Desperados 3 Review: Tactical Adventures in the Wild West

Mimimi Games can be proud of itself: almost every mission in Desperados III takes more than two hours. But despite this, I again and again continued to return to the previously completed task. And all thanks to the high replay value, the presence of secondary goals, including the speedy passage of each task.

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If you are familiar with the Desperados series or have played 2016's Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun from the same studio, then you should understand that the third installment is a similar isometric stealth game with an emphasis on the use of several characters, each of which has its own unique skills. . And in terms of plot, Desperados 3 is a prequel to the rest of the franchise, which reveals the origin of the protagonist John Cooper and his motley partners.

As you progress through the game, you will gradually unlock four other Cooper companions, learn how to use their skills and equipment, unique to each hero. Moreover, all unlockable tools and abilities are useful, regardless of whether you are moving through a narrow space with patrolmen or you are tasked with eliminating several targets in a huge location. Desperados 3 is without a doubt one of the most detailedof all the tactical stealth games I've played over the years. Still, the game manages to be pretty flexible. You can always choose between going into open battle, being creative in killing opponents, or trying to complete the mission in the shortest possible time.

Each task has many additional goals for which badges are issued. This is the above timed passage, and the lack of saves, and other more sophisticated tasks (for example, making the deaths of four enemies look like an accident). And your five heroes are so diverse that you will be surprised more than once how different the routes for passing the same task can be.

For example, Kate O'Hara can use a disguise that allows her to roam near enemies, even in restricted areas. She can then distract them with a conversation or lure them to the right place. But she can also stun the enemy with a knee strike or shoot with her small revolver. Dr. McCoy will use a deadly poison syringe, a long-range colt, or a special bag that first attracts the attention of the enemy, and s?That blinds him. Hector uses an axe, a bear trap and a sawn-off shotgun, while Isabelle is a true voodoo witch, able to bind two targets or enslave one, establishing mental control over her and forcing her to do what she wants. The individual weaknesses of the heroes manifest themselves in the form of various physical limitations, due to which the game kind of forces you to use all the characters.

You can perform actions on all characters at the same time. Thanks to this, the Shift key is used. It stops time, allowing you to choose actions for each hero (one at a time). So you can kill several opponents at once, or divert the attention of one enemy to finish off the second. Once allocate actions, press Enter to execute them, or Shfit to continue the game (and then you can press Enter or on individual keys for each character's actions). The environment plays an equally important role. You don't just have to hide or move corpses into bushes, haystacks or barns. There are horses that can stun enemies, or bulls that literally kill those in front of them. In order to anger the animal, you need to use a John Cooper coin. There are also all sorts of boulders, logs, explosives and so on. Later it will be necessary to take into account the presence of light.

There are also some of the most obvious problems with the behavior of AI opponents. So, they can ignore pools of blood, weapons lying around, the apparent disappearance of their interlocutor, and so on. But all this is true for other stealth games as well. And none of these issues make Desperados 3 any less compelling or addictive.

Each stage consists of several parts. First, for example, you need to penetrate into some area, then complete the main task, and then get to a position that will allow you to escape. After completing the mission, you will receive full statistics on its passage, as well as find out which medals you managed to get and which ones are still to come. After a certain plot point, the Baron will get in touch. He will offer to replay previously completed tasks, but with certain conditions.

Desperados 3 is an exceptional game created by a studio that understands the idiosyncrasies and intricacies of the genre to perfection. Completely redesigned user interface and control system suitable for multi-level players.

The plot of the game does not do anything original, as it is limited to the chosen genre, but all the characters are well pro?Abotans are cute and interesting in their own way (albeit slightly clichéd). If you play thoughtfully, then the story campaign can take you over 30 hours. A faster passage will have at least 20. This is a real masterpiece, combining two of the most interesting areas - stealth and western.