|| REVIEW || Desperados III (PC)

Developed By : Mimimi Games                                         Published By : THQ Nordic
Category : Real Time Strategy, Stealth, Tactical
Release Date : June 16, 2020

A long while back, when Twitch started giving away monthly free games for Prime subscribers, I was introduced to a fun looking RTS game called Shadow Tactics. When I say introduced, I mean indirectly. I claimed the game because hey, free stuff right? But it wasn't until a good friend of mine streamed it that I started to feel the title tug at me. Not long after I, finally fired up my free product and the hook was latched. And I don't mean just on that title, I mean on the entire genre. My previous exposure to tactical games had been turn-based, so needing to strategize and react to constantly moving and active targets was definitely something new.

Eventually that same friend recommended the Desperados series of games to me as old RTS titles he had used to enjoy. Lo and behold, when he mentioned them they were on sale on Steam so I grabbed them and dived in. It was an older and by comparison a bit rustier version of what I was getting hooked on, but I fell in love with John Cooper and the west. So when I heard that not only was there going to be a new entry in the series, but that it was being helmed by the same team that put out Shadow Tactics I knew I had to get my hands on. And so it was.

A chance meeting alongside a stopped train is the beginning of a blooming partnership

John and the Gang

Desperados III takes us back before the original game, letting you watch and control the shaping of John Cooper's shady gang. John is out for a heavy dose of redemption as his journey takes him all over, from the mountains of Colorado, to the swamps of Louisiana and almost anywhere imaginable in between. But, while it may not be the most in-your-face approach of delivering the story, this band of misfits is going to carry you on the journey that you're about to love.

A hardcore tactical game through and through, you'll need to use each of these party members to solve every problem and puzzle you come across on your journey across the country. Luckily, each of them bring something unique to the tale to help out in specific scenarios, either on their own or with their powers combined with the others.

John himself can be quite distracting with the literal flip of a coin, and can deal a quick death with his dual pistols if needed. Hector is the muscle of the group, swinging a load of death with his axe, but he can also lure some enemies out of the way with a whistle and force them to step into his bear trap, Bertha. Kate may not be the strongest of the bunch but she can slip into any disguise and distract just about any man, or lure them away to get rid of them. Doc McCoy is a stealthy bounty hunter who can sling some knockout gas, or rely on his silenced weapon to snipe out enemies from afar. Lastly, Isabelle brings some magic to the group. A rumored swamp witch, she can alter her enemies brains to either control or connect them.

There are many ways to find joy on someone's wedding day...

Overcoming the West

As great and perfect as the game may sound though, the challenges you'll face will definitely put you to the test. Each mission will be loaded with plenty of enemies in your way, and you'll have to approach each one a little differently. Each person also has a gender, so whether you're targeting a man or woman can also effect things and how they play out.

Regardless of the gender or the level of enemy, everyone has a view cone that you can activate to see and plan out your tactics. A green cone means they don't suspect anything going on, but will turn yellow if they think they see something or are alerted by a nearby action or noise. The solid portion of their viewcone is their immediate field of vision, whereas if it's shaded and filled with lines, this area is more obstructed for them. You can navigate the shaded areas as long as you don't do anything suspicious, but if they spot you the cone will start to fill yellow. You'll need to break their line of sight before that yellow portion reaches you, otherwise they'll be sent into high alert and start attacking.

Your most common enemy will be the gunman/woman, or thugs. These guys are easily duped and taken down by just about anything. Any distractions you use on them are almost guaranteed to work. John can flip a coin to send their attention in a specific direction for a short time, or Hector can whistle to lure them to a specific spot. The only thing that won't end up working is trying to use Kate's disguise to distract or lure any of the female guards away, they are apparently unwelcoming of her advances.

Above these guys are the Ponchos, easily recognizable by wearing said item of clothing. These guards are much more alert than their gunman/woman counterparts and won't be so easily swayed. Noise distractions don't effect them, they will recognize something happened such as hearing John's coin, but they won't turn towards it, nor will they go investigate Hector's whistle.

Long Coats are the toughest ones you'll come across. For starters, Kate's disguises will not distract these guards at all, so if they get eyes on her she's done for. The icing on the cake for these guys though is they are a lot tougher. Hector is the only one capable of taking down a Long Coat by himself, so if you don't have him at your disposal you'll need a coordinated attack to do something.

You'll also need to deal with dogs in a number of levels. Their view cones are a lot smaller, but don't let it fool you because it doubles as a scent cone. So it won't matter if you're hiding in a bush, on the complete opposite side of a fence, if they catch your scent at all they will rat you out in an instant.

The flavorful banter between characters adds to the enjoyment of each mission. In this one in particular, Hector and Doc end up in a "playful" bet on who can rake up the higher body count.

Solving the Puzzle

While your party has all the necessary tools for taking down your enemies and getting your objectives completed, they aren't your only means. Each map is filled with tons of solutions, and many different paths to reach them. Like I said above, experimentation is key, so don't be surprised when you're feeling like your F5 and F8 keys are getting the most workout playing this game.

For one, there's a bunch of different options to make your kills look accidental. That's right, accidental. Each environment has a number of items that can be utilized for a couple of kills and when you do so, they won't raise the suspicion of anybody who witnesses it or comes across it after the fact. Maybe you find yourself in the middle of downtown and a building is being assembled, but one of the walls looks a little loose? Just slash the support cables off and make some pancakes out of your enemies.

But the biggest tool at your disposal is Showdown Mode. This mode let's you pause the gameplay, and set up a massive chain of actions by your party, all to be triggered simultaneously. If you find yourself coming across a handful of guards that can't be taken down individually, just take them down together. Or, you can assume a bit more control with Showdown mode and queue up one characters specific action, and trigger it exactly when you want so you can manually utilize someone else.

Every action you make creates some level of noise, even sneaking in close for a kill or a knockout. When what you're doing is going to make noise, a blue circle will come up showing you exactly how loud it's going to be. Some are smaller, like John's distracting coin, but others are louder like gunfire or Hector's intentional luring whistle. So you will know before you do anything whether or not you can get away with it clean or you might draw some attention.

And sometimes, that extra attention is what you want. Later maps introduce thing like visible footprints when you're walking through mud or sand. Naturally your first instinct is to not leave any tracks to be spotted, but there may be the special occasion where getting those footprints spotted can help you lure a troublesome guard away from his post or patrol route, and get him just where you want him.

By far the coolest way to end a mission, watching a fast-forwarded rendition of your actions play out for your enjoyment.

Yippee-kiyay Mother...

It's one thing to know you're going to love a game before you get your hands on it. But what can you say after you start playing it, and you find yourself hours deep still having "oh my god" reactions? Because that's where I am with Desperados III. Like I said, knowing it was coming from the same studio as Shadow Tactics was an easy sell for me. And even though you can spot many commonalities between the two, you realize that it's almost necessary in a game like this and just helps it shine even more.

One of my favorite things about this title though was something that was implemented just for this game. Upon completing a mission, you eventually end up on a screen that is a single shot overview of the entire map. All around this map are various dots. Red ones for the enemies, different colors for each of your party members, and so on. What happens is a fast forwarding of your entire progress from start to finish, so it's a cool and fun way to sort of relive everything you've just done. What's more, is it displays for you how long the mission officially took, so quite a few times I found myself reacting with "Holy crap, that was two hours?!"

As of this writing, I am about halfway complete through my playthrough, but I can't recommend this game enough. It's tough, it's puzzling, but holy hell is it rewarding when you can get things done in it. If you are any fan of a challenging RTS game, don't hesitate to pick up Desperados III. You won't regret it.

Sometimes...there are no answers.

Game Rating : 10/10

Pick up the game HERE on Steam

Also Available on : Xbox One and Playstation 4

A code for this game was graciously provided

to the site for the purpose of a review.