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Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is getting a demo exactly one week after this preview gets published and I honestly can't throw enough recommendations to try it out for yourself when Steam Next Fest kicks off on June 19, 2023.
From the description of the demo, it sounds like it will be the same thing I got to play through in the preview build so if anything in the article catches your fancy, you will have an opportunity to try it out soon enough.
With that said, let's get into all the goodies Mimimi prepared for the fans of real-time tactics (RTT).
Gorgeous art style, smooth operation
Right off the bat, you will notice the art style and graphics are somewhat interconnected. The devs didn't rely on either of these carrying the game on its own and so a wealth of detail went into both.
Shadow Gambit doesn't aspire to be photorealistic, instead choosing a semi-cartoonish art style that fits the setting perfectly and the graphics are intricate enough to give off a passing vibe of realism in high pirate fantasy. Together, they mash into a beautiful display that is set to charm the players from the very beginning.
To top it all off, performance was butter smooth in the preview build I went through, hinting the game is already well-optimised, two months ahead of the launch on August 17, 2023. The only hiccup was the slow loading time when opening the game, which may have something to do with the opening cinematic but I expect it will be dealt with before release.
Strong writing, exquisite voice acting
Voice acting can often sound weak if the writing was at fault and vice versa. These two elements rely on each other so they either prop each other up or crash and burn together. Thankfully, it is the first case with Shadow Gambit as the game delivers a competent story that immediately piques the player's interest and the wonderful voice acting simply knocked it out of the park.
The numerous crew members of the Red Marley have distinct personalities and the voice actors seem to have gone an extra mile to make sure you can hear it in their delivery. Such attention to detail often goes unnoticed, unfortunately, but it is what makes the immersion in well-executed games an amazing quality that is often overlooked in modern games.
When the symbiosis of writing and voice acting clicks together, every dialogue and cutscene become a delight and Mimimi absolutely delivered in that aspect.
Combat puzzles and the challenge
Just like the classic Commandos and Desperados games, Shadow Gambit thrives when it comes to creating puzzles for the players to solve in each combat encounter. It is best to remain hidden, lest you end up overwhelmed by the enemy reinforcements, and staying on the down low is where the difficulty lies.
With a colourful cast of characters, the game offers a virtually infinite amount of options on how to proceed with a mission. Whether you bring highly lethal crew members to quickly dispose of enemies or you decide to get creative with using them as cannon ammunition, you always have a way to overcome the obstacles. Hell, you can use your own team members as ammunition if you want, or pop a few extra bushes around to remain stealthier than ever.
Mimimi put an incredible amount of effort into creating encounters that would be possible to complete with any combination of crew members but would still remain challenging and it shows. In our interview with the folks behind this masterpiece, the devs confirmed that creating encounters that fit any combination of crew members while keeping the difficulty up was one of the hardest things they had to deal with during development. If the first act is anything to go by, I would hazard a guess they hit the nail on the head with the vision and execution.
Is Shadow Gambit worth your time?
I don't know the entire lineup of Steam Next Fest 2023 but I can wholeheartedly recommend trying out Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew regardless of how many great games will be made available during the event.
Despite releasing three RTT titles over the course of five years, there are no signs of fatigue in Mimimi's vision or execution. Shadow Gambit definitely feels like a labour of love and it is those games that most often translate into unforgettable experiences for the players.
Is Shadow Gambit worth your time? Absolutely, go for it as soon as the Steam Next Fest starts.
