Mecha Break speaks to a really particular sort of sicko: the sort of one who performs multiplayer video games on the lookout for perfection. Not total – there’s no such factor as a “good” piece of artwork. However good moments? The proper shot, the clutch dodge, confirming the final kill that wins you the match? They’re on the market, in that issues come collectively simply the best way you want them to. I’ve solely gotten to play a pair hours of Mecha Break forward of launch (which, if you happen to’re studying this, has simply occurred) so I’ve much more to see, do, and unlock in this robot-themed hero shooter, however I can already say it’s a recreation that permits you to construct your personal tales.
Over the course of a two-hour preview occasion (enjoying on PC) I acquired to play 5 matches and check out 5 of the 15 completely different mechs accessible (with the free-to-play mannequin Mecha Break is utilizing a number of of those I examined will have to be unlocked as soon as it goes dwell, however we had free reign for our preview). One of many issues I appreciated most was how a lot selection there may be, each in mechs and match sorts. Mecha Break has each sort of mech you might need: heavies just like the Stego with the power to plant itself in the bottom, sit behind a defend, and launch an enormous missile barrage; the Falcon, which transforms right into a airplane, Starscream-style, making it a perfect selection for folk who wish to zoom throughout the expansive battlefield and rain loss of life from above; and my private favourite, the Alysnes: a medium-weight, extra conventional mech that turns into smaller and extra agile after its armor is blown off. Survive lengthy sufficient in this way and you’ll reapply your armor, like some sort of mech-flavored Magical Lady. Everybody has completely different armaments to handle, and I needed to tailor my playstyle to the mech I attempted. Choosing the right one is necessary, as a result of when you’re locked in and the match begins, you’re caught with it.
This listing catalogues a small quantity of what’s accessible, and because the mode we had been enjoying saved our six-person staff from having duplicate mechs, it led to some actually nice fights. I had a very tense rivalry in one recreation the place my Alysnes confronted off towards one other participant’s camo-enabled, melee-focused Stellaris. We clashed a number of instances, they usually had been lengthy, drawn-out duels that examined the whole lot from our total map consciousness and positioning to once we determined to assault. We had been constructing rivalries in actual time, and it made for some memorable moments. Some I misplaced, others I clutched out, however the fights had been all thrilling.
Different matches showcased that there’s a ton of selection in the case of modes, even when none of them is something too far out of the field. We began in a conventional deathmatch (first to eight kills wins), however we additionally performed King of the Hill, one other mode the place it’s important to destroy factors that seem on the map, one which requested us to seize launch keys and ship them to a launch facility, and good ol’ common payload escorts. I had enjoyable it doesn’t matter what the target was, and I appreciated that Mecha Break let me contribute it doesn’t matter what I used to be doing. Even conserving one other mech distracted whereas your staff hits the target (or killing them outright) can swing a recreation, particularly as a result of respawns take a scorching second longer than they do in most comparable video games. In case you can take a bit off the board for a bit, that issues. For instance, whereas piloting a Stego towards one other participant in the identical heavy-hitting mech on the alternative staff, conserving him out of the combat lengthy sufficient for us to safe the final goal helped resolve that match.
The maps themselves are a smorgasbord of fascinating places. One is a mixture mountain vary with a valley and a destroyed metropolis. I may arrange and snipe at different mechs from the excessive floor with the Stego, however to get the aims (and keep in the fights over them) I wanted to go down the place I used to be extra susceptible. One other is at a missile launch facility the place you possibly can select between combating exterior with restricted cowl, or getting up shut and private in the tight corridors of the power itself. There’s even one set on the moon that features each open skies and huge craters and small canyons simply sufficiently big to squeeze by, superb for dodging enemy fireplace or shifting round out of sight. The actual trick there may be the heartbeat storms, which injury your mech except you’re taking cowl.
Every map felt distinct and compelled me to strategy conditions in alternative ways relying on the place I used to be and what mech I used to be piloting. A Stego’s long-ranged firepower is superb in open area, however its gradual pace makes it a legal responsibility in areas with much less elbow room. The Alysnes’s versatility, however, means it’s proper at dwelling in each however by no means hits fairly as laborious as a Stego in the suitable circumstances. You’ll most likely simply make use of its melee weapon much less if you’re combating throughout open floor.
Naturally, two hours isn’t almost sufficient to wrap up a evaluation of a recreation like this, so I’ve quite a bit left to see in Mecha Break: I wish to get a really feel for extra of the mechs and the opposite modes, and see what development appears like. However to date it’s made first impression. I’ve come away liking the little moments, and the tales I’ve already been part of in a brief session. Now we simply have to determine if Mecha Break has the juice to maintain telling them for the lengthy haul. In case you’re leaping in to play at launch, tell us if something cool has occurred to you to date.