The game was developed with a very clear idea of what it, as a mecha game, should be like (customizable, social, light-tactical, etc) and a very clear idea of what its creators could not reasonably execute. Gearbits does not excel in any particular way, sure, but what it lacks in tangible quality, it makes up for with dedication to the genre. Geartbits' gameplay is refined to a degree noticeably above the rest of the game; the feelings of frenetic in-flight decision making, weapon planning, and mech tuning that you'd expect from higher-value mecha titles are present in Gearbits too. This is a game created by someone who knew exactly what they wanted and knew exactly what they needed and didn't need to do to make it. Thus, it can do no wrong.

If I had to summarize in one word what Gearbits is it would be: charming. This game is so very, very charming.

The moment I loaded the game and was greeted to an animated intro sequence that blends 2D and 3D with a Kevin Macleod song I said to myself,

"Oh I am going to love this."

Gearbits is Custom Mech Wars done correctly. Yes, yes, Armored Core is the obvious comparison, but I view Gearbits as what Custom Mech Wars should have been outside of the customizing mechs. CMW was an absolute mess in terms of difficulty and enemy density being a bit too low, to the point even on the hardest difficulty, Nightmare, I was breezing through encounters because of how many submachine guns I was able to put on my mech.

Unlike CMW, Gearbits doesn't have any customization for the mechs individually, nor do they need to. Each mech's model is superb and I loved each and every one I got my hands on. You are able to attach up to three weapons with a weight limit that, at times did feel a bit stingy, especially with many of the weapons slow reload times that made me question what the trade off was, but I was able to manage.

Now, Gearbits difficulty is something of a charming mess with a lot of the early game stages I was running the same loadout, but toward the end of the game was when I really needed to switch up and try different weapons and mechs. Some missions were far too close for comfort, but it was challenging enough to where I always kept hitting that restart button.

Enemy design is fantastic and manages to blend EDF enemy density with well designed mechs to where every encounter was so fun to fight in. Mission objectives are varied enough to where its not always "kill [X] number of enemies" and I appreciated that coming off of CMW where that was all you were doing 90% of the time. The second to last mission in particular is actually excellent. A good roller coaster with a fun set piece moment. Great stuff here.

For the narrative, I'll be upfront and say its nothing special but like I keep saying, its charming. The character sprite models are great but the dialogue either ranges from fine to hilariously out of place. And that's what I love about it. Gearbits is about a planet under siege by giant bugs and its your job to go and murder said bugs. I'm giving a surface level overview intentionally because some of the moments are absolutely hysterical and the villain especially is comically evil. But again, in a very charming way.

Gearbits reminds me why I love video games and the people behind these games. Much like Alan Wake II, this is a clear, unapologetic passion project that managed to see the light of day and I am all the happier for playing this game.

Holy damn, that's a gem

I stumbled upon this game randomly on Steam, wishlisted, and bought it immediately upon its release. Mechs and space bugs??? Are you kidding me, that's all I wanted even though I didn't know that I wanted it

So the game is that: you choose a mech and you kill TONS of bugs. There is quite a good variety + progression of mechs that you can buy with the currency awarded from every mission. There are different stats, such as mobility, armor, weapon capacity, booster capacity, and so on... Then you can also buy weapons, 1 for the main arm and 2 for the shoulders. And they are kicking ass, you have flamethrowers, unguided/homing missiles, grenades, laser beans, railguns, smart guns, and so on!!!
Sometimes you will fight other mechs, so some of the weapons works best against bugs, but other are better against mechs.

The mechs control really fucking well. You have flight mode and if you buy a fast mech, OH DAMN. The movement is also really important here, cuz the game can be hard!!!

Against bugs, you mainly need to learn the area control and how to cait them. This is what fighting against the bugs is supposed to be!!!

And against mechs is more complicated, you mainly need to dodge missiles and projectiles and go for the openings(I usually go with melee). Oh yeah, by the way, there is also a melee weapon??? And it's a fucking laser sword???

So the gameplay here is amazing: killing bugs and fighting mechs is a good mix that makes you go for different strategies. Also, boss fights are tough(at least on the steam deck).

Another good topic is the story. I usually can't focus too much on the panel-based dialogues for the story, but god damn, that's some good story. Pretty basic, but the delivery is good. It's interesting and the characters are pretty interesting as well, I was invested throughout the whole game.


Overall amazing game and it was made by 1 person! Badass gameplay, awesome idea, excellent execution