Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew (Computer)
Official GBAtemp Review
Product Information:
- Release Date (NA): August 17, 2023
- Release Date (EU): August 17, 2023
- Publisher: Mimimi Games
- Developer: Mimimi Games
- Genres: RPG, strategy, stealth
- Also For: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Game Features:
Open seas, tropical weather, loot to heist and… an undead crew?! Indeed, Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew depicts an alternate version of the Golden Age of Piracy as you haven’t experienced before.
In its timeline, the Curse of Lost Souls is bringing the departed back and infusing them with supernatural abilities. Among those revived by the Curse is navigator Afia Manicato who, together with The Red Marley - the ghost ship with a living soul - assembles a crew of fellow cursed pirates to find the mysterious treasure of the legendary Captain Mordechai.
But standing in their way is the army of the Inquisition, a religious group bent on exterminating Cursed pirates. So to get their hands on the coveted treasure, the Red Marley’s crew will have to embrace their supernatural abilities to counter the Inquisition zealots across the island chain known as the Lost Caribbean.
Avast ye! It’s a new direction!
After working on real-time tactical games (or stealth strategy as the developers like to term them) with a more realistic setting and serious in tone such as Shadow Tactics and Desperados III, Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is a marked new direction for developer Mimimi Games.
In addition to its fantasy setting with an undead cast wielding supernatural powers, Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is more colourful visually and is tonally more laid back. Despite being a new venture, Mimimi Games executed it well. The pirate era atmosphere is well depicted with the tropical island settings, the detailed The Red Marley ship which serves as the hub between missions, and accompanying soundtrack.
Its original universe is further brought to life by its unique fantasy twist to the Golden Age of Piracy. You’ll encounter ghost siblings on an island, a giant talking tree and even the main cast is a ragtag crew of zombie pirates.
The Red Marley’s crew is particularly likeable, with each character having unique personalities and side stories that help you learn more about their origins. They are further fleshed out by the professional voice acting in every conversation and cutscenes.
But while much attention has clearly been paid in crafting the main cast which is a varied bunch, the same cannot be said about NPCs. This is especially the case with the enemy types which are limited to a handful. There are some civilians which you occasionally encounter but the limited enemy types you encounter throughout the game is rather glaring.
In addition, while the plot and universe is original, it is not a heavily story-driven title. There is an overarching plot that drives the game but the focus is on the gameplay, as is the case with this genre and it's worth bearing in mind.
Gameplay that will shiver your timbers
As a fan of stealth games, Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew’s stealth strategy gameplay aspect was an instant draw to me. Its inspirations from the classic Commandos series is apparent and well executed for modern systems as the developer has become somewhat of a specialist in the genre.
Before going on a mission, you get to choose your party members. Each has a set of unique abilities such as Suleidy’s instant hiding bush vials and Toya’s long-range kills. Each character also has their own limitations such as Afia’s inability to swim while Gaëlle cannot climb up vines. So you’ll need to choose members that supplement each other’s skill but mixing and matching can lead to interesting ways to clear a level given their unique abilities.
Most levels will allow you to choose a location to land on the map. Once landed, you can control each party member individually or as a group as you progress towards the goal in a sandbox map.
Getting to that goal won’t be as easy as just walking up there though. Littered across each mission’s map are armies of the Inquisition. To get past them and reach your objective, you’ll either have to sneak past them, kill/knock them down or take them head-on. But with the latter approach, they can raise the alarm to call in reinforcements who will quickly outnumber and execute your crew; but you can still get out of such situations if you’re crafty enough.
As a stealth-focused game, a stealth approach is recommended and it will appeal to fans of games like Commandos or Mimimi Games’ other titles. But the level’s sandbox design and open-ended approach to the gameplay provides you with a measure of experimentation to mix non-violent and offensive tactics, turning mission progression into a fun concoction..
You can strategize your move by scouting the map from a bird’s eye view and the developers included a “Shadow Mode” that lets you stop time, plan which member’s skill to use and execute your next moves. Should your plan not pan out as expected, you can rewind time to your last quick save which is a handy feature of the gameplay.
While it can feel like a downer if your strategy doesn’t initially work out, there’s a rewarding feeling when it subsequently does; and Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew never fails at that. This is thanks to the open-ended approach that its sandbox maps enable as well as the varied abilities of your party members.
A piratin’ good time
However, there’s definitely a learning curve to the mechanics, especially with managing the different crew member’s abilities, and there’s an initial info dump that comes with. And while the game encourages tackling levels through different approaches, your movesets are limited at the start. This is because for the first hours of the game, your crew will be limited to a couple of characters whose movesets are fixed.
Thus, missions will initially tend to rely on similar approaches until your crew expands, bringing in new abilities; and that’s when the fun really begins. This endows the game with a slow burn aspect which, coupled with the strategizing involved, might not satisfy those who prefer rushing through a game; and this one lasts around 30 hours.
And during those dozens of hours, it would have helped for the enemy types to be more varied. Not only are their assets the same but their movesets are as well. Some areas do mix NPCs up by having civilians but having more enemies with different abilities of their own would spice up the challenge as well as the visuals.
Overall, Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew delivers a cracking good time for fans of stealth games. It does have a slow burn aspect to it but once you’ve assembled your crew and got a hold of the controls, missions turn into an engrossing affair.
Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew - Release Date Trailer
Verdict
- Original pirate universe with fantasy elements twist
- Fun levels that focus on a strategizing a stealth approach
- Open-ended gameplay with varied crew abilities
- Learning curve to mechanics
- Limited enemy types
- Slow burn aspect
