We will never know exactly what kind of fiction Tom Clancy might have written if he were less interested in the caliber of specific bullets and their effectiveness in dismantling nascent socialist governments, and more so in the specific characters needed to create a shooting riot police through a sea of fire. window on the third floor. As charity shops across the country mourn this devastating loss to their paperback shelves to this day, we at least get a sense of what such a literary enterprise might have been like. Oh, did you like that door? Was it yours? favorite door? Soz, friend. Strategy game Tactical Breach Wizards has gone straight ahead with a new demo as part of Steam Next Fest. I’ve played it, and it’s very exciting stuff, not least because it plays differently than I expected.
Tactical Breach Wizards comes from Suspicious Developments, founded by former games journalist and RPS employee Tom Francis. All these disclaimers are enough to make me hopeful that someone will one day pay me, Nic Reuben, to write the legally distinctive Little Shop Of Horrors management simulation of my dreams, but I digress (call me). The studio’s previous work includes Gunpoint and Heat Signature. Both are beloved, but thankfully neither wants to infringe on my concept for the legally distinctive Little Shop Of Horrors management simulation of my dreams (just call me.)
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The first thing I want to make absolutely clear about Tee-Bee-Dubs, if only to my past self, who tends to make unwieldy assumptions based on single screenshots, is that it has nothing to do with XCOM 2012 or his descendants. Okay, so “nothing to do” might be a bit of an exaggeration. It still offers turn-based, grid-aligned tactics. Your team still has contrasting and complementary skills. There is still cover, although you have to actively dive behind it. In terms of what it actually feels like to play, however, it’s a million miles away from the lengthy, ultra-deadly attrition battles of XCOM. I’m using XCOM as an example here, but Wizard’s slickly designed, eminently solvable, room-by-room discrete puzzles make it stand proudly and refreshingly apart from the plethora of XCOM grandchildren we’ve had in the intervening… 12 years! If anyone needs me, I will reconstruct myself from the salt bag of dust I currently reside in.
Here you’ll worry less about a stray Muton beating your beloved sniper to death (I’ve played other tactics games, I swear), and more about cleanly and efficiently resolving whatever configuration of villains and windows the current room throws at you , possible in few movements. All actions taken are essentially just plans, as you can both retake turns and view possible enemy reactions. You don’t commit to things until you hit the end button, like you’re furiously putting the legally distinctive Little Shop Of Horrors management simulation of my dreams on your wish list (call me). However, all this is just a taste of the main event. An amuse-bouche to entertain the messengers who blow boldly out of the windows.
You know you’re in for a great time when, in addition to the speed and efficiency scores, the results screen for booking each room matches your total, and I quote, defenestrations. In TBW’s implied quest to throw absolutely everything that breathes through glass, some skills are more efficient 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 systems. If a room has no windows, you know Mr. Francis is incredibly serious. I’m not sure yet from the demo bit I played if there’s any evolution in these currently Windows-only environmental hazards, but that would be nice, wouldn’t it? Not that I don’t like ramen. If I hadn’t, I would have had to quickly quit the game in disgust.
However, there will undoubtedly be some evolutions. Each level gives you the chance to hone your wizards’ skills with extra points. There are a lot of other lovely details I want to cram in quickly, right down to the incredibly small details. The graphics settings have cute names like “practical peach blizzards” and the like. The bit on the patch notes menu screen currently says ‘fixed: demo did not exist’. I like this kind of stuff. It’s the kind of little attention to detail that promises similar love elsewhere, nice little jokes to warm you up, like when you arrive at the pub to find there’s a shot already waiting for you at the bar. It’s also just a really fun game overall, although there are plenty of hints at a more involved story as you progress. At this point, it would take a serious hex to prevent me from diving into the full game when it, magically, releases at some unspecified point in the future. Hopefully sooner than the legally distinctive Little Shop Of Horrors management sim of my dreams (call me.)