After the Beta I wasn’t all that interested in this game. But then I got it at a deep discount at Humble Bundle and gave it another try. The game certainly takes a while to click, but then it’s great, crazy fun. The best way to describe it for me is that it is a wild mix between Earth Defense Force, Overwatch, Anarchy Reigns. There are elements of hero shooters, third-person-brawlers, PvE and PvP components in the game. Everything is presented in an overarching story with quite a few quality cutscenes that get unlocked by participating in online matches. Yes, this game is online only with no way to play offline or with bots.
So how does this work? Players pilot exosuits that look like your typical anime-mecha. There are three different kinds of exosuits: assault, defense and support. Some of them excel in ranged combat, others are more melee oriented or focus on healing the team. Plus there are hybrids that fit more roles. They all have something in common: They feel unique and are fun to use. I didn’t dislike any of the mechs and rotated frequently between them to spice up the experience. Landing headshots with a sniper rifle feels just as satisfying as uppercutting a T-Rex or rescuing the whole team with a last second healing skill.
In most missions two teams of five players get matched against each other. Both teams have to fight against hordes of dinosaurs and accomplish certain mission targets. The goals are always the same for both teams, the team that achieves the goals faster gets a headstart in the final mission where both teams are in direct competition. In this phase the teams can fight each other directly to achieve one final goal. There are other mission types, like giant hordes or big boss fights where ten players play together but these are more rare. By beating the story, extra hard challenges and seasonal content gets unlocked.
Seriously, the feeling of the game is a bit hard to describe. It really is it’s own thing and a unique experience I recommend to everyone that likes Capcom games, hero shooters and/or horde shooters with some indirect and direct PvP put into the mix. Don’t get afraid of the PvP stuff too much. You always progress, even when you lose a game and I didn’t come across many people that took the game too seriously. It was mostly a great and relaxed time playing with others.
The aggressive monetization with loot boxes and season passes in a full-priced game is certainly questionable, but it can be safely ignored. There are no pay-to-win elements. On the tech side the game looks and sounds good. It ran without problems on high settings on my old 2070S. Late loading textures are an issue though and can look really jarring at times.
So how does this work? Players pilot exosuits that look like your typical anime-mecha. There are three different kinds of exosuits: assault, defense and support. Some of them excel in ranged combat, others are more melee oriented or focus on healing the team. Plus there are hybrids that fit more roles. They all have something in common: They feel unique and are fun to use. I didn’t dislike any of the mechs and rotated frequently between them to spice up the experience. Landing headshots with a sniper rifle feels just as satisfying as uppercutting a T-Rex or rescuing the whole team with a last second healing skill.
In most missions two teams of five players get matched against each other. Both teams have to fight against hordes of dinosaurs and accomplish certain mission targets. The goals are always the same for both teams, the team that achieves the goals faster gets a headstart in the final mission where both teams are in direct competition. In this phase the teams can fight each other directly to achieve one final goal. There are other mission types, like giant hordes or big boss fights where ten players play together but these are more rare. By beating the story, extra hard challenges and seasonal content gets unlocked.
Seriously, the feeling of the game is a bit hard to describe. It really is it’s own thing and a unique experience I recommend to everyone that likes Capcom games, hero shooters and/or horde shooters with some indirect and direct PvP put into the mix. Don’t get afraid of the PvP stuff too much. You always progress, even when you lose a game and I didn’t come across many people that took the game too seriously. It was mostly a great and relaxed time playing with others.
The aggressive monetization with loot boxes and season passes in a full-priced game is certainly questionable, but it can be safely ignored. There are no pay-to-win elements. On the tech side the game looks and sounds good. It ran without problems on high settings on my old 2070S. Late loading textures are an issue though and can look really jarring at times.