Man what a bloody (hah) surprise this has been. When the lands seems barren of good stealth shooters, here out of nowhere in the haze comes Blood West like a fresh oasis to quench my thirst.

Blood west takes elements from the old Thief games and mixes if with chapter specific small open world survival horror elements. The Undead (the player) scour the lands to stop the ancient evil that has taken hold, from dessert towns to swamps and meadows, will you take on unique monsters with either stealthy applications or guns blazen.

If you like stealth gameplay mixed with intense gun play and deadly monsters and a well done soundscape and ambiance, give Blood West a try.

"if you start hearing this music, you're already dead"
- A certian african warlord

Memes aside, and while i havn't played this game as much to really justify this review (mostly considering the amount of mechanics to remember then you're playing Highfleet), i still need to express why this game is worth you're time.

Hightfleet is game about controlling a fleet of 35k toons flying fortresses, strapped with everything from 188mm cannons, to aircraft carriers to ICBM's (that includes the nuclear variant), with a very simply objective to retake the main city controlled by rebels, that so happens to house a giant nuclear powerplant responsible for powering the entair world. And while the rebels contain a giant fleet, infrastructure, trade routes and every ICBM on the planet. All you have is a small fleet, your cunning, your morales and your faith in god. Victory is an absolute must, No pressure.

Hightfleet scratches that particular niche of "Tactical strategy games", where it's just as important to manage everything from ships (that includes the design) and all the way through to morale, ammo and fuel for said ships. With many ship variant that helps your campaign, like:

- tankers: that increase the range your fleet can travel.
- interceptors: small, but fast ships design to quickly strike enemy fortifications and trade caravans
- early-warning: cheap equipt with every kind of rader you need
- and so on

But also to the action combat system, where you directly control your current fighting ship and take on your enemies in glorious air-based naval combat.

its also a rogue-like game, where everytime you fail your campaign, you can retry with a bigger budget to spend on now newly unlocked ships you found in your previous campaign. So Highfleet also offer alot of replayability, consider that each new run also randomises the city types and trade routes.

The visuals are solid plus to, Highfleet posses and "in the trenches" artstyle, with dessert brightness and a metallic industrial military interface. The sound effect both supply not only the sheer mass and scale of your ships, but also the thundering of what firring four 188mm cannons simultaneously would feel like.

all in all, Highfleet is an easy recommend if you're looking for a naval based rogue-like strategy game with heavy fleet customization and gorgeous (but grounded) visuals