New release: Boot Hill Heroes Part One

It has come to my attention that the spaghetti Western-themed jRPG Boot Hill Heroes (which we previously covered here) was released by developer Experimental Gamer a couple of months ago.

The narrative premise:

After an alleged attack by the Chepakwik Indians, the people of Bronco County are on the brink of war. Only a farm boy who knows the truth can stop it. Together with his three friends – a gunslinging desperado, an Indian princess, and a calamity jane – he must expose a conspiracy by bringing to justice the six outlaws of the notorious Saints-Little gang.

Their journey will take them through cowtowns, Indian villages, ranches, gold mines, prisons, and into the very heart and soul of the American Wild West. But on their epic adventure to right the wrongs of the past, will they see justice done or discover an even darker secret lying in wait behind the scenes?

As the narrative summary indicates, Boot Hill Heroes depicts a charming, cartoonish version of the American Wild West, complete with OK Corral style shoot-outs. The game’s graphic style reminds me of Earthbound, and it’s hard to imagine that that was anything other than a conscious decision on the developers’ parts. Boot Hill Heroes employs a particularly brisk active-time battle system with action points and support for 4-player cooperative play. You can see all of this in action in the trailer below:

You may notice that this release of Boot Hill Heroes is designated “Part One”–the developers explain that this is a full game of 12 hours length, not just an episode, and that it will be followed up by two sequels in the next year or so. (Part Two is planned for release this fall.) You can pick up Boot Hill Heroes Part One direct from the developer for $7.49; for now, it appears to be out on Windows only.

You can help Boot Hill Heroes Part One get onto Steam via the developers’ Greenlight page. For my part, I’ll be posting an IndieRPGs.com Checks Out episode on this one shortly!