The complete abandonment of reality in Mimimi’s Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew sets it apart from its previous titles, like Desperados III. Atop a map, you control a team, and you sneak your way across it, eliminating guards on your way to completing an objective, such as stealing something, or killing a specific person. Due to its supernatural slant, each party member possesses wilder powers, and you can use even more devious strategies.
As you progress, you can resurrect more pirates, each with its own advantages. You have a dapper spirit that can possess guards that you can then control and force to do unsavoury things to their comrades, and a herbalist that can create bushes at will so your party can hide before surprising enemies. You can progress regardless of which party member you take on a mission, as long as you use their unique skills.
Red Marley is a pirate ship with consciousness, so it can save moments during missions, allowing you to return to them if things go wrong. While trial and error was present in Mimimi’s earlier games, this time it is woven directly into the story, and later it is used in some unexpected ways.
With a tap on the triangle button, each crew member can be given instructions that they will perform together. If you mess up your attack, you can always rewind time and tweak your strategy until you get it right, and it’s always a pleasure to plan an attack and watch it unfold like clockwork. This is Shadow Gambit at its best, and the game in a nutshell; it leaves you feeling like a tactical genius, even if it took you seven tries.
Pros:
An amusing cast.
Variety gives you options.
Tandem attacks are fun.
Ghost monkey.
Cons:
Frustrating sometimes.
Some missions are retreads.
This game gets an 8 out of 10.