Chris InglisMiasma Chronicles a tactical, turn-based combat game by developers The Bearded Ladies and published by 505 Games. It launches on May 23, 2023, on Steam, Epic Games Store, Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5, and is the third game from The Bearded Ladies. Their first, Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden, was my favourite game from 2018 and I was hooked on their tactical take on turn-based combat. It wasn’t just the gameplay either, the setting, story and characters made for an exciting and riveting gameplay experience. I am pleased to say that Miasma Chronicles is even better and is my favourite game release of 2023 to date.
Set in the not-too-distant future, America has been torn apart by a savage force known only as the ‘Miasma’. The main character is Elvis, a young man brought to the mining town of Sedentary, Kentucky, as a baby. Left by his mother in the care of a robotic older ‘brother’ named Diggs and given a mysterious glove with which he can control the Miasma. We take the brothers on a quest across a post-apocalyptic wasteland to find the answers they crave. Answers which may change the course of human history forever.
Aside from four difficulty options, of which there is a narrative option that I am not ashamed to admit I dropped to when I was struggling with a mission, we also get a choice the game mode in how tactical we want the game to be. The choice is between light tactical or full tactical. Light tactical is where hit chances for weapons are more predictable and flanking enemies always grants the same bonuses, regardless of distance. The alternative is full tactical which is a less predictable experience with more tension. Chances to hit in combat are much less reliable, both for you and your enemies.
I chose to play full tactical, and this is reminiscent of those times in XCOM 2 where you have a 92% chance to hit but still manage to miss. It doesn’t feel as bad in Miasma Chronicles as that example, but I have missed a couple of crucial shots that were 63% chance to hit, and not killing that mob made the fight much harder. He alerted nearby squads, was able to take some shots at Elvis and I ended up having to reload and try again. I try not to save scum where I can, but in games like this where a wrong move or a missing a pivotal kill makes the difference between surviving or getting overrun, having to do the entire fight again which can take time.
The opening sequences sees Elvis and Diggs standing in front of a miasma wall as Elvis attempts to use the glove to open the wall. His attempt fails and in doing so, damages the glove. This glove is everything to Elvis as it’s his only link to his mother who left him a long time ago, so the damage and setback hits hard for him. Off they head back to town to get it repaired, and so we take control of Elvis and Diggs as we walk through the busted streets with car wrecks, broken bridges and general miasma waste setting a linear path forward.
General movement around zones is free flowing and you can explore within the boundaries and pathways set by the terrain which is generally quite linear. When areas open in towns, swamps and the like is when you can explore a bit more off the path. The further you explore, the more chances of coming across people you can interact with and gain side quests, but more importantly are enemy units. The level of detail in the environment and world around the game area is absolutely phenomenal. There is a sharpness to the textures, particularly where the miasma has taken over, and the world is quite dark and bleak, with most areas receiving rainfall.
The town of Sedentary, which acts as a central base and where you can resupply, is full of life. As you walk past people, you hear them talking amongst themselves, or they’ll say something to or at you. The banter amongst all the characters is excellent and makes you connect with even the shopkeepers. This gives a great sense of the place feeling lived in too. Many will have some passive conversation options to give some backstory to why they are there, while others may give you side quests to complete. Quests are level based, so while you might have just picked up a new quest at level 3, the quests may be in the 7-9 level range which you save for later.
We can freely move around the world when no enemies are around, and things you can loot will be highlighted in white, green, blue/purple and orange. Plastic is the currency in the game, so you’ll find a lot of that glowing white around the place. Green items are things like grenades, bottles that can be thrown as a distraction, and more. Orange items are lore objects that provide brief backstory to things and can contain clues like passcodes for a locked door. Blue/purple items are either a treasure from the old-world times (like a ‘stick of joy’ or box of cigars) or a weapon mod, and purple crates contain weapons.
Like in Mutant Year Zero, characters in Miasma Chronicles can carry a primary and secondary weapon, gadgets like grenades and, and Elvis can equip miasma powers once his glove gets repaired. Weapons can be modded with things like scopes, ammo clips an environmental effects like burn or shock. A third companion we meet, Jade, comes with a silenced sniper rifle and for a long time, she was the main character I opened combat with. If you have played Mutant Year Zero previously, you will be familiar with the tactical turn-based combat used here.
As you approach enemy units, you will see some highlighted orange checkered tiles on the ground. These will move is an enemy unit is on roaming patrol. If we crouch down by pressing the left mouse button on PC, this field of vision is reduced so we can get closer in. This allows us freedom to scout around the battle site, identifying all enemy units that we can see, and plotting our angle of attack. Otherwise, if we walk into their field of vision, we lose initiative and the enemy gets to shoot at us first. Once in combat, it’s general turn-based combat fare. Every character has 2 AP to move then shoot, or if you shoot first your turn is done. Some enemies have armour which are tougher to take down, so flanking shots and building enrage by getting kills helps.
Where possible, I used Jade to look for patrolling scouts that were standing on their own or moved far enough away from the others for a silent kill. However, some units are in squads which is signified by a symbol on their name plate when we hover the mouse over them. They are also intelligent enough to spot a falling comrade in their line of sight. Hovering the attack skill over them will show if any other units are in their line of sight, and if clear then a silenced kill will take them out. I had a lot of units in pairs early on, and it took a long time for a silencer mod to be available in the town’s shop.
Elvis’ special miasma abilities are another combat option to utilise, providing Elvis has enough kilowatts available. His first miasma ability is a whirlwind where you select one enemy unit, and then select a destination to throw them to. If you throw them onto an exploding barrel, it will explode and hopefully take out any units in the vicinity. Otherwise, you can throw them into other enemy units which will knock them down or at least out of cover. Miasma powers can also be upgraded with chips to add special effects to them. Some upgrades to Elvis’ skill tree will allow you to equip more than one miasma skill that can be switched in combat.
The characters and their interactions amongst each other throughout the cutscenes was a big draw card in Mutant Year Zero. There was a lot of humour between them and other characters, but Elvis and Diggs in particular have each other’s backs no matter what. New characters come along like Jade that could threaten the dynamic duo, but only work to enhance the banter. Jade and other character you meet also have special functions too. For example, Jade can access computer terminals, which is yet another reason why I did all the map scouting with her. In other areas, Diggs can smash through weak wooden walls to access secret areas for potential loot.
I was captivated from the opening moments of the game and spent too many late nights just doing one more combat encounter before bed – only for a character to miss a well-set up shot and combat turns to shit. Then I either spend ages trying to take out the large groups or reload and try again. I loved exploring every nook and cranny in each of the zones, and some zones had higher level requirements, so I made notes to come back to later. The quest level requirements give you a good guide as for where to go next, and the map fast travel system made moving around very versatile.
Overall, Miasma Chronicles stands out amongst the turn-based XCOM-style games by giving you the ability to stealth around the map, scouting positions of the enemy and working out the best angle of attack. The RPG elements for character progression and great story really had me sucked in and the side quests were just as engaging. This is another incredible game from The Bearded Ladies and one of my favourites of 2023. If you enjoyed Mutant Year Zero, there’s a lot more like it in this game.
This review utilised a Steam key provided by Stride PR and Miasma Chronicles launches on Steam, Epic Games Store, Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 on May 23, 2023.
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Johnny
