Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew

So I've been playing games like Shadow Gambit ever since Commandos hit the scene in the last 90s and I really love this genre. I also liked Shadow Tactics and Desperados 3 (also by Mimimi Games) a lot. But with Shadow Gambit was relieved when the credits rolled so that I would not have to play it anymore. They made some changes in comparison to their previous games that - at least in my opinion - made the game worse. For example in order to complete the story every map has to be played at least three times. Now there are different objectives every time and you can start from another location on the map but the guards are positioned the same so it's very similar overall. The maps themselves are not as diverse as I wish - everything's basically a tropical island. Then there are eight different characters which is just too much, especially since a few characters are overpowered and the others are just sidekicks. The sidekick characters are interchangeable and dull. On almost all missions the characters that are used can be selected by the player and so it feels the missions are a bit too generic - after all they need to be playable with pretty much any character combination. Usually this time of game defines which characters can be used and the puzzles and enemies are adjusted to that. The story is boring: Pirates are looking for a pirate treasure. I started to skip every story related cutscene really early on. Also the crew missions (mini missions that can be completed between main missions) are nothing short of plain annoying. Overall, I'm disappointed. Not just in comparison to the former games by Mimimi, but in general by the game. I bought it on sale so I didn't waste too much money but if someone would ask me, I'd say buy Shadow Tactics, Desperados 3 or Sumerian Six (which I also reviewed and it's so much better) instead.

#Summary (62%): If Desperados III was Shadow Tactics in a cowboy skin, then Shadow Gambit is the same in a pirate skin. If you ever played a Commandos-inspired stealth game, then it will feel very familiar. If not, then this game is a good entry into this genre thanks to its low difficulty. #Review: The good: The software design outshines all previous games from Mimimi. The storyline has interesting twists and lasts quite a while. The ability to pick your crew for most missions creates endless replay value. Finally, since the crew is already undead, they are unkillable in missions. This feature makes Shadow Gambit a great entry point to the genre. The bad: Every item in the “good” list carries several infuriating “but” clauses. I will only list the most glaring ones. The map count is the same as it was in Shadow Tactics (12, including the 2 DLC maps). However, the mission count went from 13 to 41+14. So, prepare to replay the same map up to nine times. Or even more to get the—blatantly self-repeating—challenge medals. You unlock the crew one by one in the storyline. Yet, without knowing who are the good ones, you can get stuck with a subpar team until the end. Luckily, this is not a big issue since the difficulty is almost non-existent. Since all maps have a mandatory "solo" medal, they are, well, soloable. So, having three undead pirates with supernatural abilities makes them a breeze. The enemies had some serious buffs compared to Desperados III, sure. But that means little when you can teleport, kill them through walls, or hide indefinitely.

Shadow Gambit continues what Mimimi have done in Shadow Tactics and Desperados3, and it feels like it is having a crisis. Devs tried to shake up the formula quite a bit (moving from linear campaign with dedicated maps and pre-set character rosters per missions) to more open structure, with less linear progression, multiple missions per map, and more agency as to whom we take on the mission and how we progress through it. The result is... simply a far less compelling game. As missions reuse maps, with more or less the same layout, for the most part they are not memorable, and ability to progress through each map in any direction results in simply less tactically interesting challenges. Fantastic setting does allow for a fun roster of characters with more unusual kits, but they tend to be so powerful, that I found myself thing less creatively. The loose structre also makes map features (sand, water, night etc.) feel unimpactful. I also just didn't care for the story - characters feel one note, and have far too much to say, for how little depth they have. The game feels very "corporate", and bland. I also didn't gel with game's humor at all - a lot of gags to me were unfunny to begin with and went on for far too long. I kinda assumed that the upside of the game would be replayibility - there are far more badges in this title than in Mimimi's previous one. Unfortunately, UI haven't kept up with the changes so trying to 100% the game is rather tedious as one have to rummage through multiple menus to see what badges are still to be unlocked. Some badges discriptions are also misleading, wasting your playtime. But surprisingly the game still doesn't feel like it offers more. At 80% I have half of a playtime I had in Desperados3 and I feel like I have been doing tedious busywork for quite a while now. I complained a lot. It is still a fun time, but still a disappointment. I think the changes to the formula had a net negative impact on the game.

As far as this game goes, it's shadow tactics reskinned. There are a few nuances, but you've basically got all your old abilities (lure, reduce vision, distract, kill at range, blink & kill, set trap, etc.), the same guard concepts (will move, won't move, needs 2 people to kill, one new one with linked enemies), and the same basic mechanics with vision, height, dispose of corpses etc. To start with this is great, I liked all that and enjoyed going through it all again Unfortunately the levels are more bland than shadow tactics as you don't have a specific team for a level, you may or may not have some of these skills, so the missions can be done with anyone. The game has a completion rate of 7% right now, I think the reason for that is that the bland levels and same old skills mean that by the time you're getting to the end it's a real slog to go through. You just don't have the variety or interest to keep going through the motions over and over, and the plot just isn't enough to keep you interested. In summary: If you haven't played Shadow Tactics, play that instead as this is not different enough to buy in its place. If you liked Shadow Tactics, buy this but be prepared to waiver after a bit, but you'll get some enjoyment. If you loved shadow tactics then you'll love this.

I really enjoyed this one. The Commandos games are among my all time favorite, and I love the stealth strategy mechanics. And this one definitely delivered for me. Lovely set of characters, each with its own style and skills. What I really liked is that despite how different they all were, none of them felt overpowerted or underpowered. The balance was perfect, in the entire game I did not encounter any situation that was feeling impossible to solve, regardless of the crew mates I had for the mission. I enjoyed switching the pirates and trying new tactics and approaches. One small negative side is that you repeat a lot of the mission locations/islands. for the most part it's just a different section of the island, so the variety remains, but you go through some of the same areas as well. That being said, with me constantly rotating the crew, I had to use different approaches even if replaying a section that I have already visited, so it was still fun. The overall story was rather simple, but I enjoyed the vibe of the world the developers created. Quite long as well - which can be good or bad, depending on what type of gamer you are. All in all, fun time.