The Wild West was a time of lawlessness, striking gold, and perilous shootouts - no wonder it's the subject of many of the best western games. We've donned our stetson and cowboy boots and set out on horseback to find you the cream of the American Frontier crop.
The best PC games based in the Wild West are inspired heavily by the cowboy media that has come before them, and it's fair to say that the humble Western is a cornerstone of American culture. The game studios that decide to take on the challenge of bringing this time period into our lives have a lot of pressure to get it right. Luckily, a number of them have absolutely nailed what being a cowboy is all about. We've done the hard work of corralling the varmints right here, from open-world games to strategy games and even vampire games, so here's our pick of the top Western games.
Here are the best Western games of all time:
1. Red Dead Redemption 2
A prequel to one of the best western games of all time, Red Dead Redemption 2 throws you in at the brunt end of life as a cowboy in an unforgiving open world. Not that RDR2 is without whisky swilling, tavern brawls, or nights camping under the stars, but we now see another side to this scrappy way of living. You play as Van der Linde gang member Arthur Morgan, who is the right-hand man of Dutch, the baleful leader of the outlaw gang. The murky morality the gang embraces to survive in a world that no longer accommodates their lifestyle is constantly tested across this epic tale - unlike many Western games, RDR2 looks at the American Frontier in transition, and that's brilliantly reflected in the downtrodden Van der Linde gang.
In Red Dead Redemption 2, you'll learn how to be a cowboy, but along with taming horses and bounty hunting, it's a place where you can lasso escaped outlaws and lay them on railway tracks like a pantomime villain, get drunk at saloons and start a town-wide brawl, and ride through the dry, dusty plains shooting deer for dinner. There's also an online game component to RDR2 that'll have you fighting rival cowboy gangs alongside your most loyal friends. Don't forget to check out our Red Dead Redemption 2 review to see what we thought of arguably Rockstar's greatest game.
2. The Oregon Trail
Arguably the definitive Western game, The Oregon Trail was an institutional rite of passage for American elementary schoolchildren in the '80s and '90s. It persists today as an exceptional educational game, but it's slipped into obscurity. Is it a little outdated? Yes. Is it as much an idle game that relies on luck over skill? Also yes. But if you're looking for a little piece of videogame and real-world history, then you can't get much better than the the MECC's strategy-driven portrait of pioneer life. It's been beautifully reimagined for modern audiences (and PCs), so you don't need to squint through pixels. Watch out for dysentery.
3. Hunt Showdown
Hunt Showdown manages to take what is now a slightly tired extraction shooter concept and inject life into it. Taking place in a beautiful yet eerily desolate 1800s Bayou, you and your squad are tasked with collecting the bounty on one or more monsters that are patrolling the area. A bit of detective work is required to figure out just where your target is, and then taking them down is another matter.
All of this with the threat of ambient life, and of course, other players who may be gunning for the same payday you are. Hunt Showdown looks fantastic and the Western-era firearms are satisfying to use, with the limitations of the time forcing your hand when it comes to developing new strategies and dealing with conflict. The paranormal take on a realistic Western shooter still feels novel now, several years after Hunt Showdown's release. We would most definitely suggest giving this multiplayer game a try.
4. Hard West 2
The original Hard West was a mighty fine blend of turn-based strategy, the supernatural, and good old-fashioned cowboy. Sequel Hard West 2 manages to offer that and more. When a heist on the infamous 'ghost train' goes south, you and your merry band must blaze a trail through the American frontier, fighting everyone from law enforcement to witches to the demons that threaten to consume you.
Despite being a turn-based tactics game, Hard Ward 2 still manages to keep its combat environments dynamic and alive while also offering some satisfyingly brain-twisting moves and combos that can see you take out a whole carriage of foes in one shot. Throw in a rip-roaring adventure that even gives Red Dead a run for its money, and you have yourself a Western game that's not only a great sequel but a worthy Western outing in its own right.
5. Desperados 3
The Desperados series is known for blending the iconic stealth game action of Commandos with the theme and setting of the Wild West. Mimimi Games did excellent work paying homage to this Commandos-style tactical strategy game with Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun, and the studio has applied that same formula to a third Desperados game.
Desperados 3 has everything you could want - stealth-based action, characters you grow to care about, and the exquisite tension of getting the timing just right so you can take out a bunch of enemies without raising the alarm. This story-driven game acts as a prequel to the original Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive, and you'll lead Cooper and his gang on a quest for redemption and epic, western-style shoot-outs. Since launch, the game has been supported with a healthy amount of DLC so you'll get plenty of value here, too.
6. Steamworld Dig 2
The original SteamWorld Dig was a perky Metroidvania with a Steampunk Western vibe. The sequel, SteamWorld Dig 2, takes everything the first game did and makes it better, starting with vastly improved looks. It's gorgeous.
You get to explore this colorful, vibrant world as a robot named Dorothy, who's in search of the first game's protagonist, Rusty. The story is surprisingly deep - much like the holes you dig in your search for minerals and crystals - and ties the whole SteamWorld universe together well. This sequel is roughly twice the size of its predecessor, too, meaning it takes about eight hours to finish, and you'll enjoy every moment.
You explore mines, gather resources, solve puzzles, and deal with enemies and traps like a regular Indiana Jones. Most impressive is how all of these components are balanced so that the game flows naturally from one encounter to the next. While SteamWorld Dig is still worth checking out first, SteamWorld Dig 2 removes all of its predecessor's rough edges and polishes the gameplay to a keen shine. A rare occasion of a sequel is better than the original.
7. West of Loathing
Western games have a habit of taking everything too seriously. Where are the barrels of laughs? Enter West of Loathing, a straight-up Wild West comedy game that features an entire cast of stick figures.
It's an RPG with turn-based combat, not unlike the early Final Fantasy games, but that's not what West of Loathing is about. Instead, it's about exploring this large and bizarre world and trying to do everything in it, from riding ghost horses to flushing toilets. It's filled with mysteries, spitoons, and spooky goings-on with supernatural characters like necromancers, goblins, and demonic cows.
There are puzzles, plenty of characters to talk to, and jokes delivered better than 99% of other videogames. The deliberately crummy graphics just make the game more endearing and even funnier than it already is. It's Westworld meets Strong Bad. Plus, it's the only game on this list to have a Daveyard - a graveyard for people named 'Dave'.
8. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger
The Call of Juarez series boasts having some of the finest Western games around, but the inclusion of Gunslinger over the perhaps more popular Bound In Blood may be a surprise. While the earlier games are undeniably excellent, they have aged a fair bit in places - whereas Call of Juarez: Gunslinger still looks great thanks to its wonderful cel-shaded art style. And it may be a few years old at this point, but we still back the 8 we gave it originally in our Call of Juarez: Gunslinger review.
Gunslinger also has the wonderfully cinematic 'cheat death' mechanic that slows down time and zooms in on the bullet that's about to kill you, and if you avoid it, you get your health back. In the moment of your near-death, the game's whole world turns black and white, apart from enemies, which allows you to dodge bullets as if you were Max Payne. The one-on-one 'Showdown' duels also stand out and are played almost like puzzles, as you maneuver your hands and sights while watching your opponent's, and you can even kill them before the time's up if you don't mind being called "dishonorable." There's even a slice of Bulletstorm in here as you earn bonus XP points for pulling off stylish kills.
It's Gunslinger's narration mechanic, however, that's the real standout. You play as Silas Greaves, whose older self is telling the story years later - and sometimes he gets it wrong, or others interject. The levels actually shape themselves around the tale being told, so enemies, areas, and even time itself can change right in front of you. All of this makes Call of Juarez: Gunslinger an unpredictable, incredibly enjoyable, and unique shooter.
9. Gun
Back in 2005, developer Neversoft took time off from the Tony Hawk series to release one of the best Wild West sandbox games under the title of Gun. Its original appeal was born out of novelty, as it came out when an open-world Western game was a new concept. But Gun is worth playing today because it has different ideas than the likes of Red Dead and its ilk - plus, it's still a really fun shooter.
Beyond that, Gun has an excellent story written by movie writer Randall Jahnson, known for The Mask of Zorro and The Doors. This is accompanied by a great soundtrack and some impressive acting talent, including Lance Henriksen, Ron Perlman, Kris Kristofferson, Brad Dourif, and Thomas Jane as the main character Colton White. The entertainment offered by the shooting is enhanced by Neversoft's 'QuickDraw' slow-motion aiming mechanic, which is incredibly satisfying to use.
While it's a little short, and sadly, Gun 2 failed to emerge since Activision moved Neversoft on the Guitar Hero train, Gun still holds up as a unique cowboy title that hits a stride of its own, offering a look at where the genre could have gone.
10. Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath
Most of the Oddworld series focuses on the friendly Mudokon named Abe as he escapes and plots revenge against his corporate owners in a series of action-adventure games, but there was a time when Oddworld focused on a new character in a Wild West setting - and it's wonderful.
Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath follows the Stranger, a bounty hunter who tracks outlaws for the bounty to pay for a life-saving (and mysterious) operation. The gameplay is a weird mesh of third-person action-adventure and FPS. Both are entertaining, but the shooter portions stand out due to the Stranger's primary weapon being a crossbow that fires live animals. It's far less horrific than it sounds due to the Muppet-like manner in which it's portrayed. Best of all, it never stops being fun as you head out, setting up traps consisting of live monsters to chew your enemies to death.
It's all supported by a wonderful, imaginative world that developer Oddworld Inhabitants clearly put a lot of time and effort into creating. Despite being set on an alien planet, the Mongo River Valley feels more alive and believable than many locations that feature in games set on Earth. Luckily, Stranger's Wrath got an HD re-release a few years ago, so it still looks pretty great today.
11. Outlaws
There are none of the fancy ideas you get in modern shooters here. Outlaws, which is one of the few original LucasArts IPs that wasn't an adventure game, is a pure, straightforward, and well-designed FPS in the style of the original Doom and Star Wars: Dark Forces.
LucasArts was one of the few '90s developers to put the story front and center. That means the classic Western revenge story of Outlaws gets to shine. You play as retired US Marshal James Anderson, who returns home to find that a gang of vicious outlaws have kidnapped his daughter and murdered his wife. You have to track them down over an excellent string of levels that channel pure old-school FPS action.
It's rather basic by today's standards, but if you accept it as no-nonsense fun with tightly designed levels packed with secrets, you'll get a hell of a kick out of Outlaws. It's surprisingly realistic in parts, though - a couple of bullets from your basic pistol will kill any enemy (except the bosses), so its range of weapons is better weighed up for their accuracy than firepower. Special mention has to be given to the voice acting, too, which even sports John de Lancie (Q from Star Trek) as "Dr Death", and the incredible orchestral soundtrack by Indiana Jones regular Clint Bajakian.
12. Weird West
If the Dishonored experience, packaged as a top-down yeehaw ARPG with a slick cel-shaded aesthetic and supernatural elements, sounds like a bit of you, then Weird West is for you. WolfEye Studios' impressive immersive sim grants a huge amount of choice over how you play, as open-ended gameplay problems require open-ended gameplay solutions.
For example, you may be set upon by bandits, but opting to keep one alive can yield important information that will help you down the line. This dynamic sandbox-based gameplay loop feels redolent of the Deus Ex or Hitman series, particularly when it comes to choosing between sticking to the shadows or going loud.
Those are the best pure Wild West games to be found on PC. However, gunslingers can be found far and wide through gaming, from Overwatch 2 characters to DBD killers, not to mention space games like BattleTech or pretty much anything Star Wars. The influence of the Western runs deep - after all, who doesn't want to be a gunslinger?