Midnight Fight Express, a review of a fighting game with massacres

Babyface is a former criminal who decides to clean up his city of crime propelled by a strange sentient drone. At the beginning of the adventure we find him tied to a chair and questioned by the police, before the police apparently trying to understand his purpose before they sentence him to death. The entire game is therefore the back story of something that happened before, and as we’ll see below, Midnight Fight Express reviewcontains numerous corpses left along the way.

war system

Developed by independent Polish developer Jacob Dzwinel alone, Midnight Fight Express is a top-down scrolling fighting game. war system we are not on the side of Sifu, we are not even on the side of the Last Fight. Let’s say the classic system designed to give the player the opportunity to develop and try new combinations as they are unlocked. Babyface has a lot of moves to use: He can punch and kick, catch enemies, run fast, use a firearm with different types of bullets, and throw a hook to lure his opponent far. In the beginning, in reality, you do not have all the moves and all the tools available, you have to unlock them level by level by spending the points obtained at the end of each stage.

However, in addition to their abilities, our lone executioner can also use them in battle. weaponry Various objects, explosive barrels, bottles, cans, chairs, etc., to be thrown around scenarios, collected from enemy corpses, by hand or by fire. items) and the walls themselves are useful for smashing heads.

All this translates into a constant search for the most effective and choreographic carnage possible; this is where opponents face off as they try to use existing moves to inflict more damage, first rather clumsily, then increasingly fluidly and dynamically. . In short, we are faced with an understanding. sandbox an experience where you can make use of the given tools as you wish and also develop personal action strategies.

Unfortunately in the Midnight Fight Express battle system not only the lights are different shades. When it works, it allows you to create engaging situations and exciting gameplay moments, but in some cases it turns out to be a bit too slippery, meaning it doesn’t always manage to follow the player’s movements, so it creates unpleasant situations, which you don’t have a good understanding of what’s going on on the screen. , which is also often not exactly perfect, with the help of the feedback from the shots.

Maps and enemies

this maps they are strictly linear in themselves and only require you to follow the predetermined path. There is nothing to discover and search for in the levels. We’re advancing fast, getting in front of rivals on duty, obviously being slain, then starting again. Repeat until the end of the level. There are three levels of vehicles (a boat, a motorcycle, and a truck) and some pretty sketchy classic shooter mechanics are introduced, but thankfully they don’t last long and, if built, only serve to add some variety. better.

this enemies there are many of them and range from the classic drug dealer gang to special police squads, wild nightclubs, an all-female group, religious fanatics, Russians and all the fauna that the underground culture is accustomed to us. As we will see later, unfortunately many varieties do not correspond to the same quality. In addition to normal enemies, from time to time you will have to fight against bosses, the classic strongest and most resistant monsters that enjoy special attack and defense patterns. In theory they should represent the peak of difficulty for each part of the game, but in practice they present a variable and unpredictable level of difficulty. After all, difficulty management is one of the most obvious problems of the game.

problems

Let’s explain: In some cases Midnight Fight Express has its peaks. difficulty Remarkably, these fall out right away, so it’s not clear if they were intended or just the result of uninspired design. These are the moments when the game gets too tough, even against common enemies, and then returns to its traditional tracks. For example, one of these spikes is recorded when you encounter mutant humans in the sewer (then you disappear throughout the entire game), another when you are chased by a lawnmower, and another when you battle against motorcyclists. , despite appearances, is much more dangerous than SWAT. One episode in particular, where we had to face zombies, made us particularly nervous (yes, a lot, actually) because the combat wasn’t particularly interesting either because it was completely free or because the game mechanics weren’t designed for this type of game (yes, a lot, actually) and we were suddenly asked to just use firearms to keep the creatures at bay. .

The second one is too bad limited ammunition. Considering it’s also a unique moment in the game (zombies are only at that level), it’s unclear why it was added. The idea is that we tried to artificially create diversity, even by making controversial and absurd choices in terms of narrative.

Aside from the strange modulation of difficulty, which is forgivable if desired, problems The main part of Midnight Fight Express is a bit out of focus in the sense that the developer tries to put in anything that he thinks is interesting and might surprise, but often creates an unpleasant mix. If certain quotes or situations, like those on Hotline Miami or Portal, make you smile and look delicious, or when you infiltrate a triple-A development studio crunch victim where you celebrate the launch of a game by playing with pillows, the excessive number of enemy mobs is a bit confusing, as well as many enemies just seemingly different from each other. , that is, they always follow the same attack patterns and are equipped with similar abilities to others their colleagues have met before.

They become more resilient and suffer more as the game progresses, but that’s all. It should be said that it is not even possible to deepen the themes and aesthetics that the groups bring with them in this way, because after meeting them for a few minutes, we have already moved on to something else and forgot what role they have forgotten. they exist in history (mostly they don’t).

Thus, for example, we find ourselves fighting criminals dressed as priests, whose influence on the overall picture is very weak. There is a church full of banknotes, which you can criticize very lightly of the religious system if you wish, but you do not have time to look around, you have already gone to fight against someone else. It looks like he’s in front of a fashion show where the same actors wear different outfits and the balance doesn’t quite determine the overall meaning of the play. Even the story is weakened from this amorphous mix, because there are no deepening characters.

The plot itself is pretty bland. At first, the mystery behind Babyface’s motives may be intriguing, but once it’s revealed, it becomes clear that you’re dealing with something that unfolds. pretty childish story and sometimes too weak, it is sustained by the dialogues between the hero, his drone, and other characters. Of course, stunned by Babyface’s return, the fifteenth criminal begins to turn their noses up and twist them in front of certain twists that make everything a little trivial.

considerations

to finish forty missions The Midnight Fighting Express lasted about five hours. After finishing it, it’s possible to replay individual missions to unlock certain objectives such as collecting a certain number of gold teeth, shooting enemies out of the mouth, or reaching the end within a certain time limit. This is definitely the best way to make good use of all the skills learned and enjoy the game without dialogue or cutscenes. Completing quests earns money and unlocks new items that can be purchased in the shop. In short, it’s the classic mode for complements, which takes more hours than the base campaign and allows you to truly master the combat system.

from perspective graphic, Jacob Dzwinel’s title is pretty good. The characters and scenarios aren’t particularly detailed, but the choice of framing the action from above and good animations make some of the conflicts particularly nice and make up for it from a choreographic point of view. Too bad for the feedback from the aforementioned crashes that spoil the show at times. On the other hand, the accessory elements such as cutscenes and dialogue scenes, which make their weight felt a little in the final part, are weak, given how much importance the game places on the narrative aspect. Finally, the soundtrack is excellent, with songs that perfectly accompany the action, moving the player, especially at the most exciting moments.