Into The Breach Game Review

And that, right there, is where Into the Breach stands or falls. It took me about three hours of practice to win the game for the first time. I went back for more, not only because I had a review to write, but because I found re-learning my way around the puzzle with fresh tools a fascinating challenge.

Into the Breach (Switch) Review

by Jordan Rudek - August 31, 2018, 8:18 am PDT
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Live. Die. Re-breach.

Into the Breach is developed by Subset Games, makers of the indie darling FTL: Faster Than Light (Switch when?). Like FTL, Into the Breach is a tactical strategy game with roguelike elements, but the key difference between the titles is that Into the Breach is strictly turn-based, while FTL is played in real-time. Like the three mechs you control in the game, Into the Breach dropped (into the eShop) out of nowhere, but don’t let the lack of buildup fool you. This tough-as-nails title absolutely deserves your attention.

The core gameplay revolves around defending island settlements on an 8x8 grid while surviving an onslaught of alien creatures called the Vek. On a typical map, you try to last about five turns while wave after wave of Vek attempt to destroy either the civilian buildings that power your mechs or your mechs themselves. The Vek take the form of spiders, worms, scorpions, and similar-looking bugs, and you end up seeing the same ones frequently over the course of a playthrough. However, they can have different attacks and abilities that you may not have seen before. The hook of Into the Breach is that each playthrough sees randomized enemy patterns, island layouts, and map objectives, but each time your team is wiped or your buildings suffer too much damage, you lose basically all progress and must start from the beginning of the game. You are allowed to keep one of your mech pilots and any experience points and levels they may have earned, but that’s not the most valuable thing you’ll carry forward.

The game’s tutorial teaches you how to play the game, but it doesn’t give you much in the way of strategy, so it is likely that many of your first runs through the game will result in utter failure as you learn the intricacies of how to succeed. Strategies such as covering up enemy spawn points, making use of hazards on the map, and pushing enemies into their comrade’s line of fire are vital to progressing further and completing a run. Ultimately, at the core is player choice about how to proceed and which objectives to complete. There are four starting islands with different maps and geological factors to consider, including your standard ice and desert locales. You eventually unlock the ability to begin a new game on any of the four islands, but every time you play you can go to the final boss island after completing just two of the four islands. However, you miss out on the chance to power up your pilots and mechs and your final score will be lower if you rush to the fifth and final island.

Into the Breach offers three difficulty modes, and the normal difficulty setting is likely to give many players a significant challenge. After a number of crushing defeats, I turned the difficulty down to easy so that I could progress a little deeper into the game and learn more about how the different islands worked. After completing a run on easy and unlocking a few achievements, I had earned coins from the achievements to purchase new mechs, which come in sets of three. There is a wonderful sense of accomplishment in pursuing the various basic achievements and special achievements that come with each set of mechs as different mechs have unique abilities and playstyles. Trying new pre-set mech groupings, having the game randomize a set for you, or building your own team is really fun and adds significantly to the replay value of the game. I have since gone on to complete the normal difficulty a handful of times using a variety of mech teams, and each playthrough really does feel different and engaging.

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The story reveals that the titular breaches of the game are portals that allow pilots to travel back to the past, and this time travel neatly explains the randomization of the game. Each time you fail, you hop into a breach and return to a time before the Vek have completely destroyed the world. There are over 50 achievements to work towards, 12 pilots to recover, and 7 mech squads to purchase, and it will take dozens of hours to accomplish these feats. After that, because of the random nature of the game, you can still customize your own set of mechs, play through ever-changing maps, and set a new high score (effectively based on the number of buildings that you protect). All in all, Into the Breach is a challenging but rewarding game that begs to be played by those who enjoy strategy and tactics games. The game can be enjoyable for more casual players, too, but there is likely to be a fair bit of frustration, at least initially. As well, the basic gameplay itself doesn’t really change over the course of each run: guard buildings, kill Vek, and try not to die in the process. The randomized maps and objectives add variety, but you will need to appreciate the subtle changes that the islands undergo in each run. Undoubtedly, one of the best features of the game is unlocking new mechs and creating your own squads, and it is that element that will keep me coming back to the game. Hop into a breach and pick up this game yesterday, soldier. It’s Vek-hunting season.

Summary

Pros

• Easy-to-use controls
• Lots of player choice
• Randomized maps and objectives
• Satisfying achievements and unlocks

Cons

• Best suited to fans of the genre
• Challenge can be steep
• Gameplay isn’t overly varied
• Tutorial could be more detailed

Talkback

Worldwide Releases

Game Description:I love tactical games. Anything that wants to poke with my brain as a gameplay element—I’m hooked. One I particularly enjoyed in that genre is FTL: Faster Than Light, a real-time strategy game by Subset Games where you re captain of a starship trying to escape bloodthirsty rebels.

I put more than a few hours into that game, and greatly enjoyed my time with it.Perhaps I’ll give it a review in the future. But today, I’m proud to be looking at Subset Game’s newer project, Into The Breach, a turn-based strategy game. While this one keeps the sci-fi atmosphere of FTL, the gameplay and story are totally different. So, let’s activate protocols and dive Into The Breach.What Parents Need to KnowViolence:The goal of the game is to wipe out The Vek: aliens who have, in the future, wiped out Earth and the human race. We have the ability to travel back and time and prevent this, fighting the Vek with giant mechs over and over, in hope of a better future.Fighting the Vek is an act of turn-based fantasy violence, but there is occasional blood, and the deaths you experience are real—if a mech pilot dies, they’re dead for good now, and if a city’s destroyed, you see the number of casualties onscreen. It’s a harrowing thing for a game with such pixelated graphics, and daring for an indie game to go places even massively funded games won’t.Language:Some.

Usually just things like “darn,” but there is some swearing here and there.Sexual Content:None.Spirituality:None.Miscellaneous:I wasn’t expecting many accessibility options here, since mainly all you do is click to do things. But to my delight, Into The Breach has bigger fonts, a colorblind mode, a maximum scale for the board, and adjustment to cursor sensitivity. It even has controller support if you’re into that. Nice!Positive Elements:Like their previous game, the graphics are beautifully pixelated and the gameplay is super solid.

The music by Ben Prunty is also fantastic, somber and thrilling in all the right ways.A Child’s Perspective:Does your child like board games and/or turn-based games? How about sci-fi, cool robots, and time travel?

Then Into The Breach is just their thing.Reviewers Thoughts:Into the Breach is a phenomenal game. It’s satisfying to play, and the story is interesting to watch unfold. I love moving my giant mechs around to defeat aliens, while experiencing a story rich in questions about whether the future deserves to be changed.I don’t really have any complaints. Xbox 360 guitar controller.