One of my earlier PC gaming memories is playing Desperados at my friends house. We would both sit at his PC and plan out how we were going to tackle the levels in front of us. It was a great game, everything from the setting to the gameplay was fantastic.
Then a few years back saw the release of Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun from Mimimi games. It was another stellar strategy game that I loved playing through. Hearing that the Desperados franchise was going to be making a return in the extremely capable hands of Mimimi had be very excited.
What is Deperados 3?
Desperados 3 is a real time tactics strategy game, that puts you in the shoes of Cooper and his gang of misfits. You’re on a quest for redemption that will take you from rural towns, swamps and riverbanks. There you’ll be planning your every move as you sneak and shoot your way through an engaging story driven campaign.
There are a total of five playable characters, each with their own talents and tricks to make use of. You can tackle missions in a number of ways allowing for freedom to get creative. Carefully plan and execute your moves with the Showdown mode that lets you pause and stack up moves. This way you’re able to tackle larger groups in one fell swoop.
First Impressions
Mimimi Games have released a demo of the game on GOG.com. In this demo, you’ll be able to try out three levels. The first is a short tutorial that teaches you the mechanics of the game. The second is a fully-fledged mission. Whereas the final level gives you a taste of what to expect on the third mission. Each of the levels provides an excellent taste of what to expect from the full game.
During the demo, you’ll play as Cooper and Doc McCoy during the train mission. Then you get a sneak peek at Hector Mendoza. Each of the characters has a unique way of playing them. Cooper has two revolvers and a knife that can be used up close or thrown. Doc on the other hand has a long-range sniper pistol. A doctor’s bag that can be used as a decoy that emits a gas that confuses and foes. Furthermore, he also has a syringe that can be used to take down enemies. Finally, Hector is a brute of a man and can lay bear traps to lure enemies towards. Additionally, he also has an axe for taking on the tougher enemies you’ll come across.
Each character feels fun to use and offers a different way to play. However, it’s when you start to combine their abilities that you’ll really have fun. Like Shadow Tactics, Desperados 3 features a way to pause the game called Showdown mode. During Showdown mode you’re able to queue up actions so that you can execute multiple moves all at once. It’s the perfect way to set numerous traps. Or to take down more than one enemy at a time. On the harder difficulty, you’ll still have access to Showdown mode. However, it won’t pause the game, making it riskier to use.
The Wild West
Desperados 3 is an excellent looking game. Each of the levels is packed full of detail and has lots of interesting areas to explore. The music accompanying the game is also excellent and sets a wonderful wild west tone throughout. Exploring is also beneficial in some circumstances as you’ll be able to overhear civilians chatting, and they may offer you some useful tips for how to approach situations.
From what I’ve seen of the game so far, I’m been impressed. I was left wanting more from what I play of the demo. Which is certainly a good sign.
Desperados 3 releases on the 16th June 2020 on Playstaion 4, Xbox One and Windows PC. I’d certainly recommend you take a look!
-Will
