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Commandos-Like Desperados III from Mimimi Productions (Shadow Tactics devs) - now with Money for the Vultures DLC

J_C

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Project: Eternity Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath
Maybe I misunderstood your post.
You did. My response was not sarcastic. It was sheer awe at the idea of playing this level again in 3D with Mimimi mechanics.
Great. I can't wait to get back to that fortress myself. Was one of my favourite levels in the original game.
 

DemonKing

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Dec 5, 2003
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Finished the DLC the other day. It was ok I guess, but the base game had more memorable levels I felt.

Definite GotY contender. Every time I fire it up the music gets me pumped and the voice acting is fantastic. Gameplay is rock solid too.
 

zool

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Joined
Oct 26, 2009
Messages
897
Finished the DLC as well, found it to be on par with the main game (that is, very good).

Now if they really want to improve on the formula for their next game, they'll have to add more types of enemies and, more importanly, include interiors for all buildings. Even though I prefer the original Desperados, Commandos 2 remains one of the best stealth tactics games, thanks to having that feature.

If Mimimi doesn't start to innovate a bit, it's going to start to feel samey - there wasn't any significant gameplay difference between Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun and Desperados 3. The only new feature in the latter were the civilian areas and, while nice, it didn't bring that much to the game.

Any guess on what setting they will use for their next game? A sequel to Robin Hood would be awesome, even though I'd prefer it if they picked an historical setting that's not medieval, wild west or WW2.
 
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CyberModuled

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Mar 31, 2019
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443
As stupid as this may sound, but there's definitely something less "puzzle-box" about something like Commandos 2 than Mimimi's games as much as I still like them. Could just be a mix of there being more playable characters, more exploitable AI, and an inventory system so you're not just stuck with what default items characters have (minus item/weapon restrictions from character to character of course). And this is coming from someone who just started playing Commandos 2 for the first time, three missions in. Lack of QoL features and more restricting camera aside, I think I might enjoy this more than Shadow Tactics and Desperados 3.

Also of course the most important thing Mimimi should add to their next title

Bonus Missions!

xa58d6.png
 

zool

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Oct 26, 2009
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As stupid as this may sound, but there's definitely something less "puzzle-box" about something like Commandos 2 than Mimimi's games as much as I still like them. Could just be a mix of there being more playable characters, more exploitable AI, and an inventory system so you're not just stuck with what default items characters have (minus item/weapon restrictions from character to character of course). And this is coming from someone who just started playing Commandos 2 for the first time, three missions in. Lack of QoL features and more restricting camera aside, I think I might enjoy this more than Shadow Tactics and Desperados 3.

Very true. Shadow Tactics and Desperados 3 often have a "choose left path / choose right path" badge and that's because there are only two paths to cross the map to the objective. On the other hand, most missions in Commandos 2 are very open from the get go - even more so with all the interiors which provide tons of alternate paths.

Also, we need great CGI movies in-between missions like in Desperados 1 and Commandos 2, not cutscenes.
 
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miles teg

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Jan 18, 2015
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I've never played any Desperados games. Do you think this third one is the best of the series, or do you think the other 2 are better?

I'll probably only play one of these and I'd like to pickup the best, if there is a clear winner
 

Zombra

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I've never played any Desperados games. Do you think this third one is the best of the series, or do you think the other 2 are better?
That's impossible to answer. The new one is very well designed, superior voice acting, deeper story, a lot of heart, a great toolbox to play with, strong pacing, a brilliant finale, there's really nothing to complain about. The original is rougher around the edges, 20 years old honestly, and has better mission variety, better enemy variety, a simple story more like a western film, more punishing level design, more exploits, overall greater challenge but with greater limitations.

I think if you only play one, play the original. If it leaves you hungry for more, and there's a good chance it will, play Desp III and enjoy the smoother more modern gameplay.
 
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Zombra

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So, the second one is the worst of the series?
To eliminate confusion, you should know that there are four games.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desperados_(video_game_series)

Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive (Spellbound Entertainment, 2001) - the first and still fantastic, play it
Desperados 2: Cooper's Revenge (Spellbound Entertainment, 2006) - sadly not worth playing
Helldorado (Spellbound Entertainment, 2007) - sadly not worth playing
Desperados III (Mimimi Games, 2020) - wonderful series revival, play it
 

Zombra

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Clunky 3d ruins the experience that much?
3D wasn't really the problem; it's more that Spellbound abandoned the brilliant design of the original to make the series less of a puzzle game and more of an RTS. The new games had new ideas that simply didn't work as well. Being clunky as fuck only made things worse.

Mimimi of course went the other direction, doing everything they could think of to preserve the design of the original, making sure the transition to 3D added a new dimension but kept the gameplay practically identical.
 
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This is a genuinely good game. It also made me watch "They call me Trinity / Die rechte und die linke Hand des Teufels" for the first time in ages. The German retail is very pretty, with the box being kinda book-like.

Well worth the buy.
 
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For anybody truly undecided, the game including the 10 bucks voucher you apparently get when picking up the free game on Epic Store is an absolute steal. The Season Pass is on sale too.

For me this game has been the gaming highlight of the year.
 

Lemming42

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I know right, literally unplayable. We need to return to the gritty realism of Desperados 1, with the Chinese girl who shoots people with "frenzy darts" and the Crash Bandicoot style final boss where Cooper leaps from cover to cover looking for switches.
 

HansDampf

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Dec 15, 2015
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What's the right difficulty for a Desperados veteran? The game says Desperado difficulty is for second playthrough. I don't trust it. But detection speed has a big jump from Hard to Desperado, and I don't know what those numbers even mean.
 

zool

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897
Don't listen to what the game says, play on Desperado difficulty. Even then, the game is slightly too easy for a Desperados/Commandos veteran.
 

HansDampf

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Obligatory post.

It's a worthy Desperados game. There are some improvements over the first game, besides the UI, like limited ammo so you can't shoot everything at chokepoints. Ponchos and Long Coats often forced me to use teamwork with 3 or more characters. Those were good moments. There is enough mission variety with night missions, mud or sand that creates footprints, safe areas with civilians, Kate's disguises, or that mission with the passing trains. And it has a proper "boss fight". I'm even motivated to play the game again without saves, or try the Baron Challenges. Not interested in most of the badges, though. The majority of them boils down to "don't use all the cool shit that makes the game more fun."

However, towards the end, my mini-complaints began to stockpile. And then I played the DLC. My god! What a mistake... It's the same problem as with Shadow Tactics. The levels are too long. The last few missions of the main campaign were already exhausting. The DLC is even worse with even longer levels that don't offer new twists or challenges. The nostalgia throwback with Eagle's Nest is the only thing it has got going for it. And that didn't hit with me anyway because, by the time I got there, I was actually tired of this game. And what's with the tone of the story here? It went from serious revenge plot with comedic elements to ... what? Trololo and horrible dialogue.
Also, the standard mission formula of fighting your way from one corner of the map towards the other corner, through a mostly linear level, with one branch somewhere to choose either The Right Path or The Left Path ... gets boring after a while. I don't remember how prevalent those were in the first game (last time I played it must have been like 10 years ago), but there were definitely levels with a more open structure, like the one where you have to escape from El Paso while the Sherrif's men are hunting you. You start with Cooper somewhere in the center of the map and have to find your other 3 team members, each in a different corner, then find horses and escape. I was hoping to see more levels like that. And where was the level in which you're not allowed to kill anyone or be seen/heard by anyone (like during the final showdown, except an entire mission)? Or how about a level where you're not supposed to kill everything in you path and only assassinate a few select targets without raising alarm? New Orleans started out a bit like that, until it also turned into a linear level again. There is some missed potential here.

About the
thatsanelephant.png
: I was afraid that Isabelle would ruin the grounded-in-reality Wild West setting and also the gameplay with her op abilities. Luckily, I was mostly wrong. All that swamp witch business is tucked away in the background and doesn't really matter. It's like Mimimi wanted those abilities for gameplay purposes and then invented a character to make them fit as best as they could.
Her mind control ability is still too strong, though. I get 3 uses per mission on Desperado difficulty. That's at least 6 guards I can kill for free (by linking them), in plain sight, without raising alarm. It's fun to play around with. But it also feels cheap and I tried not to use it too much. I also don't understand why it costs HP. What's the point? Isabelle has infinite healing items anyway. It would have been better if HP was the only resource required for mind control and she wasn't able to heal herself. That would give you 1 joker per mission plus how many bandages McCoy has. And it would force more teamwork. And players who play pure stealth would get some use out of McCoy's bandages. Linking darts should also have been limited.

And then, there are the women... Why you do this to me? I don't want to murder cute cowgirls. I want to murder filthy, drunk, fat, dumb bastard criminals!

Hm. This post turned out more negative than I intended. I like the game. And I would have been much more positive had I posted something earlier after I'd finished the second chapter.
Time to play Wanted Dead or Alive again and refresh my memory.
 

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