Breach & Clear: Deadline is the 5th game from development studio Might Rabbit and follows with the formula from Breach & Clear from 2013. Set in a Zombie Apocalypse, this game will have you take control of a squad of 4 soldiers with varying skills, equipment and specialities as they try and regroup, rearm and retreat to safer climates. With all the Zombie style games coming out nowadays the genre has become quite stale, but with the added strategic elements of a squad and soldier tactics Breach & Clear might just set itself apart from the rest.
Story
The game starts off with a prior team, the first it seems to have witnessed the new zombie foe, sadly to meet their end in their retreat. Fast-forward to a new team, Zombies are a wide-spread enemy of humanity, with the undead prowling the streets and running after anyone still healthy enough to speak their own name. Coupled with surviving bandits the streets of the world are no longer safe, neither are the skies as your chopper goes down somewhere in the city. Gaining your senses you get some gear, meet up with your team and make your way to the closest safe house.
You first hub will be a stadium with 4 or more survivors within it, along with their supply runners and passer-by’s. They will require fuel for their doors and devices to keep them safe, medical supplies to treat the wounded and general goods to keep alive, which you can get for them in return for information and assistance as you try and make your way deeper into the city.
There are also some online modes to try out, challenge modes for clearing as many levels in a building as you can, gaining points for kills, breaching doors and speed at which you clear the building itself. This score can then be used to see how well you did against other players. There is also Multiplayer matches to be had, but at the time of playing none were available.
Gameplay
Gameplay in Breach & Clear: Deadline is very straightforward, with free movement by using WASD or the mouse as well as using a XCOM like strategy menu for movement. With a quick tutorial you are given the basics of how to play, mostly using the command mode where time stops and you can select any of your 4 squad mates and give them a position and action to take. In normal squad fashion you will have long range, buffer/medics and heavy gunners so you will have to place your teammates in the correct places to gain a good advantage over the hordes.
You have 4 squad mates, all who you can customise and give “classes” including; Fire team Leader, Scout, Intelligence, Medic, Explosives Expert, Weapons Sergeant, all with their own skills and specialisations. You can mix and match the abilities but focusing on one will allow you to get to the better abilities, including higher damage, defence and improving the classes skills.
As you explore the city, uncovering new locations and fighting zombies, you will gain experience and find new weapons to use. After a certain amount of XP you will level up your characters, allowing them to gain a new skill in their class, learn a new class and get higher health. As you gather more and more loot from chests you will also be able to swap around weapons and armour to better suit the roles you have set for your team.
The difficulty in the game has a rather steady climb, with only a few quests taking a jump in difficulty due to the amount of zombies and their types. Enemies seem to scale slightly with you, but this could be due to traversing the city and going into higher level sections. As you learn the game, gain new abilities and weapons you will formulate new strategies and plans of attack for all scenarios.
Overall Thoughts and Feelings
The soundtrack in this game feels lacking in variety, with a single track being place for most of the exploration, until you reach new areas that is. Battle songs kick in when you’re breaching buildings and facing hordes, but the same music gets put on repeat too often to allow for good immersion. The music is very well done, with high quality songs that fit the themes and scenarios they are played within but the number of tracks could have been improved.
Deadline is quite a fun experience, with tactical gameplay seeping through every corner of the streets, allowing you an XCOM like feel to a zombie apocalypse. The genre and gameplay type has been done before, but this is the first to leave much of an impression on me, tactical thinking with zombies only really came down to weapon types and keeping your health up, but with the added ability for positioning, cover, choke points, breach and clear and more it doesn’t get stale quickly.
Overall I give Breach & Clear: Deadline a 4/5, it is a great tactical squad game and innovates slightly on the overplayed zombie genre. Combat is mostly smooth and the areas you move about in allow you quite a large choice for tactics and placements. There are glitches here and there that when approached really damper the immersion and playability of the game. The story isn’t very in-depth or drawing and falls into the background quite fast. Fans of the previous instalment, or zombies in general, should have a great experience with this game.
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
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