The Cursed Crew Review – A True Buried Treasure – WGB, Home of AWESOME Reviews

Once I began enjoying Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew I had no concept that the developer, Mimimi, would announce its plans to close down simply weeks after launching the sport. The silver lining on this unhealthy information cloud is that their last recreation is great, taking all of Mimimi’s prior expertise at real-time tactical video games and mixing it with supernatural pirates. I had a lot enjoyable sneaking round that I wound up getting the Platinum Trophy on PS5, my very own small tribute to an superior developer who will likely be sorely missed.

Afia Manicato is your introduction to this various model of the Caribbean the place Cursed pirates sail the seas and the Inquisition terrorise whomever they please. She’s one of many Cursed, an individual who died and was in some way introduced again, now with the additional benefit of getting a cool energy that’s not directly associated to how they handed on. In Afia’s case, she has a sword rammed by way of her chest which she will rip out and use to teleport to enemies, a helpful means for somebody who likes the pirate life and finds loads of folks standing between her and the treasure.

If all of it sounds a bit heavy on the made-up names and weirdness then you definately could be proper, however Mimimi does a superb job at getting you in control and cozy of their superb world. Speaking skulls, residing ships, loopy religions, and undead pirates with magic powers sounds just like the sort of factor my fantasy-loving mind would provide you with, and I’m right here for each minute of it. I’d like to see extra of this world, its historical past and its folks which makes it all of the extra devastating that Mimimi are closing their doorways. Nonetheless, what Mimimi has left us with is an entertaining yarn brimming with cool characters, humour and journey.

Like in Desperados 3 the power to save lots of and reload in seconds is an enormous a part of the expertise. Save scumming isn’t simply inspired, it has been cleverly woven into the story itself, offering a plot-based cause for having the ability to rewind time and undo errors. You see, it’s the Purple Marley herself who’s capturing these moments in time and unleashing previous ones, a strong means that has served her and her crew extraordinarily nicely. In actual fact, the God-like viewpoint from which you management your crew of three on missions is defined as being the Marley watching from afar. I like it when builders try and marry mechanics and story like this, and Mimimi takes it a step additional with a implausible mid-game plot twist that I gained’t spoil for concern of being keel-hauled – suffice to say, it’s actually cool.

The non-beating coronary heart and cursed soul of Shadow Gambit is the crew of pirate misfits, three of whom you get to tackle nearly each mission. Take Quentin, for instance, his cranium is made from strong gold and might be tossed to lure grasping guards to their deaths. His fishing rod can be utilized to grab up our bodies to cover within the treasure chest on his again, or it may yank allies over partitions and up cliffs. Pinkus, a former nobleman with a relatively puffed-up ego, has the power to own guards, letting him ambulate round a pretty big space freely and even chat with different guards as a method of distraction. Ship cook dinner Toya is an murderer turned chef who cannot solely carry out quick kills however can teleport from any distance to a particular merchandise he can drop or connect to guards. Or what about Gaelle – The cannon strapped to her again can be utilized to launch enemies and allies alike throughout the map. She’s significantly efficient when partnered with Quentin as a result of she will blast Quentin as much as a excessive level the place he can then bust out his fishing rod to yank everybody else up there. After which there’s my favorite, John Mercury, the Scottish lad with an anchor strapped to his again. Together with his greatest pal in tow (a fish named Sir Reginald) John can enter the Under and drag enemies down with him, instantly hiding the physique.

In whole, the sport gives up 8 characters who all really feel distinctive and attention-grabbing, fully altering up the dynamic relying on the mixture you subject. Certain, you might argue that a few of their powers are literally fairly related, like a number of variations of teleporting or noise-based distractions, however I discovered sufficient variations to justify every member of Purple Marley’s crew. You’ll possible wind up with favourites, too, which is why there’s a system in place known as Vigor. Principally, Vigor is used to purchase a giant improve for every crew member that radically powers up their most important talent, like John having the ability to disguise allies within the Under as nicely. Filling up the Vigor bar is gradual which is why Mimimi well made it in order that unused crew members accrue Vigor. When you take them on a mission you get the Vigor, encouraging you to make use of completely different characters relatively than simply keep on with the identical trio.

Video games like this usually don’t spend an excessive amount of time attending to know its characters, so I used to be pleasantly shocked that Mimimi tried to present every crew member a strong sense of identification. Between missions, you hang around on the Marley and there are elective little side-quests which are principally centered on some goofy antics, like Toya assembly a bizarre fish that desires to change into his apprentice for a secret mission, or Gaelle establishing a poetry slam to cheer up a tragic skeleton. The meatier experiences come later when every crewmate will get just a few particular missions addressing previous regrets, filling out a few of their backstories concerning how they change into Cursed and such. It actually helps to flesh out the crew which is necessary as a result of a few of them don’t have a lot flesh left.

Enemies are scattered across the place with heaps of overlapping cones of view designed to make sure that if considered one of them is taken down the others will see it. At any time you possibly can choose a guard to see that cone of imaginative and prescient, too, with hatched strains denoting the place it’s protected to crouch-walk by way of. You may as well drop slightly marker the place dotted strains will point out what guards can see it and when which could be very helpful for plotting some shenanigans.

Succeeding in Shadow Gambit is very similar to untying a tough knot: discover the appropriate piece and slightly tug will unravel the entire thing. Seize the unsuitable bit and also you’ll most likely find yourself with a tighter knot. As I performed the sport it wasn’t uncommon for me to spend 10 minutes simply looking at a piece of the map, determining what bit I wanted to tug on to make all of it come aside. Which may imply an opportunity to lure a guard right into a quiet nook, or a small hole the place a sneaky pirate can saunter by way of. It might additionally imply dousing a flame in order that John can stroll previous unseen, or utilizing Teresa’s crossbow to eradicate a sniper whereas Afia’s time-freeze talent ensures a guard can’t spot the crumpling physique. There’s plenty of pleasure to be gleaned from determining these puzzles, each as satisfying because the final. Considered one of my favourites is utilizing footprints to lure a guard into an environmental entice.

That isn’t to say you possibly can’t take a bolder strategy, thoughts you – the Marley’s powers and the velocity with which saves might be reloaded imply you possibly can go in weapons blazing with out penalties. However whereas you are able to do it, Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew actually does need to be a stealth recreation before everything, and who’re we to argue with the undead? However typically a messy scenario does require a messy resolution.

When you get noticed or a physique is discovered an alarm is sounded and reinforcements will flood the world. That is the place the AI falls slightly flat as a result of in my expertise they’ll mill round for his or her designated 30 seconds after which return to their patrols. Once more, to their credit score, Mimimi has written in a story cause as to why the Inquisition observe very strict paths and are so prepared to return to them, but it surely doesn’t counter the truth that hiding from looking out guards is fairly simple. These guys aren’t going to be successful any awards for the very best Hid and Search gamers.

I wouldn’t have minded slightly extra enemy selection, too. There are officers who can’t be distracted and particular Prognosticators who require two crewmembers to take down, however total the range is slightly skinny, particularly for a marketing campaign that runs about 25-30 hours. Yup, you heard that proper: this can be a chunky recreation with an excellent chunkier endgame for those who get pleasure from chasing enjoyable challenges.

Quite a lot of the time the answer requires a number of guards to be terminated in tandem, a tricky activity if you’re wrangling three characters directly. That’s the place Shadow Mode is available in, letting you queue up actions for every character after which executing them with a single button. It’s immensely satisfying to sit down again and watch as your crew works in unison to eradicate threats and drag corpses into bushes. When you can solely queue actions and a single motion you possibly can activate Shadow Mode once more after the preliminary instructions are adopted, too, so when you get higher at utilizing it there’s plenty of room for extra advanced stuff.

The controls do often fail the sport, although, at the least on console. It’s very simple to focus on the unsuitable factor, particularly within the warmth of the second. You may swap between objects like ladders, doorways and extra utilizing the RS however if you’re working with a small hole of just some seconds frantically clicking the stick is cumbersome. It’s not an enormous drawback, only one that signifies Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew feels greatest on PC.

Mimimi took a distinct strategy to their stage design this time round, swapping from the extra bespoke ranges and set items of their previous video games to islands that you simply revisit time and again. The smaller ones solely home a mission or two, however the bigger ones will see you and the crew return a few occasions with the concept being that you simply’ll select a distinct touchdown level and chase completely different targets. One island is roofed in greenery that makes up a residing being often called Dreadvine, one other incorporates a magically exploded lighthouse and one other nonetheless is a huge Inquisition jail. There’s loads of selection within the surroundings in addition to the missions, like rescuing one other pirate crew from their destiny by the hands of the Inquisition. Quite a lot of video games shoot for the concept of letting gamers strategy issues in no matter order they need, however Shadow Gambit succeeds the place others routinely fail, particularly in which you could unlock the crew in any order you want.

Largely, this concept of larger play areas works fairly nicely and Mimimi clearly put in plenty of work to account for the entire crew’s differing abilities. Enjoying by way of a mission with one set of characters could be very completely different to tackling it with a recent trio of troublemakers, and so they’re all value utilizing, making it an actual pleasure to return to an island with a distinct gang. Speaking to different folks and watching movies make it clear that the way in which I tackled missions was very completely different to how they did. However the brand new design philosophy does imply that ranges can’t take advantage of out of every set of skills and that Shadow Gambit lacks any huge, cool setpieces in contrast to just a few of Mimimi’s earlier titles.

For individuals who wish to wrestle essentially the most worth out of their video games that they will, the journey doesn’t finish on the last mission. You may return and replay each mission from earlier than and gather a complete bunch of problem cash, with the reward being a secret character turning into playable when you hit 85% completion. I hit that mark as a way to get the Platinum trophy and had a blast doing it, however the further character fell slightly flat, for my part. Plus, by the point you attain a excessive sufficient completion, I’m undecided you’re going to need to spend rather more time enjoying anyway.

I want I had entry to the Purple Marley’s powers as a result of that is the sort of recreation I might love to return and expertise afresh. It’s so tightly designed from finish to finish, well tying in its gameplay mechanics with its story in methods I feel plenty of different video games might be taught from. Whereas I feel some gamers may want the construction of Desperados 3, the supernatural pirate theme, huge environments and glorious characters make Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew the very best recreation Mimimi has ever made, and a implausible approach to wrap up their profession.

Yo ho, it’s the pirate’s life for me.