Desperados III | PC Review

The Wild West. The frontier. It has danger around every corner. Where only the quickest and the quick-wittiest survive. In the Wild West you can only trust your gun, your horse, and your own grit. Trusting the wrong person will get you killed. Not trusting the right person will also get you killed. It is not a place for the faint-hearted. The Wild West is unpredictable, dangerous and most of all: FUN! And Desperados III by Mimimi Games and THQ Nordic especially proves that last part.

Wanted Dead Or Alive

I might be known for my love of the adventure game genre, but another genre I absolutely adore is the turn-based tactical game, especially if it’s heavily story-driven. This love started with the original X-Com: Enemy Unknown from 1994, but one of the highlights of the genre for me was the Desperados franchise. This was a nice mix between RTS and turn-based, as you could pause the game to give orders. Desperados: Wanted Dead Or Alive was released in 2001 and was a great mix of strategy and story. Desperados 2: Cooper’s Revenge followed in 2006 and a spinoff called Helldorado followed in 2007. And then it all went quiet around this popular franchise. Until 2020.

Cooper Returns

In 2020, publisher THQ Nordic and developer Mimimi Games unleashed the long-awaited third part of the franchise on the world, simply titled Desperados III. This game literally returns Cooper to his roots, as we see how he came to be and how he met some of his closest allies, like Doc McCoy and Kate O’Hara (who all feature in the previous games). Besides these old allies, we meet two new ones: Hector, a giant Mexican trapper, and Isabelle, a Louisiana Voodoo queen. 

Young Guns

You don’t immediately start with all these characters, and in some missions you can use only a few of them, but it’s certainly a lot of fun to have all five at your disposal to solve the missions. The story is pretty good, as Cooper is trying to get revenge on Frank, the man who killed his father. We even get to play out those flashback scenes. As it turns out, Cooper’s four companions all have their own reasons to want revenge on Frank and his boss DeVitt, and every mission takes you closer to your goal. But there are a lot of obstacles on the road. Train heists, blowing up bridges, escaping from custody; you get to do it all in this game. Are these Western cliches? Yes, but when executed this well, it’s a ton of fun to play.

I Fought The Law…

Desperados III is a very big game. It consists of three chapters, and a total of 16 missions and (at the time of writing this review) three DLC missions. There are also a load of challenges to attempt. I finished all the main missions and it took me 56 hours to finish everything. I can tell you that it most certainly did not feel that long. This game can be played as fast or as slow as you want to, and I seriously took my time to figure everything out. For me, that was part of the fun! I also found the missions quite challenging, even playing on Beginner level. They’re big puzzles with multiple ways of going about it; there was a lot of trial and error involved for me, and I absolutely loved it.

The Magnificent Five

Every character has a different set of skills. Cooper is great with a knife and twin guns, Doc McCoy is a sharp shooter and has a bag with which he can distract opponents, Kate O’Hara is a master of disguise and seduction, Hector is crazy strong and has Diane, and Isabelle can mind control people and do some crazy Voodoo stuff. The fun is in trying to come up with a solution for the pickle you’re in using the skills of the characters at your disposal. And if one plan doesn’t work, you have plenty of options for something different. I mostly used stealth, but you could also go in guns blazing. Your ammo is limited, though, so that’s not always a good idea. And I always find a lot of satisfaction in taking out my enemies silently, without getting hurt.

Blazing Saddles

The graphics are great. The whole game is done from an isometric point of view, and you can turn the camera around to however it suits your needs. The cut scenes are done in the same way and are a nice way of moving the story forward. The voice acting is great, it really gives life to the characters. The music is incredibly Western, but does get a tad bit repetitive sometimes. Anything you don’t like can be turned off, so it should not hamper any gameplay fun. Saving is paramount in Desperados III. The F5 quicksave button is your best friend, together with F8 to quickload. Save often, because it will really make your life easier. Trust me on this one.

Conclusion

I had an absolute blast playing this game. Mimimi Games managed to both tickle my nostalgia bone and update Desperados for modern times without losing any of its charm. I played about a mission a night, and finishing one gave me a huge feeling of accomplishment. For me, this game had the exact right level of challenge and I loved spending time in the Old West with Cooper and friends. This might be the most fun Western game I have ever played! And since the first DLC was released as I was writing this review, I have three new and glorious missions to look forward to. I can’t wait to load my guns, saddle up my horse, and get back to the Wild Wild West!

To hear me talk more about Desperados III, be sure to listen to Episodes 302 (1:02:05 time stamp) and 304 (1:04:38 time stamp) of The Gaming Outsider Podcast.

This review based on a PC copy of Desperados III provided by Evolve PR for coverage purposes. It is also available on Xbox One and PlayStation 4.