In the evil, cyberpunk future, wizards will have to earn a living, and some of them do that by getting into law enforcement. That’s (probably) part of the idea behind Tactical Breach Wizards, a game in development by the creator of Gunpoint and Heat Signature, Tom Francis. It’s equal parts XCOM and Into the Breach, with a dash of Rainbow Six Siege and a Charles Stross novel thrown in for good measure.
We first heard about Francis’ upcoming game in 2017, and now we’re getting our first peek at how it’ll (probably) look in action. You’ll control a squad of perhaps six wizards, each outfitted in SWAT gear and their own unique abilities and movement rules. Instead of shotguns and tear gas, these operators come equipped with teleportation spells and chain shock (the less-lethal version of chain lightning).
It’s a turn-based tactical affair, and Francis explains some of his design goals as he narrates the video, below. Players will be able to plot out their turns before committing to them, and Francis says this is to help encourage players to be more experimental than they might otherwise be.
Francis says that currently, Tactical Breach Wizards is a story-based game that takes a defined set of characters through a series of authored missions rather than being made up of procedurally-generated levels.
Here’s the video, which you can also watch on the game’s brand-new Steam page:
As Francis explains, everything is still subject to change, and the art they’re showing off makes the game look as though it’s further along in development than it is.
“Our artist, John Roberts, has done an annoyingly great job of making it look really, really good, really, really soon.”
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If you’re wondering what the common thread is that’s running through all of Francis’ games, well, it’s people being hurled through windows. Gunpoint, Heat Signature, and Tactical Breach Wizards all prominently feature this activity, and they’re collected in what he’s calling ‘The Defenestration Trilogy.’
Tactical Breach Wizards will be out “when it’s done.”