So I'm coming towards the end of Halfway (I presume) and thought I'd talk about it. I ran through it on the hardest difficulty.

It's a simple squad TBS with RPG-lite elements, one that would work rather well on a mobile platform I think. But it doesn't feel like a mobile port, nor does it feel too simple to bother loading on your PC. Streamlined might be the term.

There's probably nothing in the combat you haven't seen before, with each character getting two actions to move or shoot and they can be combined for a single more accurate shot. You have half-cover and full cover, with corners allowing you to step out to shoot before returning to cover where enemies can't see you (corners are key to victory). Each character has a passive ability and an active ability, along with some base stats you will be given limited ability to boost over the course of the game, but generally they're going to do at the end of the game what they did at the beginning but simply better.

Rather than the typical overwatch you have retaliate. You don't fire on enemies as you spot them, you'll only return fire if fired upon. I thought it would be useless, and generally you'll want to spend your points, but it really helps keep the combat mobile and prevents it bogging down into two sides staring each other down.

The way ammo handled is a nice touch. Different guns have different magazine sizes, but all ammo fits all guns and a reload exhausts an entire magazine no matter how much ammo was left in your gun. That four shot sniper rifle might be powerful, but it's going to plow through ammunition.

The maps provide a nice variety in which to battle, some tight maze spaces, some a series of rooms, some long corridors, some wide open. You're given plenty of opportunities to make the terrain work for you, and like with most TBSs of this type you should be prepared to withdraw to stronger positions rather than mindlessly holding your ground and taking the best shot. When ♥♥♥♥ goes bad, it goes bad fast. Enemies do a lot of damage compared to your shield and health values at the top difficulty and with three or four hits you'll be down.

Enemy variety is weak; there's shooty mobiles, close-combat mobiles and turrets. It varies the mobiles a bit by introducing shields and then later armour along with the ability to attack twice, but by this point I'm feeling that I'm ready for the game to end as I'm playing out of the same tactics book each battle. It doesn't help that the armoured enemies drag out the battle by being huge bullet sponges at the same time as the more powerful assault rifles have huge damage ranges leading to a feeling of unnecessary randomness.

I found that as the game went on the usefulness of various characters changed, which I liked as it helps with introducing variety. Early on it was all Linda and her shotgun and self-healing, but as shields came into it I found I stopped using her. Likewise, other characters who I found useless became invaluable as better equipment came along. Right now I have at least three characters I would never go on a mission without. However, sometimes you're forced to because the game imposes a limit of 2-4 characters depending on mission, and some missions will have mandatory characters so you have to use pretty much everyone at one time or another, forcing you to learn how to use them and in some cases realise that ability you wrote off is actually pretty good.

The story and the characters themselves are incredibly flat. It starts out promisingly with a little mystery, but it soon moves into generic sci-fi territory. The characters themselves are dull as dishwater; you can talk to them between missions but they don't have anything interesting to say. Likewise, they will sometimes converse on missions (especially their own optional side-missions), but again it's a case of speaking a lot with nothing to say. Most frustrating is how the game actually builds up a series of relationships between all these people, but the writing isn't capable of doing anything with it.

The lack of character identification is easily the most disappointing part of the game because you don't give two ♥♥♥♥♥ about these people and their struggle, it makes it a series of TBS puzzles in a game which should deliver more.

All-in-all I think this was reasonable fun, and I'd recommend picking it up on sale if you're hankering for some squad TBS.

So I'm coming towards the end of Halfway (I presume) and thought I'd talk about it. I ran through it on the hardest difficulty. It's a simple squad TBS with RPG-lite elements, one that would work rather well on a mobile platform I think. But it doesn't feel like a mobile port, nor does it feel too simple to bother loading on your PC. Streamlined might be the term. There's probably nothing in the combat you haven't seen before, with each character getting two actions to move or shoot and they can be combined for a single more accurate shot. You have half-cover and full cover, with corners allowing you to step out to shoot before returning to cover where enemies can't see you (corners are key to victory). Each character has a passive ability and an active ability, along with some base stats you will be given limited ability to boost over the course of the game, but generally they're going to do at the end of the game what they did at the beginning but simply better. Rather than the typical overwatch you have retaliate. You don't fire on enemies as you spot them, you'll only return fire if fired upon. I thought it would be useless, and generally you'll want to spend your points, but it really helps keep the combat mobile and prevents it bogging down into two sides staring each other down. The way ammo handled is a nice touch. Different guns have different magazine sizes, but all ammo fits all guns and a reload exhausts an entire magazine no matter how much ammo was left in your gun. That four shot sniper rifle might be powerful, but it's going to plow through ammunition. The maps provide a nice variety in which to battle, some tight maze spaces, some a series of rooms, some long corridors, some wide open. You're given plenty of opportunities to make the terrain work for you, and like with most TBSs of this type you should be prepared to withdraw to stronger positions rather than mindlessly holding your ground and taking the best shot. When shit goes bad, it goes bad fast. Enemies do a lot of damage compared to your shield and health values at the top difficulty and with three or four hits you'll be down. Enemy variety is weak; there's shooty mobiles, close-combat mobiles and turrets. It varies the mobiles a bit by introducing shields and then later armour along with the ability to attack twice, but by this point I'm feeling that I'm ready for the game to end as I'm playing out of the same tactics book each battle. It doesn't help that the armoured enemies drag out the battle by being huge bullet sponges at the same time as the more powerful assault rifles have huge damage ranges leading to a feeling of unnecessary randomness. I found that as the game went on the usefulness of various characters changed, which I liked as it helps with introducing variety. Early on it was all Linda and her shotgun and self-healing, but as shields came into it I found I stopped using her. Likewise, other characters who I found useless became invaluable as better equipment came along. Right now I have at least three characters I would never go on a mission without. However, sometimes you're forced to because the game imposes a limit of 2-4 characters depending on mission, and some missions will have mandatory characters so you have to use pretty much everyone at one time or another, forcing you to learn how to use them and in some cases realise that ability you wrote off is actually pretty good. The story and the characters themselves are incredibly flat. It starts out promisingly with a little mystery, but it soon moves into generic sci-fi territory. The characters themselves are dull as dishwater; you can talk to them between missions but they don't have anything interesting to say. Likewise, they will sometimes converse on missions (especially their own optional side-missions), but again it's a case of speaking a lot with nothing to say. Most frustrating is how the game actually builds up a series of relationships between all these people, but the writing isn't capable of doing anything with it. The lack of character identification is easily the most disappointing part of the game because you don't give two shits about these people and their struggle, it makes it a series of TBS puzzles in a game which should deliver more. All-in-all I think this was reasonable fun, and I'd recommend picking it up on sale if you're hankering for some squad TBS.