GamesRadar+ VerdictThe novelty of a 13-character cast is a solid hook for Wild Bastards, but a myriad of streamlined and sidelined elements compromise its potential to the point of becoming a trip to outer space that you won’t remember for long after hitting credits.Pros+All characters have a twist to offer+Memorable voice actingCons-The setting is sidelined-Superficial challenge-Monotone gameplay loop that lacks variety
GamesRadar+ Verdict
GamesRadar+ Verdict
The novelty of a 13-character cast is a solid hook for Wild Bastards, but a myriad of streamlined and sidelined elements compromise its potential to the point of becoming a trip to outer space that you won’t remember for long after hitting credits.
The novelty of a 13-character cast is a solid hook for Wild Bastards, but a myriad of streamlined and sidelined elements compromise its potential to the point of becoming a trip to outer space that you won’t remember for long after hitting credits.
Pros+All characters have a twist to offer+Memorable voice acting
All characters have a twist to offer
Memorable voice acting
Cons-The setting is sidelined-Superficial challenge-Monotone gameplay loop that lacks variety
The setting is sidelined
Superficial challenge
Monotone gameplay loop that lacks variety
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Why you can trust GamesRadar+Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about our reviews policy.
Pardners in crime
(Image credit: Blue Manchu)
Fast FactsRelease date: September 12, 2024Platform(s): PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, Nintendo SwitchDeveloper: Blue ManchuPublisher: Maximum Entertainment
Fast Facts
Release date: September 12, 2024Platform(s): PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, Nintendo SwitchDeveloper: Blue ManchuPublisher: Maximum Entertainment
Release date: September 12, 2024Platform(s): PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, Nintendo SwitchDeveloper: Blue ManchuPublisher: Maximum Entertainment
In Wild Bastards, you command groups of space outlaws who must progressively find and revive their former partners in crime while escaping from a cast of adversaries. The primary appeal is discovering what each outlaw has to offer, as they all have a unique weapon, upgrades, and signature special ability to experiment with. The structure of what constitutes a “run” is geared toward these rescue missions, with a new character waiting for you at the end of a galactic sector.
Each galactic sector is always procedurally generated, offering an increasing number of branching paths for you to choose from. Traversing through sectors reminded me of FTL, where you can assess your route options to get from point A to B and, on occasion, bump into a short decision-based event. However, Wild Bastards approach this in a far more linear fashion - events are sporadic and ever so challenging, mostly resulting in a character being injured or trading items. In essence, most nodes will take you to a planet, to which you have to descend and then find the exit to warp back again to your ship. Combat encounters on planets are the one chance to take control of your outlaws in first person, shooting down enemies in bite-sized arena encounters. And when I say bite-sized, I mean anything from a few minutes to a few seconds.
(Image credit: Blue Manchu)
In order to level up a character, you need to manually pick cards scattered during the exploration phase on a planet - the latter is akin to a board game, in which you move your units around during your turn. Each outlaw has ace, core ace, and a charged ace cards. Regular aces are picked between two to three options, while core aces are strong traits that are usually related to the character’s weapon or ability. As for the charged ace, it’s a limited-use passive that needs some time to recharge and can be replaced. You can’t fully upgrade each character, which leads to subtle yet engaging decision-making when exploring sectors.
Glorious Basterds(Image credit: Blue Manchu)Afterreviewing Void Bastards back in 2019, despite countless roguelites in the years between, it has stuck with me ever since. Gunfights are tense, experimentation is encouraged and rewarded, and the science-fiction setting wrapped in a comic book-style cel-shading gels greatly with its cosmic horror and peculiar crude humor. It’s a shame Wild Bastards doesn’t come together like its influence.
Glorious Basterds
(Image credit: Blue Manchu)Afterreviewing Void Bastards back in 2019, despite countless roguelites in the years between, it has stuck with me ever since. Gunfights are tense, experimentation is encouraged and rewarded, and the science-fiction setting wrapped in a comic book-style cel-shading gels greatly with its cosmic horror and peculiar crude humor. It’s a shame Wild Bastards doesn’t come together like its influence.
(Image credit: Blue Manchu)
Afterreviewing Void Bastards back in 2019, despite countless roguelites in the years between, it has stuck with me ever since. Gunfights are tense, experimentation is encouraged and rewarded, and the science-fiction setting wrapped in a comic book-style cel-shading gels greatly with its cosmic horror and peculiar crude humor. It’s a shame Wild Bastards doesn’t come together like its influence.
Eventually, I found my go-to outlaws. Some of the ones I favored simply had a weapon with very few drawbacks. Sarge, for example, can summon a shield that protects him from most projectiles, which in itself is kind of boring. His rifle, however, has an absurdly long range, a fast fire rate, and decent ammo size. I was often able to deal with entire encounters without switching to the second outlaw. Others, like the snake Hopalong, can use a lasso to capture and strangle individual enemies, even the tougher ones, while Roswell’s ability lets you bounce against the floor and back up to the air for a few seconds, staying away from danger and taking down multiple enemies with each plunge.
Tame lasso
(Image credit: Blue Manchu)
As the crew grew in size, I began to wonder how the game’s structure would work around so many options available. Each world allows for a certain number of characters at the same time, usually from two to four grouped up in pairs. Sometimes, as you’re descending on a planet, an outlaw can be randomly scattered and find themself displaced around the board-game map, which creates a temporary division until you reunite with them. For the most part, it’s the story that gets in the way, juggling your available options for spoiler reasons, as well as the relationship mechanic.
The outlaws can become pals or get into a feud with each other depending on your actions. The former usually occurs when you rescue a character that was scattered on a planet, and makes it so they have a special attack if their pal is injured three times during a fight. The latter, which is the result of doing the opposite, makes it so those two characters can’t be part of the same group to explore a planet until you’ve remedied the feud. While interesting on paper, there isn’t enough depth to it – you just need to use a can of beans, found as loot or purchased in stores, to restore a relationship. It’s not so much about adding social tension as it is about solving a temporary nuisance.
When compared with Void Bastards, it’s unfortunate that this spiritual successor doesn’t leave a stronger impression. Aside from memorable voice acting, the 13 characters aren’t given room to become more than just a few occasional banters. The setting, a high point of Void Bastards, lacks a cohesive purpose here. While both games are clearly different, even if you ignore Wild Bastards being any kind of spiritual successor, it’s not much of a standout amidst others in the genre. There’s absolutely a strong case for having more roguelites explore streamlined structures while offering similar thrills to their biggest, more complex influences. Wild Bastards presents interesting ideas along these lines, but they end up scattered across outer space, never quite managing to land on common ground.
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