[STEAM] Far Far West developer Q&A: "Like with pretty much everything we do, we just went with a vibe"

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Whether stemming a tide of Tyranids in Warhammer 40:000: Space Marine 2 or whaling on one of Left 4 Dead's chargers to make it stop pummeling your pal, the

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thrive when you're hard-pressed to keep up. Far Far West, developer Evil Raptor's breakout co-op shooter, is no exception. It's equal parts maximalist and stubbornly simple, pitting spellcasting robot cowboys against escalating hordes of supernatural cowpokes – accompanied by the greatest (and first) techno-banjo soundtrack I've ever heard.

To dig into Far Far West's creation, inspirations, and the philosophy driving the small team at Evil Raptor, GamesRadar+ caught up with developer Arnaud Petit.

Questions and answers have been lightly edited for clarity

Goin' out West

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(Image credit: Focus Entertainment) Here are 25 of the

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we'd recommend playing (if you haven't already)

How did the development team come together?

Petit: Evil Raptor was born out of Pumpkin Jack back in 2020, when Nicolas, the head of the studio, was solo-developing the game. Following its success, we had the opportunity to hire more people and become more ambitious with our projects. Most of the current team already worked together on our previous title, Akimbot. So, transitioning to Far Far West was just a natural continuation of our work as a group, with a few new additions to ensure we could make the game as good as possible.

Similarly, how did the creative vision of Far Far West take shape?

Petit: The art direction, the atmosphere, mood, and overall fantasy come from Nicolas, who is incredibly skilled at creating spooky and moody vibes. As for the concept of spell-slinging robots fighting skeletons… honestly, it's just cool. Gameplay-wise, our main objective was to create a fun (a very important word for us!) experience that anyone could enjoy, from casual to more hardcore gamers.

Far Far West actually went through three major iterations. Our first prototype was a fresh take on tower defense, and the second leaned into a linear, mission-based structure similar to games like Left 4 Dead. When we realized those directions weren't clicking the way we wanted, we decided to take our best ideas, throw them all in the same bag, and focus entirely on tight gunplay, funny spells, and wacky combos. We mixed it all into a replayable game loop, and the game finally found its footing! While we had a solid foundation, we iterated heavily and integrated player feedback right from the start, which really helped shape the game into what it is today.

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(Image credit: Evil Raptor) I adore the music, particularly that crescendo in the final stage of an extraction. Could you tell me a little about why Far Far West's musical direction felt right? (Bonus question: would you like to name your electro-gothic-Western genre, if you haven't already?)

Petit: Like with pretty much everything we do, we just went with a vibe, and that vibe perfectly matched the rhythm of the game. Our composer also did the OST for our previous game, Akimbot, which was heavily electro-based. Since that's his specialty, we wanted to carry that energy over. You just slam some banjo over it, think cowboys, and you get this "electro banjo bop." Not tying ourselves to a specific name or genre keeps the door open to pretty much anything, so we're just going with the flow!

Are there any other developers – solo or studio – that you look up to?

Petit: There are obviously a few names that constantly come up when people compare Far Far West to other titles, like

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or Deep Rock Galactic. They are staples of the co-op shooter space, and they both did an excellent job defining the genre in their own unique ways. When it comes to the gunplay itself, I also have to mention Overwatch. They did an incredible job making shooting feel as satisfying as possible for an FPS, and we definitely studied their animations closely!

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