Mech Armada

If you happen to be familiar with British TV, you may remember an old show called Robot Wars, a show where engineers would build their own robots and have them face off against other robot creations. Well, imagine if, instead of homemade robots, you built mechs and instead of battling in a TV studio, you battled upon a series of open environments against other fearsome gundam mechs. Well, what you have just imagined is none other than the upcoming title, Mech Armada.

This game is shaping up to play like other robot-based titles such as Robocraft or Dynasty Warriors: Gundam. Yet with an RTS format similar to games such as X-Com, Carrier Command 2, Stellar Warfare or Lazy Galaxy 2. This game aims to combine RTS action with creative engineering but does this game achieve it’s goal? We find out in our review of Mech Armada.

Mech Madness

First, let’s take a look at the building side of the gameplay. We were pleasantly surprised to see that this was not just a set of pre-made options. The player genuinely has the freedom to design and create a mech that will look like and do whatever they imagine. Sure, you will be limited in terms of what attacks it can perform. However, as a whole, this building menu plays similarly to Kerbal Space Porgramme in terms of scope and we honestly can’t think of a better compliment than that.

The combat aspects of the game however seem to pale in comparison. These allow you to battle in different biomes which you can create yourself. However, aside from this rather interesting feature, there is little of value. The gameplay consists of selecting from a handful of attacks with about as much depth as a mobile RTS game, which renders the creation of your mech a pointless chore.

The art style is rather underwhelming as well. The title opts for a grainy, Command and Conquer style visual approach. However, unlike the game mentioned, this title looks unrefined and unpolished. This might not have been the intention of the developer but that is certainly the result.

The Verdict

Overall, Mech Armada is a series of fun and interesting mechanics that are truly unique within the RTS field. However, they find themselves sandwiched between some very generic and underwhelming mechanics, visuals and narrative quest lines.

Pros:

• Great mech building system
• Able to design battle arenas

Cons:

• RTS gameplay is a letdown
• Visuals are poor