Reminds me of Monster Hunter 1: lots of messiness and annoyances, but nails a shocking amount of fundamentals from the get-go.
The heart and soul of this game, and probably its strongest aspect, are the controls. This might be the best game I've ever played in capturing the electric dynamic of graceful movement flowing through rigid restrictions. Boosting fast, but turning slow: that's fucking tank controls right there. Dodging another AC's missiles while struggling to keep them within your lock-on field? Boosting yourself through the air and letting momentum carry you while your energy recharges? Dancing in and out of melee range without losing control? Good shit.
This is also a game that actually justifies having stats and builds, because everything has some impact on how your AC handles. There's walk speed, turn speed, flight speed, durability, energy capacity and recharge speed, lock-on distance and shape, mobility with heavy weaponry, and probably more. Also an area map, please buy a part with an area map and don't make the same mistake I did. The balance isn't exactly pristine, especially if you find the secret weapons, but it didn't get in the way too much for me.
This being a corporate dystopia hellhole and you being a mercenary, the main thing you'll be worrying about for a while, especially as a new player, is money. Buying new parts takes cash (though you can sell them back for the same price!), but so do ammo and repairs, and if you lose the mission then enjoy the pure minus on your balance sheet. And by the way, don't break stuff the client wants to keep unexploded: you'll be footing the bill there too. If you decide not to save-scum and roll with the punches, there's a great survival-horror-ish dynamic to trying to stay above water while the stakes keep getting raised.
The main pitfall is the mission design. I actually think the dungeon-crawler style they went with could have worked; "Kill Struggle Leader" is laced with traps and gave me that pleasant singed old-school taste. But sadly, most of the mazes just amount to a long series of hallways with a few weak enemies placed like breadcrumbs, which makes even zipping your tin can around feel tiring before long. Basic AI adds to the monotony since almost all these fights will be 1v1 or close to it.
A few solid missions in the mix though too, especially when the game has you fight other ACs or painfully shares its love of unexpected halfway twists. And the ending has some excellent "game design as humor" that gave me a smile.
Solid first attempt with obvious room for improvement. Man, it would be cool if this studio still made games...
Murakumo or Chrome? Who cares? I'm a Raven, fuck you, pay me.
The heart and soul of this game, and probably its strongest aspect, are the controls. This might be the best game I've ever played in capturing the electric dynamic of graceful movement flowing through rigid restrictions. Boosting fast, but turning slow: that's fucking tank controls right there. Dodging another AC's missiles while struggling to keep them within your lock-on field? Boosting yourself through the air and letting momentum carry you while your energy recharges? Dancing in and out of melee range without losing control? Good shit.
This is also a game that actually justifies having stats and builds, because everything has some impact on how your AC handles. There's walk speed, turn speed, flight speed, durability, energy capacity and recharge speed, lock-on distance and shape, mobility with heavy weaponry, and probably more. Also an area map, please buy a part with an area map and don't make the same mistake I did. The balance isn't exactly pristine, especially if you find the secret weapons, but it didn't get in the way too much for me.
This being a corporate dystopia hellhole and you being a mercenary, the main thing you'll be worrying about for a while, especially as a new player, is money. Buying new parts takes cash (though you can sell them back for the same price!), but so do ammo and repairs, and if you lose the mission then enjoy the pure minus on your balance sheet. And by the way, don't break stuff the client wants to keep unexploded: you'll be footing the bill there too. If you decide not to save-scum and roll with the punches, there's a great survival-horror-ish dynamic to trying to stay above water while the stakes keep getting raised.
The main pitfall is the mission design. I actually think the dungeon-crawler style they went with could have worked; "Kill Struggle Leader" is laced with traps and gave me that pleasant singed old-school taste. But sadly, most of the mazes just amount to a long series of hallways with a few weak enemies placed like breadcrumbs, which makes even zipping your tin can around feel tiring before long. Basic AI adds to the monotony since almost all these fights will be 1v1 or close to it.
A few solid missions in the mix though too, especially when the game has you fight other ACs or painfully shares its love of unexpected halfway twists. And the ending has some excellent "game design as humor" that gave me a smile.
Solid first attempt with obvious room for improvement. Man, it would be cool if this studio still made games...
Murakumo or Chrome? Who cares? I'm a Raven, fuck you, pay me.