Mechabellum review: The perfect auto-battler for mecha-loving masochists
By Marco Wutz
Enthusiasts for giant robots have been feasting over these last couple of years with the return of Armored Core and the incoming release of Mecha Break being two action-packed examples. No mecha fans are left behind, though, and players who seek a different kind of adrenaline rush are cared for as well in the form of Mechabellum.
Developed by Game River and newly published by Dreamhaven, Mechabellum is likely the most tactical auto-battler you can currently find and is a good example of the old adage “easy to learn, hard to master.”
The concept is deceptively simple: In every round, you and your opponent place different kinds of mecha on your side of the battlefield with a limited amount of currency at your disposal. After the deployment phase is done, these units march forward and destroy each other with the survivors on the winning side converting into damage to the player — fittingly, giant units deal more player damage than swarms of smaller robots. After every round, both players get to pick from bonuses such as extra units, passive boons, additional gear for mechas, or battlefield abilities. This goes on until one player is out of HP or surrenders.
Playing it for the first time, you may wonder what all the fuss is about. Then you start losing to the easiest AI opponent available. And you’ll keep losing until you start diving into all the small details of each available unit, getting a feel for the game’s intricate counter system — not much more complex than rock, paper, scissors on the surface.
Swarms of smaller mechs seem somewhat useless when faced with anti-swarm units that can sweep the battlefield clean in seconds, but put them into the right spot and even the cheapest cannon fodder can overwhelm mighty tanks specialized in taking down single entities. As each match in Mechabellum progresses, you and your opponent play mind games with each other, trying to predict which units might be positioned where and what counterplays might come up. It’s a chess game with giant mechs that allows you to put new pieces into play every round while occasionally launching orbital bombardments on an ever more complex board.
That only takes into account what each unit can do in its base version, though. Not only can all mechas gain XP and promotions, boosting their stats, you can also invest into upgrades. Your giant Fortress mechas can only attack ground units, thereby perhaps baiting the opponent into placing air units to oppose them, but one of their potential upgrades equips them with anti-air missiles. Your immense Overlord battleship might seem alone and without protection, but with an upgrade it can continuously produce its own escort aircraft — and if you place the right gear on them, they could even build ground forces during a battle for an extra surprise. Your swarm of little Crawlers might already be doing a great job in soaking damage, but what if they coated the ground in damaging acid upon dying, weakening the enemy through their destruction? There are so many possibilities to contemplate that no match is exactly the same and it is extremely fun to have your plans come to fruition.
Customization options available to players further reinforce this. As you level your account, you’ll gain Tech Points, which can be used to unlock additional upgrades. Every unit is customizable in this way, allowing you to swap in and out potential upgrades and create personalized loadouts.
If games like StarCraft or Age of Empires appeal to you for their strategic and tactical aspects, but you simply can’t keep up with your hands, then Mechabellum is perfect for filling the void — which includes the cutthroat competition in multiplayer only masochists submit to. Prepare to be destroyed over and over until you finally give in and look up what’s currently meta so you have a chance at winning. At least players seem less toxic than is usually the case in this kind of game, with lots of people being happy to give advice or jump into practice games to show you stuff. Integrated ladder and tournament functionalities massively lower the barrier of entry into the competitive side of things as well, making it easy to try out if you’re tired of playing bots.
You can even jump into spectator mode and try to predict the outcome of matches, increasing your Insight rating and learning lots of new tricks this way.
Mechabellum is primarily geared towards online matches, but provides the tools necessary to enjoy your time playing solo or alongside friends. You can play a wave-based survival mode against the AI by yourself or with a team, jump into regular bot matches, or tackle community challenges. A more expansive set of single-player options would certainly be appreciated, though. A solid tutorial ensures that you can learn the basics quickly, but it’s totally optional.
On the technical side, Mechabellum is convincing with quick loading times and virtually no bugs — at least I haven’t experienced anything of the sort. What’s more, the game features plenty of eye candy with its cool mech designs and the option to jump into a close-up unit camera during the battle phase, getting you right into the action. Total War players will find this view familiar — and the advantage of Mechabellum is that you can actually make use of it without losing battles, since you have nothing to control anyway. The soundtrack has Command & Conquer vibes, but does get a little repetitive over time.
A deeply complex and satisfying tactics game, Mechabellum is essentially the result of a steamy night involving StarCraft, Armored Core, and chess and it will completely consume the life of any mecha-loving masochist dipping their toes into it — it’s the current apex of auto-battlers.
Score: 9/10
Platform tested: PC