Desperados 3 Review

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Fast Facts

Desperados 3

Developer: Mimimi Games
Publisher: THQ Nordic
Website: https://desperadosgame.com/
Genre: Action & Adventure
Platform: Xbox One
Age Rating: PEGI 18
Release Date: 16/06/2020
Price: £49.99

A code was provided for review purposes.

Well howdy, partner, I am Woody, and this is the Wild West… Oops, wrong game. Welcome to the Wild West and get ready to go up against bandits and corrupt businessmen as you fight through the world of western times.

In this western strategy game, you play as a cowboy named John Cooper, a man who lost everything to the corruption of Devitt and his men. You start with John as a young boy out hunting with his father, James Cooper. While hunting, you come across a group of bandits known as Devitt’s men. You must sneak past them to get to the chapel with your father, but sadly things don’t go as expected. Your father is executed by a man named Frank, and while trying to save your father, you are left for dead. Although years later little did he know that you would rise to get revenge and take him out for the things he did to you and other people.

Well Howdy Partner

This game is a strong use of using stealth, you can go all guns blazing but I can tell you, you will just shoot yourself in the foot. If you go through the stealthy way you must dodge, stealth kill and hide to get to your point in the mission. If you decide to go all guns blazing, you will have to face up against all of Devitt’s gang and try to survive.

Enemies are always on patrol and will blow the whistle if you walk into their view cone. If it starts to turn yellow, the enemy will begin to investigate, but if it turns red, then you are in trouble. Once an enemy has seen you, they will call over everyone in the mile radius and sound the alarm which will spawn groups of gunmen to your location. These will patrol for the remainder of the level.

This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Two Of Us

There are two ways of playing through the game other than the difficulty, stealth or guns blazing. You can pan across the map or have the camera follow your character while you move, no matter what you can pan and look over the entire map. This gives you the ability to highlight enemies, places to hide and places to hide bodies.

To play the stealthy way you must learn to be stealthy and as enemies bodies don’t despawn, you must make them disappear yourself. Disposing of them means hiding them in bushes, throwing them over a cliff into the ocean, or just leaving them in a dark area. Make sure you know what to do, and if you fail you can always save the game before making your move with the quick save option which was honestly a lifesaver unless you panicked like I did a few times and pressed save while being shot at. Do not make that mistake!

Cooper… John Cooper

There are five characters to play as John Cooper, a cowboy with nothing to lose and revenge on his mind. Use his coin to quickly cause an enemy to turn around to the noise of the clink, and follow it up with his throwing knife. The attack is quick, and if you collect the coin and knife can be employed over and over. John also has two colt pistols that can be used simultaneously to take down two different enemies at once.

I’m The Doctor Named, McCoy

Doctor McCoy can heal you or himself. On top of this, he is a sniper who can take an enemy out with a signal shot from a distance. His doctor’s bag can be used to distract enemies, as when opened it will blind them for a certain amount of time, while a gas bomb which will knock out multiple enemies in the indicated area.

Howdy Amigo The Name Is, Hector Mendoza

Hector Mendoza, the amigo with a love for bear traps and whisky. Hector carries around a bear trap called Bianca, his love for the contraption and the way he will kill any enemy who walks into it kind of reminds me of Negan from The Walking Dead and his passion for his bat Lucille. He will use his whistle to cause an enemy to walk straight into her hungry jaws.

Hector also carries around a large axe which causes death to anyone who meets it. This is alongside his whiskey which will heal only Hector and no one else. He can also use a sawn-off shotgun that can take out anyone in its path, with enough stopping power to take care of up to six enemies.

Well Howdy There, The Name Is Kate O’Hara

This red-haired beauty will charm anyone. Using her disguise skill, she can steal from any women wearing a dress but don’t worry; it will be highlighted above their head. She also carries a small pistol which does not make a lot of noise and is a convenient weapon. Kate has one other skill, and that is perfume. Kate can throw and blind enemies for a little bit of time, and using the disguise can distract any man unless they are in the presence of a woman or a poncho.

Hunting Things Is What I Do, The Name Is, Isabelle Moreau

This supernatural beauty uses telepathy to control the mind of anyone who she needs. Once the mind of an enemy is taken, you can use that enemy to take out another. This control is for one shot, and after this, the controlled AI will run, preferring to be knocked out for some time, or even killed by another enemy for being a traitor.

Connect is another skill which will connect two enemies. If one is killed so is the other. This is very helpful if you can see two gunmen next to each other. Isabelle also has a cat called Stella which will distract most enemies for some time, and Jimson weed that you can use to heal yourself or anyone else on your team.

There’s a Snake In My Boot

Desperados 3 has four types of enemy groups. You have Normal enemies such as cowboys and cowgirls; these are also called gunmen, guards, and thugs. You can take these out very quickly. Then you have your Elite enemies otherwise known as Ponchos, who cannot be distracted but are still easy to kill. Then you have the extreme, over-powerful enemy which take three shots to kill and even then, only by Hector. They are Long Coats. On top of being hard to kill, they are also hard to distract and won’t fall for any disguises. The last enemy type are dogs which will see through Kate’s disguise and will sniff out anyone around them. I recommend taking quick action to take care of any dogs you encounter.

Reach For The Sky

You will go through many different types of maps from the western town and villages, to the swamps and deserts. Each environment offers a great design and ways to experiment with taking out enemies, such as using falling rocks, falling statues and many other things.

The core storyline is all based on five characters who want revenge on Vincent Devitt and his men along with Frank and his gang. It is packed with action and adventure, friendship, heartbreak, love, and comedy as you bring these men to justice. There are also side missions provided by a Baron making the game more difficult, as well as offering more ways of playing.

Time For a Showdown

A mode in the game which is exactly what you think it is Showdown mode, it would not be a western game if there was not any kind of showdown. Showdown mode is used to set up a series of attacks on enemies at once, and you can choose to do it straight away or wait till the perfect moment and then suddenly BANG! You have taken out multiple enemies and saved yourself so much time.

Aim and… FIRE!

At the end of each mission, you can watch your gameplay walkthrough over the entire map at a fast speed. This lets you evaluate your style. You can see who you favoured as playing the most, how many times you saved, died, killed and what you used. It’s incredibly fascinating. You can also see different challenges you could have done and even attempt the speed run, and this game also comes jam-packed with tons of achievements for anyone who likes achievement hunting.

See You Around Partner

I enjoyed playing Desperados 3 although I would love to see it as a third person or first person a bit like Red Dead Redemption or Call Of Juarez I did have fun. There were a few rage moments as it can be difficult but all in all, I liked the game. Thank you for reading through my review, and please get yourself a copy if this is your type of game.

Rapid Reviews Rating

You can purchase Desperados 3 at the Microsoft Xbox One store