A third-person team-based mech PvP game sounds like exactly the kind of high-octane action game people want. Who doesn’t like big robots, equipped with a variety of unique and powerful weapons, duking it out? If you point me at someone who hates this idea, you point at a redneck and a coward. Even so, however, multiplayer mech games have historically struggled to gain a foothold in Western markets. Enter Mechabreak, the latest game looking to break that convention.
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Mecha Destruction is a new mecha IP created by Chinese developer Xishanju, focusing on unique mechas with unique abilities and quirks. It’s a character-based team shooter like you’d see in Overwatch and other multiplayer games of similar factions, but wrapped in stylish sci-fi robots and such. It came out when the ashes of Gundam Evolution were still warm, and the game with a well-known IP was burned out without attracting much of an audience. Mechabreak has to be good – damn good – to succeed in the current tornado of free-to-play death that has eliminated many truly worthwhile games.
With that in mind, Mechabreak is undoubtedly fun to play, which is great news. no doubt. During my playthrough, I was engrossed in the various mechs available in the base roster. A slow and sturdy tank machine, capable of withstanding overwhelming firepower through the clever use of shields and other protective abilities. A lightweight aerial alternative, capable of taking to the sky in jet mode while raining down on enemy players, would also be tempting. Ultimately, my heart settled on an axe-wielding melee mech that allowed me to corral and slice players who got too close. There are dishes here to suit any palette.
Trying all of this out in the standard PvP objective game mode is a window into the cohesion of Mechabreak’s core team. As with any game in the same subgenre, it’s all about choosing the right character for the specific goals you want to achieve. One game we played – a variation of King of the Hill – forced us to capture an item and deliver it to a central command point.
The winning team (not us) is able to win the game with a combination of super heavy and particularly fast mechs that protect points and carry items respectively. Our team was so obsessed with tinkering with the coolest looking mech that it failed. But it’s hard for me to feel too angry with myself or my fellow warriors for fumbling with the bag – the dance between the two mechs as they fight is incredible. Each game is a test of your ability to escape unnecessary but exciting battles.
We also got a look at how the game will support itself, albeit only a small part. And of course, there’s the battle pass. It’s actually as core a feature of today’s free-to-play multiplayer games as guns and music. But it’s through this that a range of alternative colors, new mechs, and various other cosmetics will be unlocked. I’m reasonably happy with the cosmetics – it’s part of the genre – but it remains to be seen how much it will all cost, and how difficult it will be to upgrade. Getting flushed in a game like this can be very frustrating.
So Mechabreak is fun, at least from the little games we played with it. Perhaps unfairly, the elephant in the room is something different. Are you interested in this kind of game now? Of course, Gundam games still dominate the arcade scene in the East, while Overwatch 2 continues to falter. But we’ve seen games like this come out — and good ones, too — and then falter. Perhaps you could argue that in this post-Armored Core 6 world, we’re living with a greater desire for mech PvP – but the other side of the coin is that those keen on a fast-paced competitive mech experience may still be AC6 players.
It’s not a fair comparison by any means. But if you put Mechabreak in the same character-based shooter pool as its close cousins, it doesn’t look particularly good either. Sure, Overwatch 2 is still a hit, but many other games simply died trying to eat its scraps. Most of this happened a few years ago too! One could argue that this opens up space for new players to become keen, but I’m more inclined to believe that players who are still keen on the genre are more deeply engaged with their favorite games than ever before. Pulling them away will be harder than ever.
Ultimately, I hope the Mechabreak team will do a lot of marketing (if they have the budget). They need to do their best to attract viewers on day one and then work to retain them. The game is solid, and honestly, it has a great appeal. You just have to get people to come and see it for themselves. I feel like this is the hill on which Mechabreak will live and die.
There’s currently no release date for Mechabreak, but the game is currently available on Steam so you can wishlist it now. It’s well worth it for anyone who considers themselves a fan of team-based shooters and is looking for the next fun thing to do.