A few weeks ago, I posted an article reviewing some of the titles that came out as demos at Steam Next Fest this summer. Among them, I came across Midnight Fight Express, a first-versus-the-neighborhood-style action game reminiscent of John Wick. Needless to say, after ten minutes of punching and kicking my way through wannabe gangsters and thugs, I was totally hooked. Unfortunately, since this is a demo, my time with the title just flew by. But now that Midnight Fight Express is just around the corner, I’ve had access to the full game and been able to spend a good handful of hours battling criminals.
Before going into the details of the game system and its mechanics, it is worth briefly talking about its history. You basically play a sleeper agent who is reactivated or brought back to his life of crime by a drone carrying the message that you have until dawn to stop the criminal underworld from taking over the town you call home . From here you embark on a journey to prevent such an event yourself, crossing the city limits and defeating countless gang members and bosses along the way.
As I mentioned before, the game has a strong John Wick style as the gameplay requires you to use your advanced knowledge of martial arts, your skill with firearms and the ability to turn any object around you into a weapon to kill all enemies standing between you and your target (usually the boss of a gang). Therefore, you will have to use bully moves to defeat the enemies you encounter, avoiding taking too much damage to avoid dying in battle fall.
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Midnight Fight Express is shown to us by an isometric camera that gives us a good perspective of each level. The combat and movement is fluid and smooth, making you feel like the real Baba Yaga, a real tough guy. But it’s not without flaws either. The static camera perspective often results in not being able to see through certain walls and sectors of the levels and having to rely on your intuition in some places with limited vision. Nevertheless, the flow of the fights works very well. You can block and counter an attack, slide and kick another enemy, and throw a propane canister at a group of attackers, then pick up a shotgun and take out the one that stays alive. It’s a dynamic that really grabs you.
While I have pretty much nothing but positive things to say about the fight, I can’t say the same about the story. Aside from the occasional drone message, this is told through level descriptions and occasional NPC encounters. This makes the story difficult to follow in any way and makes Mifnight Fight Express a game that makes you feel like a mindless creature that only knows violence. It’s very good in terms of action, but it’s not at all surprising if you’re looking for a more immersive experience.
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It’s a shame, because the dynamics of the game have a lot of depth. Each level has challenges and scores to beat (determined by how quickly you complete the level and how uniquely you do it) and almost every level (there are 40 in total) adds a new type of enemy. It’s true that the enemies aren’t all that different, but one level may introduce corrupt cops and another a new gang to contend with. And while the customization options aren’t necessary at all in my opinion, the ability to change your character’s appearance (be it skin tone, clothing, tattoos, etc.) is a welcome addition that enhances the overall gaming experience.
In conclusion, I’m quite impressed with Midnight Fight Express. It’s not a perfect action game, far from it, but it’s a very good example of how much fun these types of beat ’em up games can be and that if it were done in a similar way, we’d think of a John Wick game could have… with a frenetic rhythm that made us feel Yes, really like Baba Yaga.
