We’ll never know exactly what kind of fiction Tom Clancy would have written if he were less concerned with the caliber of specific bullets and their effectiveness in dismantling emerging socialist governments, and more with the specific marks required to shoot a police officer. third floor window. As charity shops across the country mourn this devastating loss on their paperback shelves to this day, we have at least a glimpse of what such a literary feat might have looked like. Oh, did you like the door? Was it yours? favorite door? Come on buddy. Strategy game Tactical Breach Wizards just cursed it with a new demo as part of the Steam Next Fest. I’ve been playing it and it’s very exciting stuff, not just because of how different it plays than I expected.
Tactical Breach Wizards comes from Suspicious Developments, founded by former gaming blogger and RPS contributor Tom Francis. All of these statements are enough to make me hope that one day someone will pay me, Nic Reuben, to write the legally distinct Little Shop Of Horrors management sim of my dreams, but I digress (call me). The studio’s previous works include Gunpoint and Heat Signature. Both are hugely popular, but thankfully neither is breaking my concept of the legally distinct Little Shop Of Horrors management simulator of my dreams (call me.)
Watch on YouTube
The first thing I want to make absolutely clear about Tee-Bee-Dubs, if only to my past self who tends to make impractical assumptions based on isolated screenshots, is that it has nothing to do with XCOM 2012 or its descendants. Okay, so “nothing to do” can be a bit of a stretch. It still offers turn-based, grid-based tactics. Your team still boasts contrasting and complementary abilities. Also, there’s still cover, even if you have to actively hide behind it. As for how it actually plays, it’s miles away from the drawn-out, ultra-lethal firefights of XCOM’s wear and tear. I’m using XCOM as an example here, but Wizard’s elegantly designed, eminently solvable, separate room-by-room puzzles mean it stands proudly and refreshingly apart from the plethora of XCOM grandchildren we’ve had in the intervening…12 years! If anyone needs me, I will recover from the bag of dust I currently reside in.
Here, you’re less concerned with a stray Muton bashing your beloved sniper’s head to death (I swear I’ve played other tactical games) and more with cleanly and efficiently dealing with whatever configuration of bastards and windows the current room throws at you. as few movements as possible. All actions taken are basically just plans, as you can repeat moves and check possible enemy reactions. You don’t commit to things until you hit the end-of-turn button, as if furiously listing the legally disparate Little Shop Of Horrors management simulator of my dreams (call me.) But all of this is just a taste of the main event. Amuse-bouche for the amusement of body slamming rudely out of windows.
You know you’re in for a tough time when, in addition to your speed and efficiency scores, your total, quote, defenestration is calculated on each room’s booking results screen. In TBW’s implied effort to throw absolutely everything that breathes through glass, some abilities are more effective than others, but even basic attacks all have some sort of knockback. And wouldn’t you know it, these compact room levels are actually just window supply systems. When a room has no windows, you know Mr. Francis is incredibly serious. From the part of the demo I’ve played, I’m not sure yet if there’s been any development of these environmental hazards, which are currently only for windows, but that would be nice, wouldn’t it? Not that I don’t like windows. If I didn’t, I’d have to quickly quit the game in disgust.
However, there will no doubt be some development. Each level gives you a chance to develop your wizards skills using perk points. There are a number of other beautiful details that I would like to cram in quickly, down to the incredibly small. The graphics settings have cute names like ‘practical peach blizzards’ and the like. The bit on the menu screen for the patch notes currently says ‘fixed: demo didn’t exist’. I love that kind of stuff. It’s the kind of little attention to detail that promises similar love elsewhere, nice little pre-game gags that warm you up, like arriving at a pub to find there’s already a shot waiting for you at the bar. It’s also a very fun game in general, although there are plenty of hints at a more involved story as you progress. At this point, it would take a serious spell to prevent me from diving into the full game when it comes out, as if by magic, at some unspecified point in the future. Hopefully sooner than the legally different Little Shop Of Horrors management simulation of my dreams (call me.)