Does Evil West Have Good End Game Content?
Yes, Evil West does provide enjoyable end game content through its New Game Plus mode, endless Jesse‘s Nightmares challenge, and potential for future DLC. While not as extensive as some other action games, there are enough extra modes to extend Evil West‘s 12 hour campaign for most players.
Evil West is the latest supernatural action game from Flying Wild Hog, the developers behind the Hard Reset series. Set in an alternate 19th century Wild West overrun by vampires, werewolves, demons and other nightmarish creatures, you play as Jesse Rentier, a vampire hunter working for a top-secret institute.
As Jesse, you‘ll blast through hordes of monsters and undead abominations using a variety of upgradable weapons like shotguns, rifles, and a lightning-fueled gauntlet. With satisfying gunplay and intense combat, Evil West delivers an enjoyable experience for fans of third person shooters.
But with the main story lasting around 12 hours, does Evil West offer worthwhile end game content and replayability after the credits roll? Let‘s dig into what awaits players who finish Evil West‘s campaign.
An Enjoyable New Game Plus Mode
The good news is yes, Evil West includes a New Game Plus mode that unlocks after defeating the final boss. When starting a New Game Plus, you‘ll keep all of Jesse‘s weapons, upgrades, abilities, consumables and more that were earned in the initial playthrough.
According to reviews, this provides a great way to replay the game with an empowered character while still facing compelling challenges.
In Evil West‘s New Game Plus, all enemies and bosses are tougher with increased damage and health pools. This ramps up the difficulty to test your skills against harder foes, even with end game gear.
Destructoid in their Evil West review found that "New Game+ provides a significantly more arduous challenge."
There are also collectibles and secrets that can be easier to grab when you have all of Jesse‘s abilities from the start. This gives extra incentive to explore.
Evil West‘s New Game Plus mode offers a chance to experiment with new gear and ability combinations as well. You can respec Jesse‘s skills and switch up your builds to find fun new playstyles.
According to VG247‘s review: "I had a blast returning to levels with maxed out weapons and abilities on New Game+."
So while the core story stays the same, the extra challenge from tougher enemies and ability to find missed collectibles make New Game Plus a worthwhile reason to replay Evil West.
What Carries Over to New Game Plus
When starting a New Game Plus, here are all the key items and progress that will carry over:
- Jesse‘s level and all unlocked skills
- All acquired weapons and weapon upgrades
- Weapon skins
- Consumable items like ammo and grenades
- Crafting materials
- Money
- Challenge cards and card upgrades
Areas that get reset include:
- Main story and cutscene progress
- Fast travel locations
- Gate keys needed to advance the story
This means you‘ll keep a ton of your hard-earned strength and loot while the world gets reset to maintain balance.
Steadily Increasing Difficulty
A common question is whether the challenge continues ramping up if you play through multiple New Game Plus cycles.
The answer is yes, enemies and bosses will keep getting tougher with each successive NG+ run. Their health and damage dealt scales higher to provide an extra challenge.
The developers confirmed this in a Reddit AMA, stating “the more times you NG+ the harder the game will become."
So while Jesse maintains his levels and gear, the enemies grow in power to keep subsequent playthroughs demanding. This encourages playing multiple New Game Plus runs to face greater tests of skill.
According to tests by players, by NG+7 and beyond, even basic enemies can kill you extremely quickly unless you‘re very cautious and strategic with crowd control. This keeps players on their toes.
Strong Replay Value
Given the steadily increasing difficulty, is it worth running through Evil West‘s New Game Plus mode more than once?
Here are some of the incentives that make repeat playthroughs enjoyable:
- Trying new builds – Respecing lets you test different skill and gear combinations.
- Harder enemies – The progressively tougher foes will push your abilities to the limit.
- Collectibles – New Game Plus makes finding all documents, posters, etc. easier.
- Achievements – Certain achievements like finishing on max difficulty are easier to obtain.
- Maxing upgrades – You can farm more money to fully upgrade everything.
- Co-op – The chaotic action can be fun to experience again with a friend.
As long as the challenge excites you and you want to fully upgrade Jesse‘s gear or find all secrets, NG+ can provide great replay value.
Destructoid said in their review: “I’m impressed by the length of time it will take most players to fully upgrade everything available." So maxing out your gear will take several runs.
One reddit user said: "I’m glad NG+ actually makes things harder so it never feels boring or pointless."
In my opinion, Evil West could benefit from even more New Game Plus content like extra enemy types, rare gear, or modifiers to increase variety. But the scaling difficulty provides strong motivation to keep replaying.
Jesse‘s Nightmares Provides Endless Action
On top of New Game Plus, Evil West includes an extra mode called Jesse‘s Nightmares unlocked after completing the story.
This mode offers an endless survival-style challenge across 3 different maps. You‘ll face escalating waves of enemies and need to carefully manage resources like ammo and health.
It‘s a great way to test your combat prowess outside of the structured campaign levels. There are leaderboards to compete with other players for high scores based on number of enemy kills before dying.
Jesse‘s Nightmares isn‘t a full horde mode, but provides a sizable post-game combat challenge. Polygon‘s review said Nightmares is "a welcome bit of replayability."
In my opinion, Jesse‘s Nightmares is a fun extra mode, but only having 3 maps prevents it from being truly endless. Some randomized elements would help vary things up. Still, it‘s a nice addition overall.
DLC Could Expand End Game Further
Developer Flying Wild Hog hasn‘t announced any concrete Evil West DLC plans yet. However, given their past DLC support, additional content seems likely.
Some possibilities that could provide even more end game include:
- New story missions focusing on side characters
- Additional weapons or ability upgrades
- More collectible-filled levels
- Extra Jesse‘s Nightmare maps
- A full horde mode
- Increased level cap to allow more progression
As VGC said in their review: "We’d love to see more story and horde content added post-launch."
Past Flying Wild Hog DLC has been reasonably priced and added a lot of gameplay, so potential Evil West add-ons could offer great value.
In my view, a full horde mode with leaderboards would be the most exciting DLC addition to give near endless replay for those seeking to master the combat. More gear and levels would also be welcome.
What Players Are Saying About End Game
Here‘s a sample of what players have said about Evil West‘s end game:
- "NG+ gives a reason to replay the 10 hour story."
- "I‘m having a blast with the increased difficulty on each playthrough."
- "Some may want even more content, but Jesse‘s Nightmares gives me plenty to do."
- "Maxing skills and upgrades will take several runs thanks to New Game+."
The general consensus based on reviews seems to be that while some players hoped for even more end game activities, the inclusion of New Game+ and Jesse‘s Nightmares provides solid replayability.
Evil West‘s relatively short runtime likely contributed to players wanting even more post-game content. But there‘s enough extra modes to extend the experience for most.
Evil West End Game Content Overview
| End Game Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| New Game Plus | Replay story with tougher enemies and existing gear/upgrades. Difficulty increases each cycle. |
| Jesse‘s Nightmares | Endless survival mode with escalating enemies across 3 maps. |
| Potential DLC | No details yet, but likely story expansions, new modes, etc. based on their past DLC. |
Does Evil West‘s End Game Hold Up Against Other Action Games?
Compared to other top action games, how does Evil West‘s end game stack up? Here‘s a quick overview:
- DOOM Eternal – Includes full horde mode, master levels, and campaigns with new enemies/abilities on each replay. More content overall.
- Devil May Cry 5 – Bloody Palace mode has over 100 floors of enemies to fight through. Significant replayability.
- God of War (2018) – Features tough new game plus enemies and secret armor sets to find. Less end game than others.
- Shadow Warrior 2 – Offers an extensive procedural survival mode with online co-op. More replayable than Evil West.
- Remnant: From the Ashes – Full horde mode, rogue-like dungeon, and intense adventure mode provide near endless replay.
While Evil West may not have as extensive end game offerings as some genre leaders, Flying Wild Hog did include meaningful replay content with New Game+ and Jesse‘s Nightmares. There‘s still plenty here to enjoy after the credits roll, especially if DLC adds even more modes down the road.
In my opinion, Evil West could benefit from an expanded horde mode and perhaps rogue-like elements to randomize levels. But the end game provides solid fun for those who want to keep testing their combat abilities against tougher foes.
Should You Buy Evil West for End Game?
For players considering Evil West specifically for its end game replay value after completion, here is my advice:
If you crave hundreds of hours from a game‘s end game activities, Evil West may feel limited unless substantial DLC arrives. Games like DOOM Eternal or Remnant likely offer more replay at this time.
However, if you‘re looking for a quality 12 hour main campaign with fun supplemental modes that add decent replayability, Evil West is a great option.
The escalating New Game+ difficulty and extra combat challenges are worthwhile end game additions. But players expecting endless horde mode options or rogue-like elements may leave wanting.
For most fans of linear, story-driven action games, Evil West should provide enough extra content through its New Game+ and Nightmares. The end game offerings sufficiently extend the experience beyond a single playthrough.
So while not the deepest end game, Evil West offers enough replay to be worth it for players who enjoy challenging their skills against progressively tougher enemies.
Conclusion
While Evil West could benefit from even more replayable end game activities like expanded horde mode or rogue-like elements, Flying Wild Hog did deliver on providing solid post-game content:
- The New Game Plus mode scales nicely in difficulty and allows easy collectible cleanup.
- Jesse‘s Nightmares gives a sizable combat challenge across 3 maps.
- Potential DLC down the road may add exciting new modes and expansions.
For fans of intense third person shooter action, there are worse ways to spend your time than replaying Evil West‘s addictive combat against deadly foes.
So if you‘ve finished Jesse‘s adventure and want more, the New Game Plus and Nightmares modes should provide plenty of enjoyment as you fully upgrade your gear and take down heavier enemies.
While not as extensive as some genre leaders, Evil West‘s end game is worthy of praise. I hope you found this deep dive into the end game insightful! Let me know if you have any other questions.