It's a far cry from what inspired it, but damn if it ain't fun
Midnight Fight Express is fucking awesome. The soundtrack is fucking baller and the combat is just chef's kiss. If I was better i would try to get all the S levels but is pretty hard. 4/5
There are moments in Midnight Fight Express where the fighting is kinetic, the action is high paced and the chains of your combos are racking up as you bounce between guys, picking up whatever you can where everything feels so damn good and the experience is surreal.
Unfortunately, those moments are not consistent, and when this isn't happening, the game is fairly bland and a bit of a chore to get through. It's a bit of a bummer because those moments of bliss hit and I just found myself thinking, "if this game was this more often, it could be pretty damn fun." There just aren't enough of those moments to really recommend this game.
The game has its own sense of style and doesn't take itself too seriously with how it functions and the story its telling. That being said, some of the offbeat humor and moments just didn't work for me. The general story itself is also pretty forgettable, which certainly doesn't help with the game's general "washes over you like nothing" vibe.
The style is attempting a more simplistic presentation so there's not a lot that really will impress you there either.
The controls though are solid and on top of those moments of bliss, once you become fully skilled up, the sense of strength and growth from what you're upgrading is noticeable. There are some very satisfying kills despite the basic look and style.
It's still not enough to recommend though, as the game also feels quite long. It's a bummer more than anything since there are moments of greatness that really make this game feel cool. This being the work of one person seemingly is also quite the feat despite its shortcomings.
Unfortunately, those moments are not consistent, and when this isn't happening, the game is fairly bland and a bit of a chore to get through. It's a bit of a bummer because those moments of bliss hit and I just found myself thinking, "if this game was this more often, it could be pretty damn fun." There just aren't enough of those moments to really recommend this game.
The game has its own sense of style and doesn't take itself too seriously with how it functions and the story its telling. That being said, some of the offbeat humor and moments just didn't work for me. The general story itself is also pretty forgettable, which certainly doesn't help with the game's general "washes over you like nothing" vibe.
The style is attempting a more simplistic presentation so there's not a lot that really will impress you there either.
The controls though are solid and on top of those moments of bliss, once you become fully skilled up, the sense of strength and growth from what you're upgrading is noticeable. There are some very satisfying kills despite the basic look and style.
It's still not enough to recommend though, as the game also feels quite long. It's a bummer more than anything since there are moments of greatness that really make this game feel cool. This being the work of one person seemingly is also quite the feat despite its shortcomings.
Combat is overall fantastic, the loop of hitting a parry, grabbing a pistol or melee weapon and absolutely unloading never gets old. The only really issue is some of the set-pieces and bosses which seem to forget how the combat flows, forcing you to move even though grapples and finishers (core parts of combat) slow you to a crawl.
I also found myself getting surprisingly invested in the plot and didn't find Droney anywhere near as annoying as some other reviewers. Some of his jokes are unfunny or badly paced but overall he's entertaining and without spoiling anything there's an explanation for why he acts as he does.
I also found myself getting surprisingly invested in the plot and didn't find Droney anywhere near as annoying as some other reviewers. Some of his jokes are unfunny or badly paced but overall he's entertaining and without spoiling anything there's an explanation for why he acts as he does.
Já tinha jogado a demo há um tempo atrás e me "decepcionei" lá, esperando algo muito mais agitado. Porém com a evolução do seu personagem ao decorrer do jogo, ele vai ficando cada vez mais frenético, o que é bom do meio pro final, mas deixa o early game um pouco mais lento (o que pode deixar o jogo meio chato e repetitivo para alguns). Sobre história, é qualquer coisa para um brawler, admito que pulei algumas partes. Sobre os pontos negativos, alguns levels com hordas um pouco injustas, algumas mecânicas mal utilizadas ou repetitivas e sua evolução (como citado anteriormente), podem deixar pra baixo a experiência.
No geral, ele é interessante pra só sair apertando uns botões.
No geral, ele é interessante pra só sair apertando uns botões.
maior mentira da minha vida foi ter hypado isso
This game was incredible fun, I did not expect this level of excitement or pizzazz, the cover of game doesn't not give it justice at all. I will say the further I got in the game the more I found it tiring but I still had the same level of fun and enjoyment if that makes any sense.
The music is ok, not my type of tune but it fit with the atmosphere.
The enemies were no problem since I was normal except one. The goddamn gun enemies, I had more fun fighting my depression that I ever will fighting these losers. If I could decrease the amount of damage they did to me I would feel a lot more satisfied. Especially since there's a ton of them at a time and they have deadeye for some reason.
I will say the truck/motorcycle levels suck because the aiming sucks. If they fixed that, I think I would definitely be more willing replay this game.
The music is ok, not my type of tune but it fit with the atmosphere.
The enemies were no problem since I was normal except one. The goddamn gun enemies, I had more fun fighting my depression that I ever will fighting these losers. If I could decrease the amount of damage they did to me I would feel a lot more satisfied. Especially since there's a ton of them at a time and they have deadeye for some reason.
I will say the truck/motorcycle levels suck because the aiming sucks. If they fixed that, I think I would definitely be more willing replay this game.
Played this because I had a day to kill before some big releases and I'm still not sure if it was a good idea. Midnight Fight Express is an isometric beat 'em up that is five hours and fourty missions of the exact same gameplay loop that gets old pretty much as soon as you get into the game. It's got a story which admittably I paid no attention to, and the general level sequencing was very boring. I had this expectation going into MFE as it is clearly not a Triple A title, but something far shorter would have been preferred. I didn't love My Friend Pedro, but it was a shorter and much more innovative fast paced indie game than this was. Even though Pedro is a 2D platformer with bulletime sequencing and this is strictly isometric, I couldn't help but compare the two and long for the game I'd already played.
I can't recommend anyone play Midnight Fight Express as it's a style of game that wears its influences on its sleeve and isn't as good as something you've probably already played.
I can't recommend anyone play Midnight Fight Express as it's a style of game that wears its influences on its sleeve and isn't as good as something you've probably already played.
This review contains spoilers
Midnight Fight Express is an isometric beat em' up game developed by Jacob Dzwinel and published by Humble Games (of the Humble Bundle site I believe, good for game key deals); I didn't really know anything about this game until a buddy of mine (shoutout to my dude Gage, love ya dweeb) who threw the trailer at me. As a huge fan of Hotline Miami and games like this, I immediately liked what I saw and gave it a wishlist before forgetting about it for a while. I decided to pick it up around Christmas last year and went in blind, and I was pleasantly surprised.
The Plot is a simple one, you play as a dude named Babyface who is woken up by a strange talking drone up in a random apartment with no idea of what's going on; only the urging from the drone to trust him and take down the city's criminal organizations as they're enacting a plan that could doom the fate of humanity. Truth is that's really it, there are some twists and turns here and there but it mostly just feels like an excuse for the gameplay, but basically fight your way through waves of dudes to take down the Boss-On-High's criminal lieutenants while in-media-resing inside of an interrogation room as you recount your story for two detectives, Agent Smithman and Agent McCloon (which both come off as parodies of Agent Smith from the Matrix and John McClane even if it's in name only). I guess that's one thing I will mention is that it's definitely parody and homage based; you'll see references to stuff like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (as a Big Smoke parody named Large Soda), Modern Warfare 2 (a whole airport terrorism scene and even fighting a bunch of expies of Makarov in an elevator) to even a level dedicated to referencing Fight Club, Hotline Miami and I believe Sons of Anarchy? For the most part these are fine, though I feel like in the back of my mind it's a little jarring if you're actually trying to take the plot seriously, but for the most part I wouldn't take it seriously as the game doesn't really either, it's just going from set piece to set piece beating people up. Speaking of, the gameplay.
The gameplay is pretty solid, repetitive sure in the beginning but definitely solid. If I could describe the gameplay (and game overall), I'd say it's a combination of Hotline Miami, Sifu and the atmosphere of My Friend Pedro. You go from place to place, picking up weapons, throwing them, doing combos, dodging and trying to manage your crowd while coming off as cool as possible. For me, it definitely worked enough to make me invest my time going into the challenge mode to replay all of these (though to my detriment as some of them tend to get really frustrating, like a level where you can't get hit by pepper spray once even though sometimes the stun animation doesn't even render and it's in enclosed spaces). Sometimes there would be glitches too where I'd beat all the enemies and then it wouldn't spawn in but I think that was because during the end I was god-modeing it to get the challenges done, I also think a restart checkpoint system would be advantageous to this effect just in case but for the most part it works well. Doing these challenges get you rewards like new props and enemies to fight in practice mode, cosmetics to create your own character (which you can do basically as soon as you get out of the tutorial I believe?), certain cheats for repeated runs, etc. Again to me the ease of challenges at the beginning give a lot of incentive to go through them, though keep in mind some of the later ones tend to be really frustrating and mind numbing. Keep in mind you get new abilities as you advance, like a 3D printer gun which regenerates ammo over time and can be great for parrying or removing certain enemies from play or a rope gun which can drag enemies to you amongst other abilities (though you get it a bit later in the game) and helps give a bit of combat variation. If I were to name a least favorite level it would be The Graveyard, mostly because the zombies tend to grapple you if you get close and either instantly kill you or nearly kill you, really breaking up the flow of combat but otherwise are for the most part decent if not challenging, especially the levels where you take control of a vehicle and shoot from it, of which there are three in a total of 41 levels (which includes the tutorial). I guess to finish it off, the gameplay is good, and when it REALLY connects you feel like a f u c king god, or the human equivalent of that being John Wick or something; if you're in the mood for a good beat em up with variation it's a definite recommend.
The graphics are rather minimalist as it understandably focuses on gameplay flow but it fits with the overall atmosphere, the environmental art design looks good and all the objects you can use to fight look like they fit in. No voice acting as far as I'm aware and the soundtrack is by a guy named Noisecream and by god did they do a fantastic job at the soundtrack that is immersive as hell in your murder spree, continuing the sort of synthwave (best I can explain) vibe that Hotline Miami, My Friend Pedro and The Hong Kong Massacre did to great effect.
And that's basically what I could compare this game to, the love child of all of those games and it's a pretty solid title that'll take up your time if you're REALLY invested in it as I was these past couple of days (minus a few headaches). If you're into beating the s h i t out of people and don't care if the story takes a bit of a backseat I can definitely recommend for the full price it's asking, also get the soundtrack too it slaps.
From Steam Reviews: https://steamcommunity.com/id/gamemast15r/recommended/
The Plot is a simple one, you play as a dude named Babyface who is woken up by a strange talking drone up in a random apartment with no idea of what's going on; only the urging from the drone to trust him and take down the city's criminal organizations as they're enacting a plan that could doom the fate of humanity. Truth is that's really it, there are some twists and turns here and there but it mostly just feels like an excuse for the gameplay, but basically fight your way through waves of dudes to take down the Boss-On-High's criminal lieutenants while in-media-resing inside of an interrogation room as you recount your story for two detectives, Agent Smithman and Agent McCloon (which both come off as parodies of Agent Smith from the Matrix and John McClane even if it's in name only). I guess that's one thing I will mention is that it's definitely parody and homage based; you'll see references to stuff like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (as a Big Smoke parody named Large Soda), Modern Warfare 2 (a whole airport terrorism scene and even fighting a bunch of expies of Makarov in an elevator) to even a level dedicated to referencing Fight Club, Hotline Miami and I believe Sons of Anarchy? For the most part these are fine, though I feel like in the back of my mind it's a little jarring if you're actually trying to take the plot seriously, but for the most part I wouldn't take it seriously as the game doesn't really either, it's just going from set piece to set piece beating people up. Speaking of, the gameplay.
The gameplay is pretty solid, repetitive sure in the beginning but definitely solid. If I could describe the gameplay (and game overall), I'd say it's a combination of Hotline Miami, Sifu and the atmosphere of My Friend Pedro. You go from place to place, picking up weapons, throwing them, doing combos, dodging and trying to manage your crowd while coming off as cool as possible. For me, it definitely worked enough to make me invest my time going into the challenge mode to replay all of these (though to my detriment as some of them tend to get really frustrating, like a level where you can't get hit by pepper spray once even though sometimes the stun animation doesn't even render and it's in enclosed spaces). Sometimes there would be glitches too where I'd beat all the enemies and then it wouldn't spawn in but I think that was because during the end I was god-modeing it to get the challenges done, I also think a restart checkpoint system would be advantageous to this effect just in case but for the most part it works well. Doing these challenges get you rewards like new props and enemies to fight in practice mode, cosmetics to create your own character (which you can do basically as soon as you get out of the tutorial I believe?), certain cheats for repeated runs, etc. Again to me the ease of challenges at the beginning give a lot of incentive to go through them, though keep in mind some of the later ones tend to be really frustrating and mind numbing. Keep in mind you get new abilities as you advance, like a 3D printer gun which regenerates ammo over time and can be great for parrying or removing certain enemies from play or a rope gun which can drag enemies to you amongst other abilities (though you get it a bit later in the game) and helps give a bit of combat variation. If I were to name a least favorite level it would be The Graveyard, mostly because the zombies tend to grapple you if you get close and either instantly kill you or nearly kill you, really breaking up the flow of combat but otherwise are for the most part decent if not challenging, especially the levels where you take control of a vehicle and shoot from it, of which there are three in a total of 41 levels (which includes the tutorial). I guess to finish it off, the gameplay is good, and when it REALLY connects you feel like a f u c king god, or the human equivalent of that being John Wick or something; if you're in the mood for a good beat em up with variation it's a definite recommend.
The graphics are rather minimalist as it understandably focuses on gameplay flow but it fits with the overall atmosphere, the environmental art design looks good and all the objects you can use to fight look like they fit in. No voice acting as far as I'm aware and the soundtrack is by a guy named Noisecream and by god did they do a fantastic job at the soundtrack that is immersive as hell in your murder spree, continuing the sort of synthwave (best I can explain) vibe that Hotline Miami, My Friend Pedro and The Hong Kong Massacre did to great effect.
And that's basically what I could compare this game to, the love child of all of those games and it's a pretty solid title that'll take up your time if you're REALLY invested in it as I was these past couple of days (minus a few headaches). If you're into beating the s h i t out of people and don't care if the story takes a bit of a backseat I can definitely recommend for the full price it's asking, also get the soundtrack too it slaps.
From Steam Reviews: https://steamcommunity.com/id/gamemast15r/recommended/
Definitivamente não é o "Hotline Miami-like" que eu esperava (não tem absolutamente nada a ver com HM, na verdade), e dói muito não ter tido saco pra jogar esse aqui até o fim. Para não ser completamente injusto com o jogo, a história é "ok" (eu acho) e ele é sim divertido, mas divertido apenas na maior parte da primeira metade, até ficar extremamente repetitivo e maçante. Some isso a bugs esquisitos (travar numa parede e ter que recomeçar a fase inteira), controles não muito responsivos e sessões específicas extremamente injustas e destoantes da dificuldade geral do jogo. Depois desse tempo, a porção divertida (porradaria descompromissada) perdeu para esses pontos negativos, até chegar a certo ponto que não tive vontade de continuar até o fim. Fiquei com o mesmo sentimento de decepção que senti quando joguei Ruiner.
7/10
Pros: reallly good combat, okay story ,mechanics, levels, artstyle, never gets repetetive because of the upgrades
cons: story kinda hard to follow since its just text
cons: story kinda hard to follow since its just text
When it's flowing... It's untouchable. Satisfaction in every sense. There's a few points where it completely loses the flow however and it suffers for it, annoying enemy types and set pieces that now and then pull the handbrake for a good few minutes.
Osts are banger and gameplay is fun.
Fun if flawed Hotline Miami esque game with a great sense of style and a killer soundtrack. Game kinda suffers from too many gimmicks and a some weird mechanics (like skill points being gained through levels and cash only being for cosmetics). Also should've not been too much gunplay because its one of the weakest parts. Story is also a bit nonsensical but it does have some fun twists and turns (levels also should've been shorter or put together). Still a fun game and great end to 2022.
8.5/10
8.5/10
you're a fucking dissapointment
An 8/10 game brought down significantly by frustrating encounter design. There are 40 levels in this game, each of which is a huge coin flip where one possible outcome is a treat, the player using their unlocks and abilities to make a mob of enemies look like fools. The other possible outcome is playing one of the most frustrating levels in recent memory - shotgun enemies showing up 5 at a time, any one of whom can one-shot you. Multiple un-stagger-able enemies whose only attack is a ground pound with an enormous hitbox that instantly ragdolls you. Multiple gun enemies pouring into an arena as a motorcycle tries to run you over, exploding if it hits a wall.
The hitboxes on enemy attacks in this game are truly massive, and it's incredibly frustrating when so many of them are one-shots, nearly one-shots, or have the ability to chain-stun you. The game is clearly designed purely as a power fantasy, but the ability of enemies to lock the player down ruins much of this fantasy as there's no satisfying way to counter the most annoying enemy habits. Perhaps more annoying than any attack is the enemies' tendency to constantly pick up things in the environment and throw them at you, resulting in near-constant slo-mo as you dodge roll around the map to avoid chairs, environmental hazards, bullets, one-shot command grabs, and ground pounds, none of which can be blocked or parried.
When this game works, it's fantastic - you feel like you're playing through a John Wick movie where they forgot to give him a gun, but if you try any of these fun cinematic takedowns at the wrong time, you'll likely die, since you take full damage and can be staggered out of any of these animations. It's bad enough that I actually went to go post on the Steam forums for the first time in a decade, and apparently I'm not the only one. The fact that you can go to the "playground" and customize your own encounters - and the fact that this instantly makes the game 40% better! - indicates that it's got decent production value but desperately needs an experienced level designer, someone who can figure out how to challenge the player without resorting to "dodge a lethal map effect every 2 seconds".
The hitboxes on enemy attacks in this game are truly massive, and it's incredibly frustrating when so many of them are one-shots, nearly one-shots, or have the ability to chain-stun you. The game is clearly designed purely as a power fantasy, but the ability of enemies to lock the player down ruins much of this fantasy as there's no satisfying way to counter the most annoying enemy habits. Perhaps more annoying than any attack is the enemies' tendency to constantly pick up things in the environment and throw them at you, resulting in near-constant slo-mo as you dodge roll around the map to avoid chairs, environmental hazards, bullets, one-shot command grabs, and ground pounds, none of which can be blocked or parried.
When this game works, it's fantastic - you feel like you're playing through a John Wick movie where they forgot to give him a gun, but if you try any of these fun cinematic takedowns at the wrong time, you'll likely die, since you take full damage and can be staggered out of any of these animations. It's bad enough that I actually went to go post on the Steam forums for the first time in a decade, and apparently I'm not the only one. The fact that you can go to the "playground" and customize your own encounters - and the fact that this instantly makes the game 40% better! - indicates that it's got decent production value but desperately needs an experienced level designer, someone who can figure out how to challenge the player without resorting to "dodge a lethal map effect every 2 seconds".
One of those games that is allergic to letting the player have fun.
MAAAAN, that's the kind of thing I needed last year!
Dude made the game alone, along with help of a mocap and EDM artist.
The soundtrack is absolutely badass, and the violence along with it.
The game is a beautiful mix of Hotline Miami and Arkham games.
The combat is so satisfying and so are the finishers, you can throw guns, weapons, etc after you used them, and a lot of blood/bodies on the ground showing the carnage you went through.
Of course some levels are gimmicky or can get annoying, but man this indie game is just a blast of fun. Definitely recommend
Dude made the game alone, along with help of a mocap and EDM artist.
The soundtrack is absolutely badass, and the violence along with it.
The game is a beautiful mix of Hotline Miami and Arkham games.
The combat is so satisfying and so are the finishers, you can throw guns, weapons, etc after you used them, and a lot of blood/bodies on the ground showing the carnage you went through.
Of course some levels are gimmicky or can get annoying, but man this indie game is just a blast of fun. Definitely recommend
Stylish, challenging, frustrating beat 'em up with an isometric Diablo camera perspective and a twin stick control scheme.
About 30 levels in, Midnight Fight Express has quite the fun, yet flawed gameplay. You can attack, grab enemies, parry/block, dodge roll, use and throw guns/weapons (speaking of weapons, these are scattered just about everywhere for your disposal).
40 Levels exist, taking anywhere from 2-5 or so minutes. Score is based off of several performance factors. Completing levels rewards money, which can be used to buy in-game items to customize and outfit your character, and even buy enemy/boss skins to further set the appearance of your character. A skill and upgrade tree also exists for further developing attack, defense, grab and other combat abilities. Upgrades and skills are quite basic and don't go as deep as other 3D beat 'em ups or hack-n-slash games. I'd even go as far to say the most of the skills lacked impact or any real advantage over the few that really mattered. For an indie title, customization is quite deep with a fair amount of options.
Since the game is played in an isometric 3D format, there is more freedom on movement instead of just walking left to right. But levels are linear for the most part. Secrets and unlockables can be found in levels as well. Combat is fun if quite simplistic, but can become quite challenging and even a bit button mashy as levels progress. A lot of dodge rolling and parrying is involved, especially in middle and later levels where some cheap difficulty spikes occur. You'll be swarmed by enemies, some of which have weapons and attacks capable of either taking chunks of your health or one-hit-killing you, making sections require you to die an annoying amount of deaths before you get lucky enough to pass them. In this case, the game at several points ends up revolving around luck rather than your skill. This was all under my Normal mode difficulty playthrough, which is the default and easiest difficulty in the game. A few extra settings do exist to somewhat remedy this issue like setting your health higher and decreasing enemy aggressiveness, but it doesn't necessarily make the experience noticeably easier.
Achievements also exist, which is a very welcome addition for the Switch version seeing that most Switch games are void of achievements. With a statistics page, a best score/rank/time challenge for every level and different optional objectives per level (albeit difficult objectives), replayability and challenge is definitely there in Midnight Fight Express.
Graphics and Audio look and sound just fine. Visuals have a clean HD, 3D polygon style (like a PS1 or N64 game with full blown remade textures) and the music has an EDM techno, dubstep rock sound going on while bashing thugs up and down the various levels. No multiplayer or co-op is present. The only multiplayer aspect available are leaderboards for chasing after high scores. A training mode also exists to practice your skills against enemies with a decent amount of options available. Very smooth gameplay in handheld mode on Switch, with very few framerate drops at small instances.
Midnight Fight Express has the DNA and design of a well designed, creative 3D beat 'em up. However, the difficulty spikes that frequently pop up quite early in the game dragged down the enjoyment I had with this one. Have read that a patch has been deployed for the Steam version that has not made it's way to consoles yet. Unscored for now, but maybe when the patch released on Switch and I finish the final 10 levels, final thoughts may change.
About 30 levels in, Midnight Fight Express has quite the fun, yet flawed gameplay. You can attack, grab enemies, parry/block, dodge roll, use and throw guns/weapons (speaking of weapons, these are scattered just about everywhere for your disposal).
40 Levels exist, taking anywhere from 2-5 or so minutes. Score is based off of several performance factors. Completing levels rewards money, which can be used to buy in-game items to customize and outfit your character, and even buy enemy/boss skins to further set the appearance of your character. A skill and upgrade tree also exists for further developing attack, defense, grab and other combat abilities. Upgrades and skills are quite basic and don't go as deep as other 3D beat 'em ups or hack-n-slash games. I'd even go as far to say the most of the skills lacked impact or any real advantage over the few that really mattered. For an indie title, customization is quite deep with a fair amount of options.
Since the game is played in an isometric 3D format, there is more freedom on movement instead of just walking left to right. But levels are linear for the most part. Secrets and unlockables can be found in levels as well. Combat is fun if quite simplistic, but can become quite challenging and even a bit button mashy as levels progress. A lot of dodge rolling and parrying is involved, especially in middle and later levels where some cheap difficulty spikes occur. You'll be swarmed by enemies, some of which have weapons and attacks capable of either taking chunks of your health or one-hit-killing you, making sections require you to die an annoying amount of deaths before you get lucky enough to pass them. In this case, the game at several points ends up revolving around luck rather than your skill. This was all under my Normal mode difficulty playthrough, which is the default and easiest difficulty in the game. A few extra settings do exist to somewhat remedy this issue like setting your health higher and decreasing enemy aggressiveness, but it doesn't necessarily make the experience noticeably easier.
Achievements also exist, which is a very welcome addition for the Switch version seeing that most Switch games are void of achievements. With a statistics page, a best score/rank/time challenge for every level and different optional objectives per level (albeit difficult objectives), replayability and challenge is definitely there in Midnight Fight Express.
Graphics and Audio look and sound just fine. Visuals have a clean HD, 3D polygon style (like a PS1 or N64 game with full blown remade textures) and the music has an EDM techno, dubstep rock sound going on while bashing thugs up and down the various levels. No multiplayer or co-op is present. The only multiplayer aspect available are leaderboards for chasing after high scores. A training mode also exists to practice your skills against enemies with a decent amount of options available. Very smooth gameplay in handheld mode on Switch, with very few framerate drops at small instances.
Midnight Fight Express has the DNA and design of a well designed, creative 3D beat 'em up. However, the difficulty spikes that frequently pop up quite early in the game dragged down the enjoyment I had with this one. Have read that a patch has been deployed for the Steam version that has not made it's way to consoles yet. Unscored for now, but maybe when the patch released on Switch and I finish the final 10 levels, final thoughts may change.
Disappointingly repetitive
The makings of a really excellent brawler but undercuts itself constantly. The main issue is the story and dialogue which start out rote and a bit eye-roll inducing, but gets worse and worse as it goes on. You can fast forward through dialogue when replaying a level, but I would LOVE that option on a first playthrough. It's surprisingly yappy and gets incredibly irritating.
The other aspects of the presentation are okay. It's not much to look at, but gets the job done in that regard with bloody kills and cool finishing animations. The soundtrack is solid at first but by the time you get to level 20 (of a slightly OTT 40) it'll all blend together as an unidentifiable collection of thumping dance music.
But the core of this is really good. Deep combat with tonnes of customisability and cool animations. You'll get that faux John Wick feeling we all crave. The game flourishes when it's kept simple; you and some dudes trading hands - an early level contained entirely in a bathroom is a good example. But there are a tonne of level gimmicks that just sort of get in the way. You're driving a boat or dodging a sniper or fighting mutants or suicide bombers (yeah) and some of that is fun and some of it is tiresome. There's a level where bikers are driving at you while you're still hand-to-hand fighting some other enemies and it's entirely too chaotic to really enjoy; and it undercuts the core fundamentals of the combat.
I'm shelving this for now, and may return later but I think it would have been better served at half as many levels (just cut all the gimmicks) and basically no talking.
The other aspects of the presentation are okay. It's not much to look at, but gets the job done in that regard with bloody kills and cool finishing animations. The soundtrack is solid at first but by the time you get to level 20 (of a slightly OTT 40) it'll all blend together as an unidentifiable collection of thumping dance music.
But the core of this is really good. Deep combat with tonnes of customisability and cool animations. You'll get that faux John Wick feeling we all crave. The game flourishes when it's kept simple; you and some dudes trading hands - an early level contained entirely in a bathroom is a good example. But there are a tonne of level gimmicks that just sort of get in the way. You're driving a boat or dodging a sniper or fighting mutants or suicide bombers (yeah) and some of that is fun and some of it is tiresome. There's a level where bikers are driving at you while you're still hand-to-hand fighting some other enemies and it's entirely too chaotic to really enjoy; and it undercuts the core fundamentals of the combat.
I'm shelving this for now, and may return later but I think it would have been better served at half as many levels (just cut all the gimmicks) and basically no talking.
Flawed but very fun indie arcade brawler, with combat somewhat like a deeper, more violent version of the Arkham games' combat. Could have been a few levels shorter and has some frustrating difficulty spikes from gimmicky vehicle levels and one-hit kill attacks, but there's a really satisfying, addictive flow to the mechanics that was enough to get me through the more frustrating bits to the end.
This is a sort of John Wick simulator that has a cool unique style to it and really fun brawler gameplay. Basically take the big sized levels of something like Hotline Miami but make it more Batman Arkham like with its combat system, that’s basically how this game is laid out. There are 40 levels, each like 5 minutes long (depending on how much you die it can take longer), every one throws hordes of enemies at you to punch and shoot in a stylish way for more points. I love how the game basically takes you through every action movie/game trope imaginable. You will fight in the streets, through a club, in the sewers, have a highway chase, battle in an airplane, an apartment building, and of course an elevator sequence. Every few minutes you are in the next action movie scene with new enemies and new weapons, because of this Express keeps being exciting from start to finish.
It’s a brawler so how good this is hinges on its combat system which is really cool to look at, works well most of the time but is missing a layer of polish that would have pushed it over the top. Some buttons do multiple actions and many times I wanted to do a finisher and instead pulled out my emergency firearm and wasted an important shot. Like Arkham games you will pinball your way from enemy to enemy exchanging punches, throws and countering when prompted. As you play you unlock 40 different moves, so at the start it’s an extremely basic brawler but by the end you have a wide variety of counter disarming, of unique finishers, unique grapples, a cool rope attack and many different combos. I just wished it all flowed as well as it could have, many times I am in an animation for a counter and another enemy knocks me out. Some levels have really annoying enemies that force you to dodge instead of counter, put like five of those at once and you can hardly stop rolling around.
There are a ton of different weapons to pick up and use, each has a finisher fatality move. If you have a sharp object you can throw it at an enemy for an instant kill. Guns enter the equation as well turning the game into a mini twin stick shooter. Most stages are well balanced, when you get on a high combo role it looks and feels like an action movie, mainly John Wick. But all it takes is one or two annoying enemy types and a few frustrating segments that pulled me out of my groove. To often they mix heavy enemies with gun enemies so you get stuck trying to break the stagger bar on a heavy and some random dude near off screen just blasts you without warning. There is a focus button that slows the game down so you can see what’s around you but I found that to be distracting and hardly used it.
Running through the stages the first time is standard brawler style of levels, just get to the end. The real fun comes from replaying the missions which each have three challenges (stuff like don’t use a weapon, only use one type of weapon, do some context action at some moment), a don’t die challenge, and trying to get an s rank in every one. It’s not until you unlock most of the move list that s ranks are even possible in most levels, but once you do and go back to old levels mastering becomes very difficult and fun… or frustrating depending on the mission. In the best games like Arkham or even Hotline I reach a zen moment where it all clicks and flows so well. I had a hard time finding that here, there was always a button that didn’t do what I wanted it to, an enemy that would disrupt animations; there is just a level of polish missing that keeps this from reaching greatness.
Graphically it’s very simple looking, it has an isometric cam with basic models that almost look like marionette models, when they die enemies rag doll to the floor. The music is superb, 40 different techno tracks that keeps the adrenaline pumping, it fits the theme of the game so well. The story is absurd but that’s the charm, it’s like the ultimate beat ‘em up game so it takes from all the best and puts them in a blender, it’s like a beat ‘em up hall of fame.
I played Midnight Fight Express on game pass so it was no risk for me but after playing it I think it would definitely be worth a $20-25 price tag. It’s a blast of game that lasts like 5-6 hours to complete but can last so much more to master. If only the combat and controls were a bit more fine tuned it could have been great.
Score: 7.7
It’s a brawler so how good this is hinges on its combat system which is really cool to look at, works well most of the time but is missing a layer of polish that would have pushed it over the top. Some buttons do multiple actions and many times I wanted to do a finisher and instead pulled out my emergency firearm and wasted an important shot. Like Arkham games you will pinball your way from enemy to enemy exchanging punches, throws and countering when prompted. As you play you unlock 40 different moves, so at the start it’s an extremely basic brawler but by the end you have a wide variety of counter disarming, of unique finishers, unique grapples, a cool rope attack and many different combos. I just wished it all flowed as well as it could have, many times I am in an animation for a counter and another enemy knocks me out. Some levels have really annoying enemies that force you to dodge instead of counter, put like five of those at once and you can hardly stop rolling around.
There are a ton of different weapons to pick up and use, each has a finisher fatality move. If you have a sharp object you can throw it at an enemy for an instant kill. Guns enter the equation as well turning the game into a mini twin stick shooter. Most stages are well balanced, when you get on a high combo role it looks and feels like an action movie, mainly John Wick. But all it takes is one or two annoying enemy types and a few frustrating segments that pulled me out of my groove. To often they mix heavy enemies with gun enemies so you get stuck trying to break the stagger bar on a heavy and some random dude near off screen just blasts you without warning. There is a focus button that slows the game down so you can see what’s around you but I found that to be distracting and hardly used it.
Running through the stages the first time is standard brawler style of levels, just get to the end. The real fun comes from replaying the missions which each have three challenges (stuff like don’t use a weapon, only use one type of weapon, do some context action at some moment), a don’t die challenge, and trying to get an s rank in every one. It’s not until you unlock most of the move list that s ranks are even possible in most levels, but once you do and go back to old levels mastering becomes very difficult and fun… or frustrating depending on the mission. In the best games like Arkham or even Hotline I reach a zen moment where it all clicks and flows so well. I had a hard time finding that here, there was always a button that didn’t do what I wanted it to, an enemy that would disrupt animations; there is just a level of polish missing that keeps this from reaching greatness.
Graphically it’s very simple looking, it has an isometric cam with basic models that almost look like marionette models, when they die enemies rag doll to the floor. The music is superb, 40 different techno tracks that keeps the adrenaline pumping, it fits the theme of the game so well. The story is absurd but that’s the charm, it’s like the ultimate beat ‘em up game so it takes from all the best and puts them in a blender, it’s like a beat ‘em up hall of fame.
I played Midnight Fight Express on game pass so it was no risk for me but after playing it I think it would definitely be worth a $20-25 price tag. It’s a blast of game that lasts like 5-6 hours to complete but can last so much more to master. If only the combat and controls were a bit more fine tuned it could have been great.
Score: 7.7
I get why people might not think this game is the best, but it really gets flow down well. The only issue I might find is its length, as it drags on about 10 levels too long. Each level is about 2-5 min long, so not too bad. Combat really makes you feel like a badass as long as you're on normal though. It has great charm too, with lots of references to other games everywhere AND you can pet the dog.
The most 3.75 star game of all time, but also the best Hotline Miami-like that isn't Hotline Miami, probably. This has really good isometric combat and a pulse pounding soundtrack. As opposed to the perfect simplicity of Hotline, this is more combat focused and has a bit of a John Wick vibe. All 40 missions took me about 5 and a half hours. It overstays its welcome by about an hour, but it has some really cool ideas about how to do a game like this.
However, it falls into the common pitfalls that Hotlikes (?) generally fall into. In addition to it being too long, the story and style just don't stack up to its inspirations (plural because there's a lot of Sleeping Dogs in here too). There's also way too much dialogue and it's just not great.
The combat is nice (I love how it feels to shoot a gun here), but there are a few too many moves to keep track of and some of the later stages have annoying difficulty spikes.
Still, I had a really good time. Flawed, but I'd play a sequel/DLC.
However, it falls into the common pitfalls that Hotlikes (?) generally fall into. In addition to it being too long, the story and style just don't stack up to its inspirations (plural because there's a lot of Sleeping Dogs in here too). There's also way too much dialogue and it's just not great.
The combat is nice (I love how it feels to shoot a gun here), but there are a few too many moves to keep track of and some of the later stages have annoying difficulty spikes.
Still, I had a really good time. Flawed, but I'd play a sequel/DLC.
This the first time in a game I felt like Rama (from the Raid) or John Wick
Played on Xbox Gamepass via mobile. Touch controls work quite well. A fun game; feels like an updated version of the old SNES beat-em-ups. Might come back to this one.
Direto e satisfatório
Midnight Fight Express é um jogo honesto no que se propõe. Um brawler rápido e agressivo, com boas mecânicas e que vai te divertir pelo período de tempo que estiver com ele. E quem sabe você até salva uma cidade no processo.
E se você também não estiver se importando muito com a história, pode só aproveitar a diversão que ele tem pra oferecer. Seja brincando com combos devastadores ou cumprindo todos os desafios. A Cidade do Amanhã é toda sua.
Review completo: https://gamelodge.com.br/critica-midnight-fight-express-e-porradaria-franca-e-honesta/
Midnight Fight Express é um jogo honesto no que se propõe. Um brawler rápido e agressivo, com boas mecânicas e que vai te divertir pelo período de tempo que estiver com ele. E quem sabe você até salva uma cidade no processo.
E se você também não estiver se importando muito com a história, pode só aproveitar a diversão que ele tem pra oferecer. Seja brincando com combos devastadores ou cumprindo todos os desafios. A Cidade do Amanhã é toda sua.
Review completo: https://gamelodge.com.br/critica-midnight-fight-express-e-porradaria-franca-e-honesta/
Indie games have been partial to the trend popularized by Hotline Miami where brutal action unfolds to the beat of a thumping soundtrack. It was a high bar that not even Dennaton Games could clear with the sequel, but that hasn’t stopped other developers from creating their own brand of stylish, violent games. Midnight Fight Express is another entry into that genre and while its tunes kick ass, kicking ass in the game is a disappointing chore.
Read the full review here:
https://www.comingsoon.net/games/reviews/1233844-midnight-fight-express-review-ps4-worth-buying
Read the full review here:
https://www.comingsoon.net/games/reviews/1233844-midnight-fight-express-review-ps4-worth-buying