Opening
Softonic just covered a new soulslike western in the works, built around posthumous concept art from the artist behind Half-Life 2 and Dishonored. It confirmed what a small pocket of PC players have been quietly proving for a few years now: frontier settings and soulslike combat pair well together. Dust, revolvers, and stamina bars all reward the same patience. While the announced game is still a long way from a release date, there is a real backlog of soulslike western games on desktop worth loading up right now. We narrowed the shelf to seven titles that fuse weird-west, occult, or straight frontier settings with combat systems that punish sloppy inputs and reward measured play.
What to look for
The genre label gets stretched. When we tested for this list, five things separated the picks from the also-rans.
- Combat feedback that rewards deliberate timing over button mashing, with clear hit and hurt frames.
- Stamina, ammo, or spirit systems that force choices in the middle of a fight.
- Failure loops that carry a cost. Losing progress or resources on death is central to the tension.
- Frontier atmosphere with credible lighting, weather, and a soundscape built around wind, gunmetal, and hoofbeats rather than orchestral swell.
- PC performance that holds a steady frame rate at 1440p on mid-range hardware without leaning on aggressive upscaling.
Two of the picks are tangential. We flag those honestly so you can skip if the western hook is what you came for.
Quick comparison
| Game | Best for | Platforms | Price | Multiplayer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weird West | Weird-west immersive sim | Windows | $39.99 | No |
| Hunt: Showdown 1896 | PvPvE with real stakes | Windows | $39.99 base | Yes, up to trios |
| Blood West | Stealth-forward occult FPS | Windows | $19.99 | No |
| Evil West | Coop vampire-hunting brawler | Windows | $49.99 | Two-player coop |
| West of Dead | Twin-stick roguelike | Windows | $19.99 | Two-player coop |
| Wanted: Dead | Rough-edged character action | Windows | Discounted from $59.99 | No |
| Trek to Yomi | Cinematic samurai combat | Windows, macOS | $19.99 | No |
The games
1. Weird West for the weird-west immersive sim
Weird West is the pick that names the entire subgenre. WolfEye Studios, founded by Dishonored veterans Raphael Colantonio and Julien Roby, built an isometric immersive sim across five interlocking character stories. The combat rewards positional play with revolvers, dynamite, and folk magic. Enemies remember what you did in earlier missions and follow through with grudges. The stamina-adjacent psyche system limits how often you can cast, so every encounter demands a fresh plan.
Where it falls short: the isometric camera hides some of the environmental storytelling that shines in first-person immersive sims. Combat feel is closer to a tactical shooter than a Souls parry loop.
Pricing: $39.99 on Steam, regularly discounted below $20 during seasonal sales.
Platforms: Windows.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: The one to load first if you want the weird-west label taken seriously.
2. Hunt: Showdown 1896 for PvPvE with real stakes
Hunt: Showdown 1896 is Crytek’s 1896-set extraction shooter, rebranded and rebuilt around the CryEngine upgrade delivered in mid-2024. Louisiana bayou maps sit alongside the new Colorado map added in the rebrand. You hunt bounties across a map shared with other player teams, and one bullet from a lever-action carbine ends most fights. The tension between PvE monsters and PvP ambush is where the soulslike DNA hides. Losing a hunter means losing their loadout and their perks.
Where it falls short: matchmaking can be brutal for solo new players against premade trios. The learning curve on gun handling is steep.
Pricing: $39.99 base on Steam. Battle passes and hunter DLCs sold separately.
Platforms: Windows.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: The best expression of frontier survival tension in a multiplayer PC game.
3. Blood West for stealth-forward occult FPS
Blood West is Hyperstrange’s undead-cowboy first-person shooter. It reached full release after a long early access period and now runs three chapters of open zones. Stealth kills with a bow are the safest opener, then you switch to revolvers and dynamite for the bosses. Ammo is scarce enough that you plan approaches before triggering fights. Death costs you a chunk of loot at your corpse, which you can recover if you get back to it.
Where it falls short: enemy variety plateaus in the third chapter. The Unity engine build shows its seams during the largest set pieces.
Pricing: $19.99 on Steam, one of the cheaper picks on this list.
Platforms: Windows.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: The strongest budget pick for pure weird-west atmosphere.
4. Evil West for coop vampire-hunting brawler
Evil West is Flying Wild Hog’s third-person brawler set in an alternate frontier where vampires have infested the American west. The combat leans on a chargeable gauntlet, revolver combos, and lightning-based lock-ins. Levels are corridor arenas rather than open zones, closer to God of War than a Souls world. Two-player online coop scales enemy density and makes the boss fights read differently. It sits at the edge of the soulslike label, but the resource economy and the punish-if-you-miss beats belong in the conversation.
Where it falls short: no branching build paths. The upgrade tree is thin compared to the RPG picks above.
Pricing: $49.99 on Steam, frequently discounted around 60 percent during sales.
Platforms: Windows.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: Best for two friends who want a weekend of loud, kinetic vampire hunting.
5. West of Dead for the twin-stick roguelike
West of Dead is Upstream Arcade’s cover-based twin-stick roguelike voiced by Ron Perlman. William Mason wakes in the purgatory of Wyoming, 1888, and shoots his way through four biomes of themed enemies. Cover snaps let you break line of sight and reposition, so the loop feels like Hotline Miami crossed with a slower spaghetti western. Each run seeds fresh loadout choices, and death sends you back to the hub with a small pile of persistent currency.
Where it falls short: the run length is short by roguelike standards. Later biomes lean on similar encounter patterns.
Pricing: $19.99 on Steam.
Platforms: Windows.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: The best pick if you want short sessions that still respect your inputs.
6. Wanted: Dead for the rough-edged character action
Wanted: Dead is Soleil’s cyberpunk cop character-action game. The Hong Kong setting is not western, but the tempo, punish windows, and cover-shooting-into-melee handoff make it a soulslike in spirit if not in world. Combat is heavier than a stylish action game and less forgiving than a modern brawler. Boss fights ask for pattern reading and stamina management in a way frontier fans will recognise. We include it as the tangential pick that rewards patience with players who can look past its rough shell.
Where it falls short: dialogue and cutscenes are uneven. The mid-mission minigames grate.
Pricing: Launched at $59.99 on Steam and heavily discounted since.
Platforms: Windows.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: A cult pick for players who like sharp combat wrapped in an awkward package.
7. Trek to Yomi for cinematic samurai combat
Trek to Yomi is Flying Wild Hog’s black-and-white samurai action game, framed as a 1950s Kurosawa homage. It is a samurai story rather than a western, but the parry-riposte loop and the wide-open plains photography are so close to a Sergio Leone read that fans of frontier tension keep coming back to it. Combat is deliberate and rooted in a small set of stances that reward correct timing more than combo depth.
Where it falls short: short campaign length. The exploration between fights is linear.
Pricing: $19.99 on Steam. Included on select subscription services at various points.
Platforms: Windows, macOS.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: The tangential samurai pick that scratches the frontier itch on a different continent.
How to pick the right one
The right entry depends on how strict you are about the two halves of the label.
If you want the weird-west label taken literally: start with Weird West. It carries the strongest immersive sim credentials of the group and the writing rewards multiple runs across different characters.
If your priority is combat pressure and stakes: Hunt: Showdown 1896 is the answer. Nothing else on this list punishes a bad decision as quickly.
If your budget is tight: Blood West and West of Dead both sit at $19.99 and both hold up. Blood West wins on atmosphere; West of Dead wins on session length.
If you want a coop weekend: Evil West is the pick. Two-player online carries the campaign well.
If you like Souls games mostly for the parry loop: Trek to Yomi delivers that specific pleasure in a short, focused package. Wanted: Dead delivers it in a rougher, cheaper package.
If you are here waiting for the Softonic-covered soulslike western to release: use Weird West and Blood West as the two closest tonal proxies while you wait.
FAQ
Is Weird West a true soulslike?
Not strictly. Weird West is an isometric immersive sim, not a stamina-parry action game. It earns a place on a soulslike western list because the resource pressure, punishing failure states, and world persistence share DNA with the genre. If you define soulslike by parry windows alone, Weird West sits outside the strict definition.
Are these Steam Deck friendly?
Trek to Yomi and West of Dead run well on Steam Deck with default settings. Weird West is playable but benefits from a custom control layout for the ability wheel. Hunt: Showdown 1896 runs but the small text on the UI is hard to read on the handheld. Evil West and Blood West are playable with performance-tier settings but drain the battery quickly during set pieces.
What is the best coop soulslike western?
Evil West is the strongest coop pick, with two-player online across the full campaign. Hunt: Showdown 1896 supports trios but is competitive rather than cooperative. West of Dead runs a shared-screen coop mode that works for two players on the same PC.
Which one is closest to the announced soulslike western?
We do not know the tone of the announced game beyond the concept art descriptions. Based on the artist’s earlier work on Half-Life 2 and Dishonored, Weird West and Blood West are the closest tonal proxies in the current market. Both lean into the occult end of the frontier rather than the pure Rockstar-style realism.
Can you play these on macOS or Linux?
Trek to Yomi has a native macOS build on Steam. The other six are Windows first. Linux users can run most of them through Proton with reasonable success, and Steam Deck compatibility ratings are a good proxy for expected Proton behaviour on desktop Linux.
Are any of these free to try?
Hunt: Showdown 1896 runs occasional free weekends. West of Dead has appeared on Prime Gaming in the past. Otherwise none of the seven have a permanent free tier. Blood West is the cheapest at $19.99 for the full campaign.
