Boy, I have tried to like this game, but the more I try, the more it pushes me away. Everything in Desperados III except the gameplay design is fantastic – from the visuals and animations to the sound and music. Those aspects are just chef’s kiss, but the gameplay is the antithesis of what I enjoy when gaming. The water to the oil, so to say.
Trial & error
My main issue with the gameplay, and those who have read my reviews probably know – it’s the trial-and-error nature of it. Desperados III even features quick saving, and quick loading as part of the experience, and sure, technically it’s a natural part of most games, but I would have never pressed it as an integral part of the general gameplay as a feature. It comes off as weird to me. On top of that, stating that failure and reloading is something enjoyable – I’m sorry, but it just isn’t, especially if we are talking about minutes, at times seconds between failures through trial and error.
Now this would be all fine and dandy if it played like Commandos 2 for example. However, Desperados III just has too many gamefied restrictions, making it more like a tactical puzzle game than an adventure in the old American West. For example, the main protagonist Cooper has a cooldown on his cattle revolvers, which means he can only fire his guns every couple of seconds. What kind of fast-shooting gunslinger is that? Cassidy Rheumatism Hitchcock, here I come! The slowest shooter in the West. Another example is that the guards are omnipresent and the game has alarm-based units hiding out in places on the map. If you are spotted, your position is instantly called out, and these cow-stealing dung piles know exactly where you are. You can find cover and hide, but don’t expect to survive any kind of shootout, you know the thing the old west was known for?
I just find this aspect of the gameplay extremely grating and annoying. I’m usually a patient man, but this trial-and-error approach does not work, especially if you limit interactions, like gamifying stuff just to make it harder. The reinforcements are a pretty cheap tool to use too, as a screw-up should be a punishment enough – activating the units nearby to your presence. Swamping the player with no way out, I just don’t find fun. The gameplay reminds me of Commandos 1 to 2. The sequel had so many improvements and added action and escape segments to the game mechanics. That game was great, but Desperados III seems to have taken a step backward and gone for the old approach of this genre. It’s frustrating, and hitting the damn F5 key as a requirement is the opposite of fun to me.
The moment you screw up, you might as well hit the reload key, because if we play it as it was designed, aka savescumming you are only a few seconds behind anyway. Why even suffer the increased difficulty in extra enemy units, when the game itself thinks you are stupid for doing so? It’s not that extra enemies are that fun anyway, as mentioned, the revolvers don’t even shoot right!
Thanks for reading.
/Thomas
| System: | PC (Steam) |
| Played with: | Mouse & keyboard |
| Mods/fixes: | None |
| Enjoyment rating: |  |
Tom's Gaming Vault 