GamesStrategyA SWAT team full of wizards makes for a brilliant mash-up of strategy game ideas that also happens to fix one of my biggest gripes with XCOM 2When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesStrategyA SWAT team full of wizards makes for a brilliant mash-up of strategy game ideas that also happens to fix one of my biggest gripes with XCOM 2When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Suspicious Developments)
I move one of my units a little way up the map, cursing as the attention of every bad guy in this room snaps onto him. My rifle-toting wizard’s health bar starts to blink out as an array of bullet trails and body slams are planned out in advance. In some turn-based strategy games, that kind of error might have been catastrophic, but inTactical Breach Wizardsit’s a minor inconvenience. I rewind my last action, before moving the unit slightly more slowly. Now, he’s out of range of the melee units' charge attacks, has cover from the ranged fire, and I’m free to plan out the rest of my turn.
Deja vu
(Image credit: Suspicious Developments)
Set against the backdrop of a rapidly-heating fictional cold war, Zan Wesker is a ‘Navy Seer’. His powers of foresight are usually limited to a single second – just enough to make him very useful in a close-quarters firefight (and power that useful rewind skill) – but have recently started showing him glimpses of an apocalyptic future that he feels duty-bound to undo. Joining him on his journey are Jen, a storm witch currently struggling to make rent as a freelance P.I., Banks, a ‘necromedic’ who unlocked their powers of resurrection during a particularly bad shift as a surgeon, and Dall, a rebel priest fighting with both censer and riot shield.
Indie Spotlight(Image credit: Just Purkey Games )Hunting monsters to the tune of heavy metal is my new vice, thanks to this survival horror shooter from an ex-Skyrim dev
Indie Spotlight
(Image credit: Just Purkey Games )Hunting monsters to the tune of heavy metal is my new vice, thanks to this survival horror shooter from an ex-Skyrim dev
(Image credit: Just Purkey Games )
Hunting monsters to the tune of heavy metal is my new vice, thanks to this survival horror shooter from an ex-Skyrim dev
Deja vu
(Image credit: Suspicious Developments)
It’s a system that could feel a little cheap to hardcore, veteran strategy game players. If you run forward with abandon in XCOM and get one of your best soldiers cut down in their prime, that’s a mistake you have to live with. It’s also the aspect of XCOM 2 that caused me to bounce off it, hard, multiple times. But Tactical Breach Wizards neatly ripostes any potential criticism with optional objectives, a gentle encouragement towards speed and efficiency, and a toolbox that makes you want to work to get the most out of it.
Each character has some nifty tricks, but a limited ability to use them. Movement is at a premium, and some of the strongest skills in the game involve the chance to get around after you’ve repositioned. In even the smallest arenas, Dall’s ability to swap places with any other unit, or Jen’s broomstick, which lets her leap out of one window before reappearing through another, are invaluable. Most characters only have a single action per turn, and while they can use mana to cast more powerful spells, you’re still mostly limited to one empowered cast per fight, meaning that every spell has to punch above its weight to be as effective as possible.
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1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
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1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
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1
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2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
2
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Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
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5
Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”