Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew (PC) Preview

On a magical ship, there is a crew of vagrants otherwise cast aside. They are the cursed and unwanted of the land if you will. Mimimi’s Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is one of the things I’m most excited about on my Steam (and Epic) wishlists. It takes the classic real-time stealth genre, puts a pirate twist on it, and throws in a little bit of fantasy magic in there too. Commanding the Red Marley might not be something you do since she’s (quite literally) a ship of her own mind. However, you and its cursed crew are set to take on the Inquisition (not that one) as you both search for its former captain’s treasure this August.

Now you can play the demo currently available on Steam, which I’ve been playing for the better part of a week. A similar example would be the 2020 Western release from the company, Desperados III, working effectively like a real-time tactics title when you want things to move quickly. However, a pause function allows you to line up multiple characters to execute more complex maneuvers. Taking the fantasy pirate route, it might be seen as just a change of scenery, but the new quick save and quick load options make “save scumming” fall in line with the strange new world you find yourself in.

The demo is a meaty chunk of what we can expect on August 17th. You get around 2-4 hours of playtime while getting used to Afia Manicato and her Dishonored-like blink powers. Depending on your early choices, you also get hands-on with some crew of the Red Marley. This includes the ship’s doctor, Suleidy, and the ship’s Japanese cook, Toya, who uses a Katashiro (voodoo-like paper doll) to tag enemies. Totaling eight crew members, the cursed crew have individual powers that make them unique enough that for select missions you’ll aim for certain party members to tag along.

Gaëlle le Bris can fire crew members or the Inquisition across the map, as well as play with firecrackers like a teenager in the high school toilets. The Billy Connolly-looking quartermaster can get inside the mind of the Inquisition and use the Von Presswald fortune to throw coins to distract foes.

The one-legged Teresa la Ciega has a crossbow, allowing her to fire smoke arrows blinding the Inquisition and less smokey ones to do a bit more than blind them. Quentin isn’t attracted to feet, but he can use his rod to pull friendlies out of action and pull enemies into his chest. John is your Shipwright that goes under the map to pop out with fun results.

If you’re new to real-time stealth (which Mimimi has cornered) the PC controls might be strange. At times I felt I needed three hands to actively do anything. Your typical WASD area of the keyboard is for special abilities, your right hand is for the arrows controlling the camera, and the mouse lets you select. If given time, you’ll figure out a workaround, but it is that initial curve that is the problem for many. I did at one point try to remap the camera controls, though it was fruitless as the current version of the demo I played only allowed for you to remap up and right. Left and down were left to the imagination.

If there are negatives to bring up, it has to be trying to remember all the tools available. Specifically, you’ll need to execute a plan while remembering where everyone is, know who’s in cover, how quickly it takes to do something and switch between characters to keep everyone out of sight lines.

On top of that, you have a bunch of kill animations that are rather long. Trying to stealth kill someone with Toya (for example) takes a while as he’s got to get his seven paper cuts in while Afia has to slowly stab and break necks before slowly moving the body into a bush. Eventually, you’ll find maps that are full of enemies, all with very quick sight lines on each other.

Those aren’t deal-breaking negatives, and much like my preview on The Great War: Western Front, I’m still very excited for the release of Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew in August. In fact, I’m even more so in comparison to the aforementioned preview. The theming and mechanics at play offer a slew of tactics to solve problems, it is just how successful and quick you happen to be to execute them. It is a lengthier demo than most will offer and should give a good idea of whether or not Shadow Gambit does enough for you to change up the Desperados III or Shadow Tactics gameplay for another world.

With an interesting set of characters and a reasonable thrust in the plot so far, this sometimes colorful fictional tale in the Caribbean has me ready to play more. A touch cartoonish with the Inquisition all wearing these odd masks and flamboyant outfits, there is a hint of tongue-in-cheek to the risk they pose to your undead crew of vagrants. As reviving and obtaining a new member to your crew takes soul energy from specially embued items, there is greater reason to attack, though I feel having the person holding them being pointed to leaves a little exploration unwarranted.

A PC preview copy of Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew was provided by Mimimi Games for this preview.