Review: Space Marshals 3: Chapter 1
I joined the Space Marshals party a little late, jumping into the sequel when it was on sale. After about ten minutes with the game, I knew it was something special. I immediately stopped playing and bought the first game and played through them both in one of the best weekends I spent with my phone. Space Marshals 3 is now out and I have such huge expectations for it, can it live up to it?
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Reviewed on iOS.
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Space Marshals 3 is a twin stick action game, that you can try your best to play stealthy, or you can go loud and have massive shootouts. Given the opportunity, I will always go loud.
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Space Marshals 1 and 2 have been on my backlog of games to revisit for review so I will start quickly with those. The first game was a little on the clunky side, and needed some tweaks to make it better, but it was still a wonderful experience. The second game ironed out those bugs, made it a lot easier to stealth kill, and just made for a more polished experience. The third game is very close to the gameplay of the second but just a little smoother to play.
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The game picks up and puts you through a tutorial in which your character objects, by saying he has done this already, which I found to be a very humorous way to remind returning players how to play and teach the ropes to newcomers with its great humor and writing. The story is told only through its writing; there is no voice acting so it was crucial to nail it, which they did.
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The story is action packed, and has you going on an adventure of deception and backstabbing, which had me guessing what’s going to happen in every mission. The objectives in the missions were more varied than ever too. It’s no longer just run through the level and take out as many people as you can. This one had you rescuing civilians and just trying to escape sticky situations. Not all levels ended with a huge fight. Some you could stealth your way out of, a change I wouldn’t say I needed, but it helps with the replayability.
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As for replayability, if you want to unlock all of the rewards from each level, you will need to replay it a few times. Replaying the levels didn’t get old, since you can switch up your style and your method for the level, and keep it all fresh.
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The game really nailed both major aspects of gameplay, stealth and action. When trying to play a mission in stealth, when you sneak up on someone, and you see an enemy coming close to you, you can feel the urgency to finish that takedown so you can try to hide.
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When things do go loud and you are in big shoot outs, you can take cover behind almost everything and anything near you, and pop out to take your shots. It felt just as good as some games that are designed to be cover based shooters.
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There are also levels where you can use the environment to your advantage. Plenty of explosive barrels lying around to shoot and also enemy turrets you can hack to help fight with you, which at times can be a lifesaver.
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When you get to the final mission (mission number 10) your next objective is simply “To Be Continued’. Chapter 1 is all that’s available at the moment, and personally, I can’t wait for Chapter 2 to come out.
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Although the game is incomplete at this time, Chapter 1 is enough content to stand on its own, and it is enough to warrant a purchase. Frankly, anything that developer Pixelbite puts out is a day one instant buy for me.
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Space Marshals 3 Chapter 1 is a great stealth game and/or action game. It’s the perfect evolution from Space Marshals 2. I have replayed all the missions multiple times and I still find myself going back for more. The action packed shootouts will never get old. Chapter 2 can not come soon enough.
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Final Score 9/10
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For more reviews, be sure to check out my thoughts on Far Cry 5, Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, and Halo: Combat Evolved and my new podcast: Game Bites, the latest entry in The Spinchoon Podcast Network (check out Flix & a Six). We also started a new review series on The Spinchoon: Game Club. Check out our first entry on Sleeping Dogs here As always, check us out on Twitter @TheSpinchoonand I’m @Big_Broons.
