Celebrated indie game developer Tom Francis is back, combining modern weapons and tactics with wizardry and witchcraft. Introducing Tactical Breach Wizards, where players take command of a magical SWAT unit trained to eliminate threats and defuse hostile situations. Based on the gameplay reveal and subsequent explanation in Francis’ latest developer update, Tactical Breach Wizards looks as fun as it sounds.
The gameplay reveal pits two of the game’s characters against a house full of some dastardly-looking criminals. Our two characters for the gameplay showcase are Riot Priest and Witch Cop. Riot Priest, as Tom shares, has a tragic backstory that involves loss and redemption. He uses the character’s distinct personality and relates it to how the character feels and plays. Riot Priest is an armored-up unit equipped with a tactical shield - which he can use to push his enemies into all forms of unfortunate positions. Of course, kicking people through windows is something fans have come to expect from the developer, with all of Francis' games featuring some manner of getting thrown out windows. The second unit highlighted is Witch Cop, who behaves like a cop as far as we’ve seen. However, it is worth noting that instead of shooting enemies with modern firearms, Witch Cop zaps them with a flick of her wand.
In the video, Francis demonstrates the flexibility of the gameplay. The system is designed to allow for all forms of play and all kinds of tactics and strategies. Just like in Gunpoint and Heat Signature, players are encouraged to take different approaches and employ non-conventional methods to achieve their objective. Of course, the straightforward approach also works in most cases, but the point is that the system doesn’t lock players into min-maxing their moves and strategies.
The game is still in its infancy as of right now. The developer updates released by Francis are simply to showcase the gameplay we can expect to see. Visuals, sound tracks, and a proper-looking user interface are sure to come after, and based on Tom’s previous projects, will be all polished and shiny by the time it launches.
After the huge successes of his previous projects, fans are excited to see what Tom Francis has in store for them next. There is no release date so far, and everything about the project tells us it won’t be ready for at least another year. In fact, Tactical Breach Wizards’ Steam page says the release date is “when it’s done.” No, rush, Tom. We’re sure you’re doing your very best.
