Desperados 3: A Fresh Take in Stealth Game Design
Polishing gameplay while exploring new frontiers
Stealth-based games have long held special regard in my gaming repertoire. I’d attribute that primarily to my infatuation with the Spy Kids movies in my youth. My stealth gaming journey, however, began in late middle school with Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell. There were three main elements that drew me to the experience: the suspense of sneaking around and trying not to get caught, exploring the environment in search of shortcuts or exploits, and making use of high-tech gadgets and specialized skillsets. The Splinter Cell series fairly consistently met those expectations, and so it has always remained one of my favorite video games series to date.
In 2020, I finally got around to playing another mainstay series in the genre with IO Interactive’s Hitman 2. It was remarkable to me just how far the boundaries of stealth gameplay were propelled with the advent of greater computing power. Hitman’s sandbox environments contributed significant depth and robustness to the stealth gaming experience. It became clear to me that stealth games still had plenty of untapped potential.
However, the most refreshing stealth gameplay I’ve encountered in ages comes courtesy of Desperados 3. While skulking around in the bushes may seem antithetical to the ethos of the wild west, high noon provides a astonishingly suitable backdrop for a stealth game to catch me off guard. Not only is the game impressive and refined, it manages to deviate significantly from the approach and style of stealth gaming that I’ve come to know.
One of the more immediately distinguishing elements of this game is that, rather than using first-person (Dishonored, Deus Ex) or over-the-shoulder third-person (Splinter Cell, Hitman) perspective, Desperados 3 features a bird’s-eye field of view. A novel consequence of that design choice is that there are virtually no hidden elements or secret paths (though certain areas are restricted to certain characters). On top of that, you have a view cone monitor, so that you can visualize the exact line-of-sight for every enemy in the game. Rather than complicate or hide things, Desperados 3 puts all its cards on the table in plain view, permitting the game to craft more challenging situations that place greater emphasis on strategic planning.
Another divergence is that you get to control up to five characters in any given mission. Each of the characters has their own set of skills, weapons, and traversal options. Most missions features a different combination of characters available to you, so no two levels play out the same. This requires you to devise clever coordination amongst team members to make best use of their talents. Not only does this expand gameplay options, but the developers also went out of their way to feature exquisite voice acting, enhancing the immersion and driving the group dynamic. In one mission, two characters compete to rack up the highest body count (determined by which character you rely upon more) and tally their kills out loud the entire time to taunt each other. In just about every mission there’s little interspersed dialogue that serves to keep things light and comical.
Managing multiple characters can be cumbersome from time to time — at least for me. Fortunately, the game features a “Showdown mode,” which is essentially an execution queue. Using this mode freezes time in the game (except on the highest difficulty mode), empowering you to give directives to however many characters you wish. On top of that, you can choose to execute the actions immediately or save them for later, as well whether you want to execute them all simultaneously or sequentially. Having this feature makes controlling your character roster significantly easier, especially if you’re playing with a controller (mouse-and-keyboard players will obviously have an easier time).
A smaller, yet crucial, development is the liberal use of quick saves. One button is dedicated to saving the game on the spot, with up to three quick saves available to load from the pause menu. Just in case you’re prone to accidentally quick saving yourself into a pickle, you can also use a more traditional save menu which won’t automatically be overwritten by subsequent quick saves. This design choice encourages you to be more experimental with your strategy, as you won’t lose several minutes of progress with each iteration. The impact of the save feature is most keenly felt in missions with bonus objectives which include completing the mission without saving.
Perhaps my favorite of all features in Desperados 3 is the fast-forward feature. The BIGGEST pain in any stealth game is waiting for the enemy loops to reset if you miss a window of opportunity, if they reset at all (looking at you, Hitman). Desperados 3 allows you to fast-forward gameplay, so that you aren’t waiting too terribly long for enemies to circle back to vulnerable positions. Between the fast-forward feature and the tight loops for movement and view cones, the only time you’ll spend idling is when you’re trying to plan out your next move. It’s always a treat when puzzle-like games don’t remove you too much from the game itself while constructing a solution, and Desperados 3 generally avoids that pitfall.
Playing Desperados 3 has been an absolute delight. The level design makes every single stage distinctly memorable, whether it takes place in a canyon, swamp, or populated area. The simplified UI and quality-of-life features made returning to the game after a six month hiatus nearly seamless. The bonus challenges found ways to wring every drop of value out of stages that were already top-notch. This game is fairly challenging, but it was designed to be as non-punishing as possible by eliminating numerous potential points of friction. Overall, Desperados 3 not only provided a unique stealth gaming experience, but took it to gratifying heights.
