You got your turn-based in my beat ’em up!
Treachery in Beatdown City is totally not what you’d expect from seeing screenshots of the game. On the surface it looks like an NES homage to Double Dragon, and it sort of is, but it is a lot more complicated that that. Treachery in Beatdown City is a cross beat an old-school beat ‘em up and turn-based strategy game. These are two genres that I have never seen mixed or would have ever expected too. And yet is all works amazingly well in a single package.
But do not expect to just jump right into the action. This is a game that is going to take a little bit of time to grow on you before it all just clicks. Treachery in Beatdown City is such a unique game that there is a wall to climb before you really start enjoying this fresh take on retro gaming. This mostly comes from the turn-based aspect of the gameplay. What you will be experiencing is a much slower and more complex affair than the game initially lays out.
You will take control of three heroes, each of which represents a different class within the game. Lisa, an MMA fighter and Boxer is the most well-rounded and the main hero of the story, Bruce, a Jeet Kune Do/Capoeira specialist that is low on health but can chain lots of quick strikes to rack up damage, and a Brad, a former professional wrestler that while slow and lumbering, is a powerhouse and focuses on grapples and throws.
Combat takes place in side-scrolling stages reminiscent of Double Dragon. You are free to move about the area and can even engage/interact with items that might show up with you. You will have to content with one, or a few, enemies and the fighting starts when you come into contact with each other, although you have the option to initiate it at will.
From there you shift into the turn-based aspect of the gameplay and need to plan out your attacks or defense. Every time you attack it will cost FP of which requires the Action Bar to use. It might sound a little complicated, and it did take a bit to grasp, but it quickly becomes second nature. Trust me that you won’t need a math’s degree to figure all this out.
Your Action Bar fills up over time naturally during the fight as do your AP points. The idea is to use your weaker attacks that take less AP to build up basic combos which in turn reward you with AP bonuses and a faster Action Bar refresh. Weaker moves weaken your enemies which in turn allows you to use moves that require higher AP and can land a knockdown. There is nothing quite like string a few weak attacks and finishing it off with a huge AP move that wrecks whoever it is you are fighting.
As battles progress your goal is to take the opponent’s life down to zero before the can take you out. Stringing combos is the name of the game, as well as understanding what moves work against what class type. As you play you will open up new moves and the ability to counter and earn buffs that make Treachery in Beatdown City pretty deep in the mechanics. Toss in some super moves and weapons and you have a unique fighting experience.
Once you start learning the enemy types in the game you will know which of your characters works best against what. You can switch them on the fly on the overworld map before entering any fight, so a bit of strategy is always in play. It is a system that is easy to grasp but one that continues to deepen as the game progresses. This is a well-designed system that kept on managing to surprise me.
The graphics are NES accurate and the main reason I was drawn to the title. It is nothing that is pushing new ground, but it feels appropriate to the story being told. And that story is balls-to-the-wall insane. President Orama has been kidnapped and the police force has been disbanded. It is your job to save the president and restore order. Some of it feels a little too on the nose for what is happening right now but done in such an over-the-top manner that the social commentary still cuts through.
If you are looking for something totally different and want a game that bucks the current trends while still feeling familiar, Treachery in Beatdown City is the game for you. Its surprisingly deep and rewarding gameplay keeps you engaged and the silly story manages to play off of current events in a way that has you wanting to see just what comes next.
Treachery in Beatdown City mashes up two different genres and comes away with a surprisingly deep and rewarding gameplay experience.
Final Score: 3.5/5
About Author
