Posted on: November 7, 2017

LLP

Games: Reviews: 15

Tech problems and tedious gameplay

I had to jump through hoops to get this game to work, resorting to 3rd party programs to get rid of fatal lag. Turns out it wasn't worth it anyway. This is an inferior predecessor to Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood. The big problem is hair-trigger enemy AI, which usually responds to you with an instant kill. With so many enemies to avoid, and an interface that hasn't been smoothed out yet, the gameplay is no fun. Unresponsive controls and glitches make it worse. My gang, for example, was supposed to carry an unconscious bandito across the big level, and lo and behold, my leader shows up at the end having decided to drop the bandito who knows where. The beautifully-drawn levels have been wasted. You might find Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood a worthwhile alternative.

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Posted on: October 26, 2018

Taleweaver1981

Verified owner

Games: 179 Reviews: 2

Great game, but harder than I remember

Among me and my friends, Commandos: behind enemy lines was a great hit. We'd always tried all sorts of tricks and traps to avoid getting seen while planning to pick off which enemies in what order. The game was hard, but this didn't stop us. Rather the contrary. When I first saw Desperados in a store, I think I bought it purely on a screenshot ("hey: this is commandos in the far west!"). It was...and still is. But as I played, it became clear that this went beyond a mere theme change. The atmosphere of a spaghetti western was spot on in every aspect, it had a storyline that was both great and fitting, and the abilities allowed for the same sort of sneakiness. Better yet: the insane hardcore difficulty of commandos was tuned down, as shooting guns could save you when you were discovered. These fire fights were much more rewarding, even though the chance of surviving them was still small at best. It even had the ability to zoom in and out! Now...we are obviously talking 2001-2002 here. There's a fair chance I still have the disk in my basement somewhere, but I really don't regret buying it on GoG. If for no other reason, to get the much later released linux port (which doesn't have the issues that I see in other reviews). The only reason it gets only four stars is that, to my own surprise, the game is much harder than I remember. I had forgotten the act of saving just about every step (and certainly after every unalerted kill). I had forgotten that random things like putting down a music playing watch could alert 5 extra guards. Exiting a door and punching someone in the face fast enough can't be timed in advance (and misclicks mean being discovered). I have been spoiled by "stealth games" where guards can just see a cone directly in front of them. All in all: it's a pretty hard game. An absolute gem...but know what you're getting into.

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Posted on: November 2, 2023

Mixcoatli

Verified owner

Games: 316 Reviews: 4

Could be better

This review is from the perspective of a recent first-time player. If you've played Commandos before, this game is just an artificially and unnecessarily more challenging version with a different coat of paint and new mechanics. The difficulty wasn't as much of an issue as the awful overall design. NPC behavior is bad: dead bodies won't trigger alarms but peanuts or a playing card lying around sets the map on alert. The Wild West setting is excellent: it's fun, engaging, and the sole motivation to complete the game. Yet it simultaneously brings the setting down by having characters be stereotypes seen in old Westerns. Technical issues were present immediately: severe mouse lag, double-clicking, and actions in general weren't always registered correctly. I eventually experienced this weird lagging issue that I haven't seen in the GOG community but is present on the Steam side. This game has cascading technical issues that absolutely matter in a real-time game. Having recently played and enjoyed Commandos before trying Desperados, go for Desperados if you want a game that feels like a subpar fan mod of Commandos. Otherwise, this game has too much nostalgia flattery that drowns out its criticisms.

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Posted on: October 28, 2024

Soluna89

Verified owner

Games: 55 Reviews: 2

One of my all-time favourite games!

Still a great game in 2024!

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Posted on: July 15, 2025

JohnFierce

Verified owner

Games: 49 Reviews: 2

A Real-Time Tactics Gem — But Watch Your

Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive is a fantastic classic in the real-time tactics genre. The gameplay is smart, challenging, and rewarding — each mission feels like a handcrafted puzzle with multiple creative solutions. The characters are memorable, and the Western setting is atmospheric and full of charm. The story is simple — even a bit simplistic — but it leans into classic Western tropes so effectively that it feels more like a strength than a flaw. You'll find all the familiar elements: outlaws, ambushes, duels, and a showdown with a larger-than-life villain. It fits the genre like a glove. That said, there's one major issue: a serious performance bug causes the game to overheat modern systems, even when idle or in menus. It seems to max out CPU usage unnecessarily, and the problem becomes especially noticeable during the final mission: inferno, in the battle against El Diablo, where system temperatures can spike dramatically. In my case, it even froze my PC completely, since I didn’t notice the issue at first — after all, this is a 2D game from the early 2000s, and you wouldn’t expect it to push your hardware like that.

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