Pit People is the fourth title developed by The Behemoth, and also the fourth genre the developer has tried its hand at, after some side-scrolling blasting (Alien Hominid), an old-school beat-em-up (Castle Crashers) and devious puzzle platforming (BattleBlock Theatre). Pit People is a turn-based strategy game in the vein of Fire Emblem or XCOM, and it`s got the same art style and irreverent sense of humor as the developer`s previous games--and even some direct world-building carryover, if you pay close attention.At a glance, Pit People looks like a simplified tactical game, and in many ways thatŽs true. But what sets it apart from the norm is the relationship between your position on a battlefield and the automatic action youŽll take once you move to a new location. Land on a tile touching an enemy, and youŽll attack them as expected. But land on a tile touching two enemies and your character will pick and choose which to attack on their own. Likewise, you need to be extra careful when lining up a ranged attack lest you automatically attack an inadvertent target nearby.At first, this makes the game feel too limited for real strategic planning. Over time, though, these restrictions come to inspire foresight and creativity. The moment one of your characters splits from the pack, they`re likely to be ganged up on, and premeditated blocking and baiting become important. Most characters (including your own fighters) have a lot of health and take many hits to down, so figuring out how to do the most damage while preserving yourself can be tricky. Some characters perform area-of-effect attacks that can also damage allies, so if you put a teammate between an archer and their target they might accidentally hit them with an arrow. Pit People may have distilled the logistics of the turn-based strategy purely to placement, but there`s still plenty of thought required. It`s not up there with the heavyweights of the genre--this simplified system makes the game easier to get i ...
|
