I have been a big fan of turn based strategy games ever since I got to play XCOM 2 a few years ago, but this would be my first foray into the real time strategy genre. I was vaguely aware of Mimimi productions having played a small demo of Shadow Tactics but I never got myself to sink my teeth into that game. Even having no experience whatsoever of the previous Desperado games I was going into this one completely blind. However Desperados 3 was an absolute joy to play and had me hooked to the screen from the start to finish.
Each of the characters bring a unique flavour to the game both in terms of gameplay and attitude.Though the main storyline focuses on Cooper’s journey, he never feels like the main character. The game does a good job in making the player experience the story from five different perspectives who come together with a singular goal in mind. I found it really hard to pick a favourite character as each of them offered me unique ways to enjoy the game, however getting a good snipe with McCoy definitely felt the most satisfying.
Desperados 3 is a top down real time strategy game with set stages/levels that remain the same on every playthrough. At face value it might seem simplistic and straightforward to get through a stage but each encounter can be played out in thousands of different ways making the level feel just a little bit different each time you play it. The level design is masterful in its own right as to how it guides you from one objective to another and always keeps you on your toes until the stage is cleared. I played the game on the ‘Hardest’ difficulty, which in hindsight might not have been the smartest idea considering this was to be my first real time strategy game, but the challenge seemed appropriate and finding the solution always left me feeling immensely satisfied. There were a few moments that seemed utterly impossible at first, for example the last part of the final mission, but after a number of trial and errors when you figure out the perfect combination for the job, even the impossible becomes possible.
One of my biggest gripes for the game would be the absence of an autosave function. With video games in this era, it is almost assumed that it would have some kind of autosave, so I found it frankly distressing that a game released in 2020 would not have that feature. Though there is an option for a manual save and it is easy enough to press the key binded to it, but when you get lost in the heat of the moment in encounters that can get really intense, you tend to forget about it all the same. This happened to me more times than I could count and I found it incredibly frustrating especially after I had managed to solve a tricky encounter but died from a stray bullet the next second, and thus losing all the progress I made. Each enemy in Desperados offers a unique challenge in terms of their abilities and positioning on the map, and in order to find the best way to beat them you would tend to die a lot, unless you’ve already mastered it. And for a game where every little progress you make makes a world of a difference, an autosave feature was sorely missed.
The story of Desperados 3 is quite enjoyable and keeps you engaged with the narrative till the end. One thing I found surprising and quite satisfying was how good the voice acting was. Besides having a good script, the amazing voiceover elevated the game to another level. Though there is a good amount of running the same loop over and over again, it never felt annoying. Replaying some of the mission after finishing the game, I still stumble upon some hidden conversations that bring out a laugh in me.
Desperados 3 offers a ton of experimentation and possibilities where each player can find their own unique solutions to the same problems. In your first playthrough, it might seem that there is only one possible solution to each level you go through considering how complex these stages can become. The best way to describe Desperados 3 would be that it is a perfectly designed sandbox where you are free to do as you please to get to the desired goal. That is one of the reasons why I think the level design is so masterful. There are definitely some inconsistencies on the map that might lead to some levels of frustration but even those would only be visible to the naked eye if the player is doing a lot of experimentation to get the job done. Mimimi Productions have done an amazing job in making this top down real time strategy game as realistic as possible. A shout out to the Mimimi Dev hunt in the game, hunting which added yet another flavour to the experience.
Another interesting addition in the game are the Baron’s challenges which open up later on as you progress through the game. These challenges are interesting ways of finding new ways to play the characters and maps you’ve previously explored in the main storyline. All of this eventually leads to the player mastering the game. As my first foray into real time strategy, I feel I really couldn’t have done much better than Desperados 3. So much so that now I shall eagerly await Desperados 4. Mimimi Productions have put forth an amazing and enjoyable video game which would satisfy any and every strategy game enthusiast. Excited to see what they have got in store for us next.
Score: 8/10
3/7/2020