

Or, you can set up your entire crew so that you can initiate several kills at the same time, quickly open showdown again and have them all hide their bodies within seconds before anyone notices anything. Entering showdown mode lets you use an action like Cooper’s coin throw to distract an enemy just as you initiate a kill with another character. The feature lets you pause time and layout actions for characters and then execute them in one button press (hard mode doesn’t pause the game, but you can still set off the chain of actions). This is where Desperados III’s ‘showdown mode’ comes in handy. The big brute Hector Mendoza can set up a bear trap for stealth takedowns, but it’s not going to be much use if someone walks around the corner and spots the gruesome demise left for all to see. Leaving a dead body on the ground in front of enemies will sound an alarm even an enemy dying from a knife throw will attract someone’s attention quickly. However, the key to stealth in Desperados III is that you need to be able to follow up on your kills. The game’s protagonist, John Cooper, is equipped with a blade he can use for typical stealth takedowns, or he can throw it for long-range kills. Whether it’s slinking around the green-tinted bayou or hiding between rooftops as you sneak across an upper-class town, Desperados III features massive maps littered with enemies and ways for you to take them out.
Desperados 3 cast how to#
It’s definitely not for the inpatient however as you’ll sometimes spend hours on one level slowly working out how to handle each enemy encounter efficiently.Īs this is set during the wild west you do have access to firearms and even a character with an explosive double-barrel shotgun, but Desperados III does encourage stealth, and that is the most rewarding way to play the game.

Desperados 3 cast trial#
You can move your entire crew as one group around the map or split them up and play out two different objectives at the same time - some missions even encourage this.ĭesperados III isn’t so much about trial and error gameplay as much as it’s about having the freedom to discover cause-and-effect. It’s disappointing that the genre may be the one thing keeping more players from playing what is one of the year’s best games, and the most fun I’ve had playing a stealth game in recent memory other than the Hitman series.Īs a real-time tactics game, you’ll spend the majority of your time scoping out the map in an isometric view and moving your characters one by one into cover or position for kills. The real-time, tactical stealth prequel to the long-dormant franchise is hard, but not to the point of being utterly frustrating. Go play Desperados III.I would love to know how many times I pressed the F5 and F8 keys to quick save and quick load while playing through Desperados III. Desperados III certainly ain’t no Red Dead Redemption, but If you are in for slow methodical gameplay and stomach the save system, you will be in for a good time. This game is definitely for the more patient gamer and all that patience and planning pays off satisfyingly when a set strategy goes according to plan, making you feel like one of the wily members of John Coopers crew. The playable characters are unique and present various ways to tackle each mission. Its western setting has been put to good use bringing multiple playable levels to life.

Overall, Desperados III is a great game that blends methodical stealth and isometric real time tactics cooking up its own flavor in the genre. Something I hope this newly independent studio considers while working on their next game. I do not mean this as a criticism though as Shadow Tactics in itself is a great game and I would not mind more of it, but a few more notable changes and innovations to set one title apart from the other would be great. From its stealth focused core gameplay to juggling skillsets of multiple characters, right down to the Showdown mode that lets you plan future actions of characters, all elements have been borrowed from the previous game set in Edo period Japan and executed with a bit more polish in this wild west setting. With all the above said, I do have to point out that Desperados III is pretty much a reskin of the studio’s previous game, Shadow Tactics. These moments feel like experiencing a western through and through. But it especially elevates the quieter moments of the game, of which there are plenty, when you hide your characters in the environment while scoping out the map and plan the next move. Background score is top notch and shines during cutscenes and loading screens. The visuals and voice acting are up to the mark and sell the Wild West setting with ease. Thankfully the mishandled save system was about as bad as the game gets, because the rest of the experience is rather impressive.
