Fights in Tight Spaces
Ground Shatter / Mode 7
As an action movie connoisseur, I’ve pretty much seen it all. But one film series that stood out to me was The Raid. The often super tight-quarters martial arts action showcased in them (especially in the first film) were fast, brutal, and unrelenting. No, there were no Ninja backflips or fancy spinning back kicks, just a more realistic version of hand-to-hand combat that was fun to watch.
When it comes to PC games (and consoles as well) there hasn’t really been much to replicate that sort of close-quarters fisticuffs—I certainly didn’t expect to find it in a card-based game. But here it is. From developers, Ground Shatter comes Fights in Tight Spaces, a card-based, roguelike deck-builder.
As you play Fights in Tight Spaces, there’s a constant feeling of progression you’ll notice right away. Not only do you progress through its map from node-to-node, but you’re always learning new ways to deal with adversaries.
While simple punches and kicks may serve certain situations, more you’ll also gradually learn how to chain these moves with more complex combos. Pulling these maneuvers off and clearing compact rooms and hallways of enemies can be quite thrilling.
That’s not to say that Fights in Tight Spaces isn’t hard. On the contrary, when enemies spawn in they’re looking to beat your you-know-what and leave you a crumpled and bloody mess on the floor. But at least the game gives you a (literally) fighting chance. Drawing a batch of cards makes things tense as you mull over what actions you can take.
For instance, in one of my first games, I was beset upon by a gaggle of ruffians who had me surrounded. Midway through the fight, I played a card that allowed me to sidestep an opponent and then follow up with a kick. However, I was already low on health and the bad guy managed to punch my clock as soon as I completed my sidestep. Instead, of should have just kicked his head off and then sidestepped. Decisions, decisions.
Fights in Tight Spaces has a lot going on. After I’d learned about such things as action points—called Momentum here, as well as combo points, I also discovered card collecting, upgrading, and culling that typically happens mid-stage.
As a fusion of different game conventions, Fights in Tight Spaces already feels very fun to play. While other games in Early Access feel half-baked or straight-up threadbare, this one already has a good amount of content and the randomness of its encounters gives it an emergent vibe that reminds me of Slay the Spire. It doesn’t hurt that it also has slick production values. Try it out for yourself.
RATING: 8.3/10
Fights in Tight Spaces has some pretty good graphics so you’ll need a pretty beefy gaming PC or gaming laptop in order to play it at a decent framerate. Therefore, you may just want to invest in a superior gaming rig:
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