Though the occasional predator will pose a vicious threat, the core survival aspect doesn’t always feel like a challenge.

THE WILD WEST

Outlaws of the Old West promises a large open world, and it certainly delivers. With thousands of kilometers to explore, it can take several days to reach each corner of the map. There are also multiple biomes scattered throughout the world, offering up interesting changes in scenery, weather, animals, and plants to find. While the world feels fresh and its size truly adds to the desolate nature, it can feel too big at times, especially if you’re looking to play with others. Depending on where you spawn, it can sometimes take an hour or two of walking to come across anyone else.

In addition to the large map, the crafting tools allow you to make your mark on the world. You can build a small log cabin to hole up in or even a sprawling mansion made of refined wood, along with stations that allow you to build things like clothes and saddles. You can build whatever structure your heart desires, which adds a nice amount of customization and variety overall. On the downside, the crafting tools can be frustrating to navigate, as they aren’t sorted in any order and there is little to no instruction on how to get the certain items needed for crafting.  

MISSING FEATURES AND BUGS

As fun as fighting animals, exploring the world, and building unique structures is, Outlaws of the Old West does suffer from several bugs. There were numerous times when I would have to restart due to a major mechanic not working, such as my character getting stuck walking backward, trees and rocks not giving resources, or tools like the lasso not working. I encountered a few problems with the FPS stuttering and some rubber banding that could quickly make aiming during a fight impossible. There is also an issue where the gold star that shows which server your character is in does not work, forcing you to remember the exact server name to find your character and all their progress.

After a few hours of gameplay, the missing content also becomes increasingly clear. For example, while money is dropped by bandits and inventory items are worth a price, vendors have not yet been implemented and money serves no purpose. That being said, the developers do update the game frequently and could resolve most of these issues and implement the desired features well before the official launch.