![]() Even on consoles, loading an old save is just a quick click away. A built-in quick save feature in particular is a nice touch. Trial and error become the first hurdle players need to conquer in a lot of cases, which drains some of the excitement I have. There are some equalizers to mitigate those frustrations. This includes sneaking past guards, contending with elite enemy-types that are immune to your tricks, or simply just memorizing movement patterns that are so narrow you simply have one small window of opportunity to proceed. Even with Showdown mode on the beginner difficulty, some sections require precision timing to survive. This is the real Achilles heel when it comes to my own abilities, and why I had so much trouble playing Desperados 3. To really succeed in Desperados 3, you need to have perfect timing everything perfectly. The pacing ultimately is hurt by another issue, one that is beyond the game's control. Players will spend quite a bit of time positioning their characters with relative safety, something that actually detracts from the experience because it gives you too much leeway to methodically plan things out. The later missions make this incredibly obvious, where each section you interact with feels like miniature arenas over a fluid map. Desperados 3 has this nasty habit of having sections of the levels kind of “roped off” from each other, almost as if they were chunks of mini levels strewn together. While the use of the environment is well designed, the pacing is sometimes a bit off. The choices to go stealthy or even rip up a section through coordinated gunplay is also an option in almost every scenario, giving total freedom to the player on how they choose to proceed through a level. It doesn’t sap the challenge away, but rather adds a layer of tactical complexity that players can utilize. Showdown mode is an excellent quality of life feature that enhances Desperados 3 for the better. This allows for easier coordination for your squad and frees up movement for more tactical advantages. This allows you to pre-plan your movements and skill usage to create simultaneous actions, instead of cycling through characters normally. Showdown mode pauses the game in all but the highest difficulty level. ![]() Using Showdown mode to plan your attack is one of the best additions to Desperados 3.Īll of this interactivity is enhanced with the showdown mode mechanic, a new edition to Desperados 3. Players will have to crash a wedding reception, blow up a bridge, and rescue hostages in a swamp. Mission variety compliments the environment design each being a new miniature sandbox to interact with the level design. Each environment is a location you would expect to find in a western, from the swamps of Louisiana to the border towns of Colorado. with a surprising amount of variety of landscapes and missions. The environmental design shines to complement these skills. ![]() Even the more unique powers, such as new character Isabelle’s ability to possess enemies, offer a variety of options that often turn the tide in your favor. Each character has a small selection of skills that can distract, knock out, or outright kill enemies, and stringing them together in a coordinated effort is where the game truly shines. This can be in the form of lures, such as Cooper using coins to distract enemies, to more unique abilities such as femme fatale Kate’s skill to distract and lure male foes from their guard posts. Utilizing character skills is the key to success in Desperados 3. This is Desperados 3’s greatest strength, allowing the player to interact with the environment in a satisfyingly intimate way. Each level has a degree of linearity to it, but the pathway the player chooses allows for experimentation in how you progress forward. ![]() This is thanks to the strong level design, which borrows a few cues from larger stealth-puzzle games like Dishonored. What makes Desperados 3 work so well is the sheer amount of options available to challenge those playing. Position and timing are everything in Desperados 3. Instead, we get a slower, methodical experience that values patience and planning over instant gratification. Those expecting a ‘rootin, tootin, shootin’ kind of western will be sorely disappointed. This is a real-time tactics game that favors stealth and careful planning against insurmountable odds. The real meat of Desperados 3 is the gameplay, thankfully crafted by developer Mimimi Games, the team behind Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun.
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