Tactical Breach Wizards Review
Tactical Breach Wizards is a turn-based tactics game about throwing people out of windows brought to us by the developers of Gunpoint.
Tactical Breach Wizards. (Credit: Suspicious Developments)
Suspicious Developments (Tom Francis) has wowed me again with their latest release, the turn-based tactics game Tactical Breach Wizards. In a world where people can develop magical powers, spec ops military units are literal wizards. The result is a rewarding tactics experience featuring time manipulation and one of the funniest games of the year.
If you can remember my review of Reynatis, you’ll note that the premise of that game is nearly identical. Near-death experiences awaken magic powers in people. These wizards join combat units or the police force. Illegal drugs can give people magic abilities with unpredictable results. Where Reynatis failed, Tactical Breach Wizards succeeded by injecting humor into the equation. Unlike Reynatis, this game has a sense of humor, understands the inherent silliness of its premise, and runs with it, carried by funny, flawed characters who aren’t insufferable.
Tactical Breach Wizards. (Credit: Suspicious Developments)
You play as Zan Vesker and Jen Keller, wizards who once served in the same unit, as they try to unravel a conspiracy involving a PMC (private military corporation) abusing magic to do something sinister. Leading the PMC’s elite unit is Zan’s old commander, Liv Kennedy, a chronomancer who is likely the most dangerous operative alive.
Zan is a seer, able to see one second into the future, an ability that comprises one of the game's core mechanics. Through his ability, the game allows you to see the results of each action you take on the field and rewind them one by one to the beginning of the turn if you don’t like the results. Jen is a private investigator and weather witch with powers focused on blowing wind at enemies—perfect for throwing them out of windows and, therefore, one of the best things about this game. Along the journey, they meet more wizards who join the team that I won’t spoil here, to fight wizards like Steve the Traffic Warlock, who can send spectral cars full of ghostly skeletons barreling at you.
Tactical Breach Wizards. (Credit: Suspicious Developments)
The game's core is much like X-COM, where your characters must defeat enemies or perform other actions to clear grid-based levels. Once you breach through a level’s door—as the title of the game implies—characters have action points to do various things, such as move and attack; after you finish your turn, the enemy takes theirs. You can perform more actions per turn than you can in any other game I’ve played in the genre and mix up the sequence between all your characters any way you like. This, combined with the ability to preview the results of your choices and rewind them, creates a lot of freedom to experiment and get the best outcomes.
The game’s levels are hand-crafted defenestration playgrounds that offer multiple options to reach your objective. Each character's unique abilities open up tons of fun scenarios as you make them work together to get there. Set them up, then blow them out a window. Some abilities consume mana, which you can regenerate by performing special actions in strategic positions in the levels, including picking up intel or sealing doors to stop reinforcements.
Tactical Breach Wizards. (Credit: Suspicious Developments)
Unlike X-COM, this game has no base-building component. Tactical Breach Wizards focuses on narrative and propels the plot forward through dialogue-driven cutscenes between your missions. You’re given choices in the dialogue, but they won’t change the story's **outcome—this is a linear game. **While I loved the gameplay, these cutscenes were my favorite part of the experience. The characters are full of personality, and it was great to spend time with them. The dialogue is genuinely funny, something exceedingly rare in games. Some conversations are optional and viewable from a menu, but I don’t know why you’d ever want to skip them.
The game’s graphics are in flat-shaded 3D. Levels are isometric, but the perspective changes for cutscenes, bringing us closer to the characters. Despite being a military-themed game, it finds many opportunities to inject more color into the visuals; Tactical Breach Wizards is never drab.
Tactical Breach Wizards. (Credit: Suspicious Developments)
I loved the character designs. The costume designs are perfect blends of fantasy and modern military, giving everyone a unique look. The game offers alternate costumes for all the protagonists you can buy with “confidence points,” but my favorites are the defaults. Even without mouths or noses, characters are expressive thanks to excellently animated body language.
Tom Francis has created another unmissable game. Even at 15-20 hours, it feels like it’s over too quickly because I wanted to spend more time with these characters. In any case, they’ve created a rich world full of possibilities. I hope that one day, they give us another opportunity to visit for more adventures that involve breaching through doors and blowing people out of windows.
Tactical Breach Wizards is available now on Steam for PC. There’s also a demo available, but you should just buy it.
Overall Score: 10/10
Played on: Steam Deck
