Company of Crime Review - Innovation and Tradition make a game worth playing

There are currently about one million hexagon-based tactics sets created by independent studios. I know it because I play a lot. It is a good kind, even if any new game must assert itself in the shadow of the xcom series. And it s a big challenge. Fortunately, CRIME CRIME is the rare tactical game of distinction, proving that there are still new ideas in this crowded kind.

In Crust Crime , you play (at least at the beginning) as a couple of British lowlives in the mid-60s. The music is Groovy. The atmosphere is filthy. You send your gangsters to make missions on a map of London and look at the stopwatch to activate, while managing resources such as money and respect. But then a mission starts and you zoom in on this tactical card.

What your characters can actually do in a tactical combat game is quite delicate. Even if Xcom is the game that defines this kind today, I think we would be negligent if we do not take into account Final Fantasy , which has translated the JRPG actions into a new format. In many tactical games (especially those who are not based on the shooting game), you have a basic attack, objects and special capacities. This is not exactly the case in Crime company.

You have actually a pretty wide range of things you can do to fight. There are punches, but there are also kicking you see. The latter can reposition enemies. In fact, repositioning is the name of the game. According to the character, you might also be able to fight, launch, submit or manipulate emotionally your targets. Not only can you change the positioning of the enemy, but yours is also very important. Because depending on where you are, you can also have access to improvised weapons such as chairs, bottles or even walls. A fight that could have been a group of guys rushing one on the others is now a wonderfully complex board game where you try to prevent enemies from helping each other or getting closer to dangerous things.

I tell you, I could play the tactical part of this game for years. Just continue to give me new levels (or a spin-off-oriented combat at the corruption 2029) and I would be happy. But unfortunately, the strategic layer leaves a bit to be desired. It s functional, but less inspired than combat. You assign your guys at different locations on the London map, then you ... Wait. The balance in this section seems a little offbeat because despite the fun presentation (the background music becomes more Groovy more time passes quickly), the timing of everything seems a little offbeat. You do not have enough guys to do everything you would like to do, and each mission leaves your tired gang and maybe hurt or fleeing the cops. So you have to send them to recover, leaving less guys to do everything you need.

It would be good if there were exciting strategic decisions, but there is not much reflection on these sections of the game. Some resources (such as gang members) that I would never have enough. But other resources (such as money and respect) I had abundant, and I never had to make difficult decisions on how to spend. It s not so unpleasant that I do not want to come back to the game, but these sections dragged. I can not wait to go back to the superb fight.

We should also talk about the other gadget of the game, namely that you play not only as thieves, but also as a brass. This has not dramatically changed the gameplay, but is functionally present as a second campaign. Oh yeah, there are story segments with dialogs and others. But there is not really choices in these scenes, just a context explaining why you do what you do. I guess if the writing was stronger or if the elements of the RPG were more complex, I should have said. Having a story is good. Mario has a story. He guides you.

So is the company of crime it s worth playing? I would definitely say. The worst is rather without inspiration, but harmless. But the best is superlatively good. I hope this game will get a lot of traffic so that developers can learn from its greatest strength. But it s a question of design, no players. If it was only part of a big game and part of a mediocre game, I would say the average is good. But what pushes him a little more towards greatness, it s the presentation. Music, clothing, artistic style all create an atmosphere. There are more refined games, but few do such a good job to transport you in their environment. There is a universe where the Crime company has totally changed the genre forever. We live in a universe where it s just a really cool game that gender fans should not miss!

Good

Some of the best tactical fights around Groovy style of the 60s History does the work

77

The bad

Tedible Strategic Gameplay The graphics are a little fuzzy The story will not stay long with you