Yippee Ki Yay my fellow gunslingers. Today we have something new and refreshing. If you like strategy, puzzle-solving, and Westerns, then we have to introduce you to Desperados III by developer Mimimi Games and publisher THQ Nordic. On the surface it looks like a tactical RPG, and while that is true, there’s so much more to explore. Let’s get into it!
We start the game as a young Johnnie Cooper, shadowing his father in the hunt for some outlaws. He teaches us how to take down enemies and how to find ways around the environment. The tutorial ends with Cooper’s father telling him that he is not ready for a gun yet. Years pass since that moment and now Cooper has a gun, his father’s knife, and his many distracting coins. The train Cooper is riding through Colorado has been ambushed, and now we need to clear the way. But we can’t take on this gang alone. Cooper meets McCoy, a stone-hearted doctor with a knack for killing thugs. They form a posse to deal with the threat. And that is just our introduction to the series!
A lot of the game involves you sneaking around and killing/incapacitating enemy outlaws. You thin the pack enough so that the final confrontation bodes well for you. In the tutorial, you don’t have to make too many tactical decisions, but in the first mission you get to take advantage of your newfound knowledge. There are also new obstacles thrown at you to make the game a bit more challenging. Each character you play as has an assortment of tools available to clear a path. In the first mission, Cooper has coins that make a sound that distract where the enemy is looking and McCoy has a brief case that will temporarily stun a greedy bag snatcher.
Be sure to read the helpful messages in the loading screen; they make up for anything you might have missed in any of the hints and tutorials. One of the things that will stand out to you if you play Desperados III is that the camera is not locked on to your character. You can move your character and the camera simultaneously, similarly to a strategy game. You can follow your character by pressing down on the D-pad. But this detached camera is what helps us make key decisions. Sometimes there’s an enemy that is overlooking the enemy you’re about to take out. The best advice is to assume someone is watching, so look around and then act.
If you mess up, it’s okay. You can quick save and load almost on the fly with the simple press of a back button or the start button. You are allotted up to 3 quick load slots, which is very convenient. To make things easier, you can also press up on the D-pad, which pauses time (slows on hard difficulty) and lets you plan out specific action for your characters. Once you have your plan down, you can press Y to initiate it. Then you can watch on as it works like a charm or fails horribly.
One of my problems while playing was character management. You can select multiple characters to move around, which is also very convenient. Could you imagine moving 4-5 characters one by one across a whole map? What I struggled with was when it was not a stealth game anymore and enemies were attacking my two flanks/characters at the same time. Under pressure I felt clumsy changing between Cooper and McCoy, trying to shoot at the oncoming traffic. What I should have done was used the planned-out action while the game is paused. Even then it felt like it was borrowing from a tactics shooter, but it was real-time. Something, I’m sure players would get used to, but might struggle with at first. I don’t know if I could micromanage more than two players at once like that.
Other than that, the score is awesome. It sounds like something right out of a Spaghetti Western. The mood changes from epic to calm when going from the main menu or mission select to the actual mission. I also think the voice-acting is very well done, from our playable characters to the no-good criminal NPCS. The level design feels clever and deliberate to get you across the map. There are some obvious paths that lead you to fulfill side objectives, like saving innocents or finding ammo caches. The environment is also very pleasing to look at. In a way, it reminds me of the Witcher: Thronebreaker when you are walking around the area. Overall, I think a fair rating for Desperados III is a 9 out of 10. I look forward to riding off into the sunset.
Check Out the Desperados III Accolades Trailer:
Desperados III is available for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. For more information, please visit: https://desperadosgame.com/
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I like to think of myself as the average Joe who grew up alongside video games. I have fun playing strategy games, RPGs, shooters, sandboxes, the whole shebang! Every game provides an experience whether it strikes you as profound, mundane, or someplace in between. I'd like to weigh in my two cents before you spend a single penny.
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