Desperados 3

About

Desperados III is a tactical stealth game that offers deliberate and challenging gameplay. Players control a group of up to five characters, each with unique abilities, as they complete missions and battle enemies in the Wild West. The game features various environments, weather effects, and a tense, atmospheric soundtrack, providing an immersive and engaging experience.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

96%

Audience ScoreBased on 7,427 reviews

story978 positive mentions

grinding52 negative mentions

Desperados III offers a rich and engaging story with memorable characters and excellent voice acting.
The gameplay is highly strategic, allowing for multiple approaches to each mission, which enhances replayability.
The graphics and level design are stunning, creating a vibrant Wild West atmosphere that immerses players in the game.

The game can feel repetitive, with some missions requiring trial and error that may frustrate players.
Character abilities are often similar to those in Shadow Tactics, leading to a sense of familiarity rather than innovation.
The AI can be inconsistent, sometimes leading to unexpected detection or pathfinding issues that disrupt gameplay.

story
3,023 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
32%
64%
4%
The story in "Desperados III" is a classic revenge narrative set in the Wild West, featuring a cast of colorful characters with distinct backstories and engaging dialogue. While some players find the plot predictable and lacking depth compared to its predecessor, "Shadow Tactics," many appreciate the well-crafted cutscenes and character interactions that enhance the overall experience. The game offers a variety of missions that can be approached in multiple ways, adding replayability and strategic depth to the gameplay, though some critiques mention that the story can feel rushed or simplistic at times.
- “The story, gameplay, characters, graphics, and voice acting have all been innovated and improved upon, all to make this spectacular game.”
- “The story is a classic western tale of revenge with great characterization and watching them play off each other is a blast.”
- “The story is engaging, the mechanics are well made and although at times it is somewhat finicky and gets slightly frustrating, I absolutely love this game.”
- “The game's worst aspects are that the story is mediocre and that each mission has guard positions, timings and view cones that are set up nearly perfect, allowing for only minimal gaps, which feels same-ish and inauthentic for a wild west scenario and more like extreme military precision.”
- “I felt that the story was a bit rushed and a little unsatisfying because some of the character conflicts were resolved really quickly or it felt that what happened came out of nowhere.”
- “The story is lackluster and missions feel like just going through the motions.”
gameplay
1,566 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
46%
52%
2%
The gameplay in "Desperados III" is largely characterized by its strategic, stealth-based mechanics that closely mirror those of its predecessor, "Shadow Tactics," with some refinements and new character abilities. Players appreciate the engaging level design and the variety of approaches available for completing missions, although some feel the gameplay can become repetitive and overly reliant on quicksave mechanics. Overall, the game is praised for its polished mechanics, immersive atmosphere, and the satisfying challenge it presents, making it a standout in the real-time tactics genre.
- “Combining story-driven, strategic, puzzle-like stealth gameplay with great level design and memorable characters, it offers a standout experience in the real-time tactics (RTT) genre.”
- “The gameplay is extremely tight and accessible, with a lot of visual polish for a strategy game.”
- “Desperados 3 strikes a brilliant balance between accessibility and depth, allowing both newcomers and seasoned strategy gamers to enjoy the thrilling gameplay.”
- “The gameplay also evolved little: still the same 3 enemy types and object interaction features as in Shadow Tactics: ladder, door, hide, hide corpse, cause accident and ammo crates.”
- “The whole gameplay quickly becomes stale, because every new mission doesn't offer much new mechanics, and then you realize: 'oh, sh#%, here we go again', save and load for hours, yay.”
- “Gameplay soon boils down to a repetitive cycle: navigating areas with 2-4 guards, using character skills to eliminate and hide enemies in bushes.”
graphics
663 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
61%
37%
2%
The graphics of "Desperados III" have received widespread acclaim for their stunning visuals and vibrant art style, effectively capturing the wild west aesthetic while maintaining a high level of detail and smooth performance across various hardware. Many reviewers noted that the game runs well even on lower-end machines, although some expressed a desire for more innovative graphical updates compared to its predecessor, "Shadow Tactics." Overall, the visuals are considered a significant strength of the game, contributing to its immersive storytelling and engaging gameplay.
- “The graphics are gorgeous, the story is amazing, the music is so good, the characters are interesting.”
- “Desperados 3 is a captivating journey that flawlessly blends tactical gameplay, stunning graphics, an engrossing story, impressive voice acting, and a brilliant challenge that keeps you on the edge of your seat.”
- “The visuals are stunning, the level design is clearly very well thought-out, and the soundtrack is incredible.”
- “Graphics are bad, sound is bad, story is superficial and blood is removed after 5 seconds... hate it when decals are just removed to make the game work on PlayStation 5.”
- “Ps: the graphics look like they are from 2006.”
- “The graphics look a bit blurry and simple for a game with a AAA price tag in 2020, the game easily hits 165 fps (cap for my system with RTX 2080) in 1440p with max settings.”
music
514 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
62%
36%
2%
The music in the game has received widespread acclaim for its ability to enhance the overall atmosphere, effectively capturing the essence of a wild west setting. Many players describe the soundtrack as beautiful and fitting, with some noting its memorable themes and high-quality sound design, although a few mention that it can become repetitive over time. Overall, the music is considered one of the standout features of the game, contributing significantly to the immersive experience.
- “The music is gorgeous.”
- “The music has to be called out separately; it is totally amazing and a mix of spaghetti western and southwest themes that really brings the whole environment to life.”
- “The soundtrack is fantastic and very fitting with the western theme.”
- “As with other aspects, the game's soundtrack starts strong but fades into repetition.”
- “By the end of the first chapter, I found myself wanting to turn off the music.”
- “Music is too repetitive, you can hear the loop at some point.”
replayability
291 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
55%
2%
The game boasts high replayability, with numerous challenges, multiple paths to complete missions, and various difficulty settings that encourage players to experiment with different strategies. Players can engage in additional challenges and achievements, enhancing the experience even after completing the main story. Overall, the combination of dynamic gameplay, diverse character abilities, and well-designed levels contributes to a rich and rewarding replay experience.
- “The variety of possible walkthroughs of the same scenarios, challenges given via medals, the bounty hunters mode, the baron's challenges, difficulties, and DLCs make this game replayable even after beating its story mode.”
- “Desperados 3 raises the bar for real-time stealth games in every way with high-quality voice acting and storytelling, mechanical polish, a plethora of good challenges to increase replayability, and diverse open-ended levels stuffed with unique ideas and narratives.”
- “The game offers a lot of replayability in the form of challenges that require several playthroughs to accomplish on each mission, as well as most missions offering more than one approach to completing the objectives.”
- “Additionally, it lacks replayability.”
- “If I have a knock on it, it's that I don't foresee much replay value; it has lots of additional challenges and you can go back and clear up the accomplishments you didn't get first go round, but I think completing the story mode was enough for me.”
- “Not much replay value, and the cutscenes tend to distort with bass-voices, so overall an 8/10.”
atmosphere
117 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
68%
30%
3%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its immersive and authentic Wild West setting, enhanced by beautifully rendered environments, fitting music, and engaging voice acting. Players appreciate the attention to detail in the graphics and level design, which contribute to a captivating experience that draws them into the game's world. Overall, the atmosphere is considered a standout feature, complementing the gameplay and storytelling effectively.
- “The beautifully rendered environments, from sun-drenched towns to dusty canyons, create an immersive wild west atmosphere that pulls you deeper into the experience.”
- “The story and western cowboy shooting cattle bandits atmosphere are immersive and convincing, not to mention the beautiful soundtrack that provides a genuine feeling of the time.”
- “These guys really know how to make a beautiful game with great atmosphere, game mechanics, voice acting and map design.”
- “- the atmosphere that the game is offering”
- “- storytelling, atmosphere, animation, presentation, liveliness.”
- “For some reason, shadow tactics didn't fully click with me, but the atmosphere and intricate levels in this game have drawn me in.”
humor
80 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is widely praised for its clever writing, engaging character banter, and a mix of dark and light-hearted moments that enhance the overall experience. Players appreciate the funny dialogues and memorable characters, although some find certain comedic elements hit or miss. Overall, the humor adds charm and replayability, making it a standout feature of the game.
- “A great tactical game with great graphics, a dark sense of humor, a steep learning curve, and high replay value.”
- “This thankfully wasn't the case - the writing is great, the banter between the characters is natural and pretty funny, and you can tell that whoever was responsible for it knew the original games well.”
- “Well written and memorable characters, epic moments, humor, and detailed fun-filled yet challenging levels are packaged with an interesting blend of gameplay mechanics.”
optimization
64 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
59%
34%
6%
Overall, the game is highly praised for its optimization, running smoothly on a variety of systems, including low-end laptops and high-end machines alike. Users report minimal performance issues, with beautiful graphics and stable gameplay, although some mention occasional frame rate fluctuations. The game has been noted for its polished implementation and robust performance, making it accessible to a wide range of hardware configurations.
- “Excellent strategy game with extremely optimized solutions possible to get badges on hardest difficulty.”
- “The game has been optimized and polished.”
- “Graphics are greatly optimized - the game runs smoothly (and looks superb) even on a laptop with a low-end graphics card.”
- “There's countless discussions of stuttering, frame drops, and mouse and controller issues in this game.”
- “However, I cannot seem to run the game at a consistent framerate of 120 fps - it fluctuates a tad which gives the impression of stuttering when scrolling, for instance.”
- “Compared to its predecessors, ST and D3 have optimized a more streamlined control scheme for the modern era with character abilities accessible with ASDFG/QWERT keys (customizable in options), as opposed to Commando’s insistence to use the entire alphabet list.”
grinding
60 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
2%
12%
87%
Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively tedious and time-consuming, often requiring a significant investment of time for missions that feel repetitive and lacking in purpose. While some enjoy the challenge and puzzle elements, many express frustration with the lengthy mission durations and the monotonous nature of gameplay, leading to a sense of burnout. Despite the diversity in mission goals, the overwhelming sentiment is that the grinding detracts from the overall enjoyment of the game.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “I'm a big fan of Commandos series and Deus Ex, but this one just feels purposeless and tedious.”
- “I was imagining something like 30 minutes to 1 hour for a mission, but it's more like 1-3 hours, which can get pretty tedious if you have other things to do.”
- “The more you play, the more tedious the missions get.”
stability
46 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
35%
65%
The stability of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players reporting a stable experience with minimal crashes and minor glitches, while others have encountered significant bugs that hinder gameplay. Many users noted that the game runs well on various platforms, including Linux and Mac, but frustrations with AI and detection issues persist. Overall, while some players found it enjoyable despite the bugs, others deemed it a "buggy mess" that detracted from the overall experience.
- “+ very stable and well-optimized, runs great even on Mac Mini M1 using Rosetta 2”
- “I am on a regular laptop and it runs great.”
- “Not buggy.”
- “But all the glitches and lack of polish in Desperados III put an ugly, dirty stain on the otherwise pleasant experience.”
- “The second game in the series was a sore disappointment riddled with bugs and glitches and was a poor attempt at transforming the series into a 3D third-person setting that just didn't work out too well for the format.”
- “I can't say if it was good or bad but it was so buggy I couldn't play it (gave up after first 100 crashes).”
character development
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
46%
11%
Character development in the game is noted as a mixed aspect; while there are distinct character designs and some memorable interactions, many reviewers express a desire for deeper emotional growth and more substantial narrative arcs. The relationships, such as that between Cooper and Kate, develop quickly, but some characters, like Doc, lack significant evolution. Overall, while the game excels in visual and mechanical design, it falls short of delivering the rich character development typically expected in RPGs.
- “Desperados have that continuity and more character development; all of them are memorable.”
- “Nothing we haven't seen before, yes, but the character designs, their unique attributes and motivations are surprisingly well done.”
- “While this is missing the classic character development of RPGs given there are no character build or party build choices to be made, the narrative that they pack into the game is satisfying and each character in your party has a distinct persona.”
- “Don't expect any huge reveals, massive betrayals, huge character development, etc. after all you're not in this game for the story, are you?”
- “I just wish there would be more character development, interaction, and, hell, even cinematics.”
emotional
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is a mixed bag; while the story and character development evoke strong feelings, some players feel it lacks depth and impactful twists. The voice acting is praised for its believability, enhancing the emotional experience, but the reliance on isometric views instead of cinematic cutscenes limits immersion. Overall, the game elicits a range of emotions, from happiness to anxiety, but some players believe it could benefit from more innovative storytelling techniques.
- “Very good, made me cry. The story is excellent; I recommend it if you're a masochist because you're going to take over 35 hours for a first-time playthrough.”
- “The game made me feel happy, anxious, and even surprised as the story unveils major twists along the misadventures and unfortunate events that we are witnesses to.”
- “Voice acting has great direction; every character - including enemies - sounds emotional and believable.”
monetization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviewers express concern that the game's monetization strategy prioritizes advertising and promotion over quality development, suggesting it may be a cash grab that relies on the established Desperados IP rather than offering a fresh experience.
- “I bet they spent more money on their advertisement and promotion campaign than the actual development of the game.”
- “I loved Shadow Tactics, but after viewing the release trailer for this, I was very worried that this was just going to be another Shadow Tactics game with a reskin, just using the Desperados IP with a name-only cash grab.”