Midnight Fight Express Review – That Time I Got Dragged Back into The Criminal Life Because A Drone Told Me To

Publishers Humble Bundle Games and Developer Jacob Dzwinel’s upcoming Single Player Beat em’ up Action Indie game – Midnight Fight Express will be released on 23rd August and we got to try out the game early so here’s our review of it.

Story

In the story of Midnight Fight Express, you play as Babyface, an ex-member of the criminal underworld who one day meets up with a mysterious AI in the form of a talking drone which tells him to stop a citywide criminal takeover.

The game starts off with Babyface being captured by the police which seems to indicate the events of Babyface stopping the citywide criminal takeover has already been transpired and the players starts through the game as a form of a flashback.

Gameplay Combat

In Midnight Fight Express, the combat is going to be your bread and butter. Being an action game, when pressing the strike button, your character will fight off the enemies on the screen and when your enemy is dead, you’ll need to move your character slightly and it’ll automatically punch the nearest enemy within the vicinity. The combat is smooth and fluid and it makes you feel as if you’re a Chinese Martial Artist, weaving in and out of the fight while you mow down your enemies.

While you’re able to pick up weapons that are dropped by the enemy when they die, fighting with your bare hands is the most fundamental combat skills because each of the weapons have their own lifespan which will break once it’s used up. You’re not the only one that can pick up weapons on the floor, the enemies can do it too, so be sure you’re quick with the finger in picking up those weapons.

Along with the basic combat, there’s other mechanics during fights like dodging and counterattacking where some of those mechanics coming with its own Quick Time Event. The Environment is also worth noting when you’re in a fight because there’s some interactable objects where you can pick up and throw it to your enemies to disrupt their actions. In case where you’re having trouble identifying which objects are interactable the game also has a scan mode where it can slow down time which can make things a bit easier during the heat of battle.

Players also have access to more skills by using the skill points which can be attained from finishing a level to expand the player’s fighting styles, whether it be more combo actions or environmental actions. Personally, I like to delve deeper into the counter skill tree which gives me access to more combo skills. Players can also customise their fighting styles because the skills can be unequipped if you think you won’t be needing to use a specific skill during a level.

Another neat thing the game does during combat is that when an enemy is about to prepare for an attack, a red outline will appear over the model so that players will have an indication of when to quickly dodge or perform a counterattack. The game actually gives the players a lot of different opportunities to get the best experience in terms of combat which is always a plus when a game gives us a lot of flexibility on how to deal with enemies in whatever style they personally prefer.

The Fight Never Stops

Midnight Fight Express is a level-based game where the duration of each of the levels isn’t too long being roughly around 16 minutes a level. Each of the levels have their own enemy types and challenges. Players will need to attempt those challenges to get a higher score and unlock level exclusive perks like character outfits, although the challenge will only show after you pass the level, so players will need to at least play through the level twice or more to complete the challenge and unlock all perks.

After each level, players will have to go back to their base of operations where you can upgrade skills, customise your character’s appearances, check your progression, etc. Players can also acess the playground which is just the practice mode where you can train and hone your moves. Since all the enemy types in the game are pretty much different, you’ll need to know which moves is best suited to go against the specific enemies.

More on the playground, it’s a really convenient place for you to train up your skills as players can fully customise different aspects like enemy types, weapon drops or even Endless enemy settings. Players can also fully set up whichever environment settings that they want and practice without worrying about life or time limit.

Speaking of dying, if you were to die in game it isn’t as punishable as you’ll be revived from the exact enemy waves that you died at, and you’ll be able to keep trying until you pass the level. You dying will only affect the final score so for someone who doesn’t care about that won’t have to worry about it being a big deal.

Retrowave Beats to Fight/Kill to

The BGM track that plays throughout each levels are different from one another, and if you’re someone who enjoys listening to the soundtrack for games such as Hotline Miami or Katana Zero, then you’re in luck because the soundtrack for Midnight Fight Express is equally a banger. Composed by the same guy that did some of the original soundtrack for My Friend Pedro – Noisecream, did such an amazing job in this game too.

With tracks like Invisible Force and Beast Battalion go insanely hard when you run around the levels beating your enemies senseless while bopping your head to the beat of the BGM.

Verdict

Midnight Fight Express was such a experience to play through. Fun and fluid combat gameplay in addition with the stellar soundtrack just makes my overall experience playing the game extremely entertaining. Although my one gripe with the game is just how the guns isn’t as polished as I would like it to be. Aiming down enemies with a gun is a bit of a hassle at times and I find myself using the melee weapons most of the time as it does the job equally fine if not even better. But that still doesn’t deter me from going through level after level, listening through the BGM as the music blast through my headset while it drowns out the cries of my enemies after beating them to a pulp with my bare fists.

For more information on the game, do check out the game’s official website here.

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