You’d be forgiven if you never heard about Corruption 2029 until just recently, as it was announced and launched almost within the same week. However, you may be familiar with the pedigree: This is the same studio that put out the wonderful Mutant Year Zero: Road the Eden in late 2018. In Corruption 2029, The Bearded Ladies have taken that winning formula and added a fresh coat of paint. In doing so they have provided a more focused experience that really showcases their unique approach to the X-COM-style tactical RPG genre.
To get right to the point, the thing that makes these games stand out from other turn-based tactics games is the real-time stealth element. When you begin a mission your squad of three is hidden from the enemy. Using Predator-esque active camouflage, you can move your units around the level in real time, scouting out enemy positions. This gives you a good idea of enemy strength and patrol routes, but it also allows you to silently take out lone troops that may wander too far away from their allies. It helps you even the odds dramatically because your soldiers can only take a few hits before they’re downed and they’re always outnumbered. Therefore, it’s smart to arm your squad with silenced weapons and modifications that give them mobility boosts. You can see how differently the same mission can play out if you don’t take advantage of the stealth in our gameplay video here.
Once you’ve done your scouting, or accidentally reveal yourself prematurely, the game switches to a fairly standard turn-based tactics game. There’s full and half cover to hide behind, and each shot has a chance to hit or miss, shown by a percentage. It even has the genre-standard “Overwatch” and hunker down abilities. I will say that this game’s overwatch ability misses way more than it hits, so take that for what it’s worth. This is also where your character modifications come into play. Unlike Mutant Year Zero, you can swap in and out mods at the start of each mission, instead of unlocking them in a skill tree. This allows you to put any mod on any soldier. You unlock new mods as rewards for completing missions.
An early mod I unlocked was a leap ability that allows your soldier to jump massive distances or get ontop of buildings without using a ladder. The later is incredibly useful to silently take out a guard in a watchtower. The abilities cool down over time, so you can’t spam them, but cool down is such that you can often use them multiple times in a single engagement. Just be careful because sometimes you’ll accidentally go to leap onto a building only to crash through the roof, getting your character stuck inside a room with no doors. Save scum FTW!
It’s really cool to see The Bearded Ladies refine their unique take on the tactical RPG genre. Mutant Year Zero was a two-hit punch, delivering great gameplay and a compelling cast of characters. What Corruption 2029 may lack in story and character development, it more than makes up for in pure tactical goodness. And for only $20 it’s hard to pass up.
