Midnight Fight Express Review
Played on PC
Developed by Jacob Dzwinel
Released 23rd August 2022
"John Wick: The Videogame" is one of the first descriptions of Midnight Fight Express that I heard when its reveal trailer dropped. The game looked slick and stylish as you fought off parts of the criminal underworld, so when I heard this game was made solo by a father in Poland, I was excited yet worried: I was rooting for this game and praying for its success while nervous that the overwhelming weight of a whole project would crush Jacob Dzwinel into releasing something sub-par. Thankfully, it released as well as it possibly could've with a 75 on Metacritic.
Story
The story of Midnight Fight Express follows a notorious criminal called Babyface who, with his case of amnesia, follows a drone named Droney and attempts to dismantle and disrupt the criminal underworld's unstoppable takeover of the city. The start of the game was great, it had me intrigued and the enigma behind why you're recalling the events of the game from a police station's interrogation room and the officers constantly questioning your sanity as the bizarrity of the story escalates was amazing. However, I found the narrative to be progressively less interesting as it went on. The opening had my full attention but it devolved into this stalemate of a padded-out story before ultimately being a forgettable chronicle with themes of revenge and family. Additionally, the plot points and twists that are thrown into the narrative aren't anything but that - story devices thrown in, in hopes of an interesting tale.
The tone of the game was something I quite enjoyed but I'm sure not as many people will feel the same about it. It never takes itself too seriously or too ridiculously. Its mood strikes this grey area that, while questionable, is also enjoyable to experience. Some will complain about this while some will realise it's better to have it like this than a game with fluctuating extremes of tone.
Gameplay
The gameplay is probably as good, if not better than what's presented in the trailers. It's fast and fluid, the strikes, parries and dodges feel excellent and if you played on the Hard difficulty then the skill you acquire from overcoming the challenge is fantastic. There's a multitude of attacks to perform, from finishers to one-two combos; it's all standard beat'em up elements but this game successfully makes these elements flow from one to another quite elegantly and quite satisfyingly. Midnight Fight Express' form of progression in combat is not only unlocking new moves in the skill tree but also learning how to effectively use these abilities amidst the chaos. Oddly enough, there is a skill tree dedicated to different types of grapples you can do, however, the grapples in this game are useless as you don't gain any invincibility frames and more often than not, get you killed while you voluntarily stun-locked yourself.
Now, with a wide range of attacks must also come a wide range of enemy variants. There is a large variety of enemies who differ in more ways than just looks. These differences arrive in the weapons they have, their speeds and their overall attacks. In addition, these types of enemies get reskinned appropriately to fit the context and design of the level. For example, there are some dual-wielding swordsmen who are deadly with every swing, and they get their biker design switched over to fit the pirate theme of a future level. The fun in dealing with alternative versions of enemies is when there are many variations attacking you as a group, and you develop this sense of badass-ry while not only advancing on your technique but also smoothly demolishing your foes.
The one problem I had with the enemies is that the gunner variant got incredibly annoying to deal with as they were not only too plentiful but the lack of a lock-on caused some frustrating moments where you attack the wrong enemy and get peppered by shots for that accident. Another problem I had with the mechanics of the game is how the use of your self-reloading revolver uses the same button as the finisher, creating moments of annoyance as you not only messed up a combo but also used up a valuable bullet that now is on a very long cooldown.
Bossfights
The bossfights are kind of disappointing. The bosses in this game consist of beefed-up, slightly OP versions of enemies we've already seen. What makes the bosses worse is how there's always an overload of regular enemies crowding around you and the boss. I'd accept it if it was on occasion, but the fact that it's like this for every duel just makes it absurd. The final boss of the game was possibly the most infuriating to deal with as not only is he fast, can break out of your combos, and has ridiculously high-damage dealing attacks with little telegraphing but also slap on the fact that there's a group of enemies that impedes on your efforts. It makes the final confrontation feel like it was either rushed or poorly designed.
Characters
The characters were very shallow and not that engaging. Every character you came across lacked quite a lot of depth to them, which made them feel like nothing but forgettable pawns in the story - including the main characters and antagonist. In my Stray review, a similar issue cropped up and I decided to not score the game on the characters, however, I will do so here. This is because not only is Midnight Fight Express a much longer game but because the characters essentially carry the story here and without them, there would be no narrative, unlike in Stray where it could still function narratively without those text boxes.
Atmosphere
The atmosphere is brilliant. Starting with the sound and music, it's all so satisfying to listen to. The fantastic soundtrack is comprised of these upbeat, techno-like tracks that act as the fuel in making you feel like a badass alongside the combat; in fact, I'd say this soundtrack is my favourite out of this whole year of releases. The deep, impactful sound effects are great; the crunches of skulls being beaten in and the power behind gunshots are demonstrated here really well and add more flavour to the ongoing carnage.
Moving onto the visuals, they aren't as strong as the audible presentation, however, it's still so good. While the character design is not innovative, it truly is creative, having this blend of Payday's appeal and Hotline Miami's chaotic nature. The range of environments never makes the mayhem boring to look at: a gas station used as the battlefield for a gang war, a highly secured skyscraper that even James Bond would struggle to get into, a church filled with mercenaries and much more. Finally, the daredevil-esque combat that is so smooth was done in collaboration with renowned stuntmen Eric Jacobus (God of War, The Last of Us: Part II) and Fernando Jay Huerto (Destiny 2), bringing the game's adrenaline-filled brutality to life.
Story - 7/10
Gameplay - 8.5/10
Bossfights - 5/10
Characters - 5/10
Atmosphere - 9.5/10
Good
Midnight Fight Express is a beat'em up that relies on its coolness factor which it can't make up for in other aspects. Where the combat falters due to redundant moves, it’s made up for by its slick style. Where the story fails to captivate, the world it's set in does so for it and the list goes on. I genuinely can't wait for what Jacob Dzwinel comes up with next now that he's definitely acquired a bigger budget and possibly a team of help.
