What happens if you combine Into the Breach with Jason Statham’s films?
More precisely, it did not come – because now we have Fights in Tight Spaces…
Jack Bauer’s method
As you can guess from the name, Fights in Tight Spaces is a game with clear, understandable priorities, and the plot is not among them. However, there is still a nominal plot that creates at least some kind of context for an endless series of fights. The protagonist is one of the agents of the “Group 11”: this spy organization in the era of information technology prefers to solve problems the old-fashioned way – by violence. And as “problems” in need of an urgent “solution”, there are four criminal gangs, whose types are well known from Hollywood action games. A gang of Scandinavian bikers, a ninja clan (what kind of action movie is it without a ninja), an Italian family of slightly hip mobsters and a group of criminals who have taken over the prison underground. In general, the unnamed agent has a very busy business trip ahead.
The game loves to put the agent in a hopeless position at the beginning of the battle – you can get out of such a trap only by cunning
In general terms, the gameplay of Fights in Tight Spaces is extremely simple. When it comes to structure and card mechanics, it almost completely repeats the Slay the Spire formula: procedurally generated chains of rooms, playing cards for action points, improving the deck between fights, permanent death. All of these things have long been the standard for card roguelikes, and the authors have wisely decided not to try to reinvent the bike. But when it comes to battles, the fun begins. As in any deck building, battles are tied to the drawing of cards, but take place in three-dimensional – and very cramped – locations, divided into cells. For example, in a subway car, prison cell, restroom, or the back of a van. In the best case, the arenas reach the size of a small bar or hotel room, but even then furniture and interior items are constantly confused underfoot. There, one person cannot really turn around, and opponents always attack in a crowd (five to one is the norm) and, by the standards of AI, they enjoy a numerical advantage rather well. If they cannot squeeze in the corner right away, then at least they will try to cut off the escape routes.
Before starting the race, you can choose a starting deck and a grouping that will be the target: each of them has its own units with unique abilities. The only pity is that you always have to fight with them in the same order.
Despite this, Fights in Tight Spaces, even in the most desperate situation, does not leave the player completely helpless or defenseless: by analogy with Into the Breach, the game severely punishes mistakes, but provides all the necessary information. You always know the special properties of enemies, how much damage they will inflict, where and in what sequence they will attack, where reinforcements will come from. With proper skill and a well-built deck with this knowledge (in theory), you can get out of any trouble. Moreover, in the agent’s arsenal there are tools for all occasions: with their help, you can use the environment to your advantage, and ideally, turn predictable bandits against each other. To push down those who naively stood on the edge of the balcony or subway platform, to hide behind bullets with “human shields” – in a word, to fight as dirty and practical as possible. You can even expose enemies to the blows of their own allies: AI does not matter who to attack – as long as there is a goal. It seems silly, but in the heat of a fight there is no time to figure out where your own and where are strangers.
Sometimes, even with prompts, it’s not easy to understand what’s what: you have to rotate an uncomfortable camera in order to see everything in a human way
Discombobulate
In life, the choreography of such scenes takes a lot of effort and requires great skill – in terms of complexity, Fights in Tight Spaces does not lag behind the production of real action films. Most of the cards available in the game are martial arts techniques, be it boxing jabs, kung fu pirouettes, kickboxing and wrestling, judo throws, Krav Maga techniques. Some of them work only at a strictly specified distance, for others, you need to be close to a wall or an object of the environment, while the third definitely requires a run into several cells. Certain cards, in principle, cannot be played until you hit a long enough combo: the counter increases every time you attack, but decreases as you move. And all this information has to be kept in mind, otherwise one rash decision can completely screw up a seemingly win-win move – the game does not make any concessions. In a hurry to push your opponent away with a kick? Now you can’t reach him, because there are no ranged attacks in his hand. Played a movement card but took one step more than you needed to? The combo meter fell too low, the whole maneuver wasted. Gape and ended your move at the open window? Smile and wave your pen to the commandos with a shotgun at the other end of the room, whose shot will now throw you out of the arena.
In each battle, the agent also has three additional objectives that provide valuable rewards. Here, for example, the enemy in yellow is the informant; you need to knock out everyone except him, so as not to break the legend
After each battle, you can watch the footage in real time. Taking beautiful screenshots in it is a separate pleasure.
It is noteworthy that the authors do not force the audience to go out of their way to get aesthetic pleasure – the desire to fight stylishly, like a professional, wakes up by itself. Even the simplest jabs with hands and feet look impressive: the weight of the movements, as a rule, feels believable, and the imagination easily fills in the gaps in the animation. It is felt that the authors are burning with the topic of martial arts and have chosen it not just for show. Whenever Fights in Tight Spaces suggests adding a new move to the deck, you want to take even those that are clearly not useful – to see what cinematic combos you can do with them. In general, deckbuilding mechanics cannot be called deep or outstanding, but because of the presentation they do not get tired of experimenting with them: especially when it turns out that the “unnecessary” card, in fact, fits perfectly into different combos.
With experience, you begin to scroll the picture in your head one by one glance at the cards in your hand, like Sherlock. Stun with a blow to the Adam’s apple, jab to the jaw, uppercut – minus one. Hook-kick to get more action points next turn. Hook to the body, push one square away with a direct kick, shorten the distance with a jump kick – minus two. Disarm one shooter with a poison dart. Attack in a jump from the wall to the remaining one – minus three. The combo is over, half the room is out, and the agent is not scratched. In the meantime, you were just playing cards from your hand, but an insanely dynamic setting unfolded on the screen: at some point, you just forget about the steps.
For all my delight, I can’t say that everyone needs to immediately run to Steam for a copy of the game. Don’t get me wrong, Fights in Tight Spaces is good, but after a few months and massive patches, it will surely get much better. Now the project has just entered Early Access, and so far it is very noticeable: without a meta-progression, the incentive to return to the game disappears after a couple of successful races, and many mechanics (for example, random events) would not hurt to thoroughly refine it. So it makes sense to wait and not spoil your pleasure ahead of time – the potential for development of the game is impressive.
Nevertheless, if your hands are itching right now and at least some of what I have just told you sounds interesting, then you are unlikely to regret buying. After all, where else can you throw a handful of sand in the face of an opponent, then knock out the diaphragm with your palm and throw it from the deflection?
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