Mecha fans here’s something to look forward to a turn-based tactics game where you control a squadron of giant mechs.
Ignited Steel: Mech Tactics caught my eye for its surface resemblance to Into the Breach. It’s a debut title from Madrid-based developer Yokaicade, published by Meteorbyte Studios.
Overheat: A Unique Mechanic
The story is that you’re fighting your own military vehicles, which have been hijacked by an AI. You commandeer mechs so ancient (“centuries-old junk heaps,” says one character) that the AI can’t access them. Unfortunately, these old mechs are prone to overheating… which is Ignited Steel‘s unique mechanic.
Strategy requires that you take heat levels into account. Attacking and being attacked generates “heat.” Too much of it and your mechs overheat a vulnerable state in which they suffer damage for every attack performed. At the same time, attacking while overheating deals more damage. You must manage heat levels by performing cooldowns.
Meanwhile, enemies are affected by the heat too, suffering more damage the higher their heat level. They can overheat too, which triggers a result unique to each enemy type.
The combat reminds me of Transistor: Take as many actions as you want, in any order, if you have enough AP (action points) to spend. I love that you can move your mechs either before OR after attacking.
“Attacking” is a blanket term for using mech equipment. Mechs carry one primary weapon and one support equipment. Support equipment may be offensive, essentially a second gun, but you might come across other kinds of tools, such as for healing. Equipment can be swapped out in between missions.
A Mission-Based Roguelike
The hour-long demo covers “Sector 1,” in which you travel a route of planets and other points of interest. The path isn’t completely linear; there are occasionally branching nodes, FTL-style, to give you a choice between two events. Planets seem to represent missions, which in the demo can be completed in 10 minutes, give or take. So far, mission goals are straightforward: destroy all enemies; defend a structure; reach a safe area, etc.
Sometimes you’ll run into a Store that offers new equipment, healing, or contracts. Contracts are optional objectives to make the game more interesting, such as “Destroy 2 enemies in your first turn in the next battle.” You pay to take a contract, but you’ll be rewarded with a profit for completing it.
The demo was designed to be easy, but as Ignited Steel is a roguelike, you can expect the full game to be much tougher. For now, you only have three generic “Assault Pilots” at your disposal, but the full release will offer a cast of unique pilots.
Yay or Nay?
I like how enemies look and move, though I’m on the fence about my own mechs’ appearance and their equipment, which appear a tad “rough”. But even if the visuals aren’t your usual cup of tea, the soundtrack is very promising. The controls are great too, and combat has been a smooth experience.
Will this be a good game? It all depends on whether missions are fun: will they be hard enough, not too long? Will they feature a good variety of objectives, enemies, and terrain types?
We’ll find out soon enough. Ignited Steel: Mech Tactics releases on March 9th for Steam (and later for consoles). Meanwhile, check out more screenshots below or try the demo here.
