Desperados III Review

"Blasting Up Ye Olde West"

Campaign

October 23, 2020 at 5:30pm
By Jason Stettner

This is a narrative driven fast paced turn based strategy game. It’s set in the west, primarily following John Cooper as he joins forces with various individuals in order to hunt down his father’s killer. There are of course smaller aspects to this tale, but that’s what the heart of this venture is all about. To achieve this you’ll be working through long levels using stealth and smart tactics to complete objectives.

You’ll be eliminating opponents, trying to reach certain points through any means necessary and even trying to add a small dash of stealth during the right situations. You get a wide range of locations across the chapters, each with its own style and options for replay if you want to try something new. It’s somewhat like Hitman actually, in that there are different approach options in some situations. I was particularly pleased during the scenarios with full freedom and just a general goal to accomplish, those were fun.

Other ones provided a far harder mission, yet at the same time felt rewarding since you could see a map of what you did after you completed a level. Story wise I felt this hit the mark on the era, while also having some neat characters. A runaway bride, a large trapper and even a mysterious lady. It’s wild when you get a large team together, more dynamics in terms of your combative approach for sure.

Gameplay

You get a real sense of freedom in controlling how situations will play out. You can freeze things, run it fast or even shift your perspective. It gives a lot of control, and you really can meticulously execute your plans. It’s impressive in that regard, and you get so many tools. From special abilities that your crew has, to the weapons available and even perhaps just the environment.

You may find something very helpful as you’re scavenging around, you’ll need to be careful and thorough to get the right setup going. With a focus on stealth play you get good indicators to understand if you’re being watched or about to be detected, it works well.

The visuals are also great, such an excellent level of depth to some of the smallest details. On top of that you get some cinematic cutscene moments, and in general the world really captures the west in the most brutal way it can. There can be some graphic scenes and locations, keep that in mind.

The Conclusion

Desperados III is a generally great tactical game, it provides a brutal western environment to explore and gives you the freedom to tackle situations how you please. It delivers some quality gameplay time across a number of very distinct levels.

You’ll be embraced by a good challenge, and many options for taking on the problems you need to solve. It’s actually generally impressive, and a really well done game. Perhaps niche, but certainly worth the time if you fit into this genre of interest.

It’s definitely a different sort of experience, one that embraces the cliché elements of the west in the best of ways. Certainly will be enticing, providing fun times and a good number of laughs too. Get revenge, meet weird folks and battle it out to be the best slinger out in the region.

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Desperados III Review on Xbox One X
Review Code Provided by Evolve PR

Rating Overall: 8.2