This doesn't mean that the studio isn't
making mecha games anymore but that there are no official announcements of games to that effect.
After playing Brutal Legend and seeing how well it emulated the Herzog Zwei formula, I immediately wanted Double Fine to
make a mecha game with a similar concept.
Since the release of the various Carnage Heart games, Artdink hadn't
made mecha games and never ventured into the full - blown action orientated gameplay the genre is known for (admittedly the OKE's in Carnage Heart were potent war machines, the player wasn't in direct control of them).
Not exact matches
The opening scene, in which all the
mecha - aliens transform back and forth between giant robots and various
makes of automobiles and heavy trucks, becomes so abstract it looks like a Jackson Pollock canvas in motion screeching through the middle of a Hollywood action movie.
The fact that she never even flinched, gasped or otherwise showed any emotion when he appeared in Zero mission — and in the epilogue she didn't flinch at the
mecha robot
made in his image either, or when he came back semi-mechanical (Meta - form) in Metroid Prime, came back again in a phazon powered omega form in Prime 3, or when he came out of a statue — apparently reborn without the mechanical enhancements in prime in Super metroid.
But for now, Japanese peripheral maker Hori has the honor or
making this year's best - looking
mecha game controller.
In a sequence that harks back to the 1980s school of sci - fi production design, when bleak futures were mostly
made up of abandoned steel works and duct hosing, he crosses paths with Amara (Cailee Spaeny), a teenager who's managed to built her own armadilloid
mecha from scrap.
Banpresto gets licenses to various
mecha media properties, Anime, Manga, light novel or whatever, and then
makes a game incorporating all of them.
It
made me wonder if this change was a permanent thing, or if the
mecha genre will
make another rise in a few years and we'll all enjoy the giant robots enough to
make us sick once again.
But there has been a time before when
mecha wasn't popular, and there will be a time when it
makes another roaring return.
Set in the near future and in locations across the globe (though primarily China and India), the story involves a sweeping cast of characters
making a living — if you want to call brutal conditions and pitiful wages a «living» — in such virtual - game worlds as Svartalfheim Warriors and Zombie
Mecha.
Modern games take a few years to
make, so hopefully this year will see some more interesting
mecha game releases.
Now, that isn't necessarily a bad thing to do and actually affords greater usage of the transformation abilities of the
mecha themselves, which they thankfully did, but Traveller's Tales decided to
make a raft of all new mistakes regarding how the core combat played out.
This is where a different set of issues start to surface with the games, as the focus now is more about trying to
make a pedestrian third person shooter rather than a
mecha game that features transforming robots.
Through this unique philosophy, the multifaceted
mecha genre can provide a slew of games that
make use of distinct perspectives to portray mechanized warfare in a novel and intriguing light.
Such a spark imbues the entire experience with a peculiar sense of character seldom seen in games — let alone
mecha titles or shooters in general — one that cheekily accentuates its Japanophilic charm with the wanton gore and destruction emblematic of old - school, arcade - style shooters like Doom and Quake, which in turn fuels the pilot / robot bond already
made conspicuous by Shogo's first - person perspective.
Gameplay itself is the same fast - paced, parkour - infused pilot - on - pilot gunfire disrupted by the dropping of humongous
mecha that can
make mincemeat of regular soldier and get into brutal fights with their Titanic brethren.
To explain on the boosting, having Sam — a guy in power armor — in Vanquish slide all over the level at great speed and with pin - point precision is pretty crazy outside of gaming but it
makes more sense than a very large piece of machinery doing the same thing, yet Double Helix are treating their
mecha like people.
The
mecha featured were well designed aesthetically, and
made me quite eager to see what the customization will add to that.
From a
mecha standpoint, it could really help to
make you feel that you are a pilot but much of that is also down to how the game controls.
The most obvious question, then, was whether or not From Software was
making a new entry in its long - running
mecha series.
The Exotic Perk,
Mecha Holster, reloads your stowed Submachine Guns and allows you to ready them instantly,
making short work of enemies while you've got Power Ammo.
The designs of the PA and the EPA remind me a bit of the Tau's Stealth Suits and Crisis Battlesuits from Warhammer 40,000, which could
make it a rare example of a game adding more
mecha - like elements by being inspired by a Western design, rather than a Japanese one.
Anyway, considering the powered armor focus of the Spartans it's nice to see that someone who effectively helmed that part of Japanese
mecha design is now finally
making his mark on something originally birthed in the West (though if you ask me the the Master Chief does look an awful lot like Yutaka Izubuchi's work, namely the ARL - 99 Helldiver as well as the GM Sniper II and GM Command).
The swirling chaos that is E3 is almost over, and while it will be some time before anyone can
make sense of what this raw data pulse from the games industry actually means, there have been a few
mecha - related sightings and announcements for the observant mechanical fanatic.
The principle behind the indie games movement was that developers not chained to the high stakes world of initial public offerings and demographics research would be able to create innovative games that users would want to play, rather than what users had proven in the past that they would be willing to play, and finally there is a
mecha game on the XBLIG service that proves the indie movement right, because Explosionade is a love letter to the great 2D SNES
mecha sidescrollers that adds just enough new gameplay mechanics to
make it its own beast.
Screenshots and videos of CosmicBreak are a bit deceptive, as while the game mechanics look very much «MMO» in nature where tweaked stats triumph over good gameplay and the player merely targets an enemy to attack, the controls are very similar to most
mecha games, albeit a tad simplified, and rather than equipment being the deciding factor, it's the pilot that
makes the real difference.
Kishimoto's original character
Mecha Naruto will be
making an appearance in the anime on September 11th which is the same day Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution releases in Japan.
We also see the character leave the confines of his
mecha to do some exploring on his own, which is something that, when done well, has led to good things in the past by
making the difference between
mecha and man (well, animal man in this case) more obvious.
The Vital Suits, the
mecha in the game, handle like the cumbersome workhouses they are; partly out of a bit of reality and mostly for balance reasons (
making it so that being on - foot in battle isn't wholly hopeless).
Any
mecha game which challenges you to
make no man's land into Real Man's land is an inherently noble endeavor and a fitting entry in a genre that practically invented badass.
These
mecha («mobile trenches») don't just hit the sweet spot between a lumbering machine and an agile player character avatar that all
mecha games aspire to, but the fact that your ride is an absolute behemoth means the turrets
make sense.
This is one of those things you just don't think will ever happen: Tail Concerto, a
mecha platformer on the original PlayStation with a cult following, is apparently getting a sequel (of sorts) entitled Solarobo Sore Kara Coda E for the Nintendo DS (
made by none other than CyberConnect2, the developers behind the.
Not only does the Lego - esqe build - it
make every would - be
mecha designer salivate, but you can also set every input, so your bot can be as simple or complex as you desire.
To
make matters even more implicit, the
mecha would always been boosting in whatever direction it was facing.
It pushed the genre of
mecha gaming into areas that it should have always resided within and
made that leap to almost giving the player the chance to sit inside the cockpit of a
mecha blasting through a frenetic battle in outer space.
The
Mecha - Archon becomes briefly vulnerable during the wait, and shooting its exposed conduit
makes life a little easier, but for the most part this is an exercise in staying out of trouble - there can be an overwhelming number of enemies as well as hazards to fall in to.
For Garrison: Archangel, Indigo Entertainment wanted to try something different — so they
made the game a 3D PC «couchplay» fighting game involving
mechas.
We need more people
making decent or good
Mecha games.
Naruto Storm 4: 8 Gates Guy, Perfect Susanoo Shisui, Itachi, Kakashi Footage Naruto Storm 4: Perfect Susanoo Shisui and Itachi Screenshots / Art Naruto Storm 4 Trailer 6 Shows off A Few Story Mode Battles Naruto Storm 4: Team Taka
Makes Its Move Naruto Storm 4: Kishimoto Creates Perfect Susanoo Itachi and Shisui Naruto Storm 4: New Mode to Discover the World, New Language Support Naruto Storm 4: New Double Sharingan, Susanoo Kakashi Screenshots Naruto Storm 4: Boruto and Sarada Ultimate Jutsu Scan Naruto Storm 4: Demo Being Worked On,
Mecha Naruto Won't Be In Game Naruto Storm 4: We Need a Downloadable Demo this Fall!
To
make matters more varied, each of the 100
mecha in the game sport totally different controls and gameplay attributes.
The demo will be
making it's way to the Japanese PlayStation Network with six support characters and four of which we see in the scan as playable — Tailed Beast Mode Naruto (with Minato and Kushina support), Sasuke (Itachi support), Kakashi (Guy support), and
Mecha Naruto (Tailed Beast Mode Naruto and Hinata support).
The game also
made more of an effort to model flight for each of the
mecha.
In many ways, having Sandlot
make a game that started the
mecha genre in Japan and more pertinently Sandlot's focus on scale centric gameplay was almost prophetic.
Admittedly, as with all games, this is part of the learning curve but in the case of the Remote Control Dandy lineage the deliberate movements
made the game more tactical and afforded greater clarity to the controls,
Mecha MG's controls are subsequently more immediate and a little messy in contrast (to begin with at least).
Naruto Storm 4: Naruto's New Ultimate Jutsu, Boss Battle Screenshots Naruto Storm 4: Ten Tails First Form Boss Battle Scan Naruto Storm 4: Permanent Stage Destruction Confirmed Naruto Storm 4: 8 Gates Guy, Perfect Susanoo Shisui, Itachi, Kakashi Footage Naruto Storm 4: Perfect Susanoo Shisui and Itachi Screenshots / Art Naruto Storm 4 Trailer 6 Shows off A Few Story Mode Battles Naruto Storm 4: Team Taka
Makes Its Move Naruto Storm 4: Kishimoto Creates Perfect Susanoo Itachi and Shisui Naruto Storm 4: New Mode to Discover the World, New Language Support Naruto Storm 4: New Double Sharingan, Susanoo Kakashi Screenshots Naruto Storm 4: Boruto and Sarada Ultimate Jutsu Scan Naruto Storm 4: Demo Being Worked On,
Mecha Naruto Won't Be In Game Naruto Storm 4: We Need a Downloadable Demo this Fall!
The
mecha itself is pretty anachronistic within the series» timeline but it
makes for a fun boss fight at least (the latter being shown below, though obvious spoiler warning attached to that).
Naruto Storm 4: Ten Tails First Form Boss Battle Scan Naruto Storm 4: Permanent Stage Destruction Confirmed Naruto Storm 4: 8 Gates Guy, Perfect Susanoo Shisui, Itachi, Kakashi Footage Naruto Storm 4: Perfect Susanoo Shisui and Itachi Screenshots / Art Naruto Storm 4 Trailer 6 Shows off A Few Story Mode Battles Naruto Storm 4: Team Taka
Makes Its Move Naruto Storm 4: Kishimoto Creates Perfect Susanoo Itachi and Shisui Naruto Storm 4: New Mode to Discover the World, New Language Support Naruto Storm 4: New Double Sharingan, Susanoo Kakashi Screenshots Naruto Storm 4: Boruto and Sarada Ultimate Jutsu Scan Naruto Storm 4: Demo Being Worked On,
Mecha Naruto Won't Be In Game Naruto Storm 4: We Need a Downloadable Demo this Fall!
Conveniently, the severed body parts conveniently always hold some kind of power — punk and clown zombies» arms are used as powerful or unblockable nunchucks, fire giant's heads
make handy flamethrowers, and the research facility's watchdog
mechas can be gutted for rocket launchers.
Ryan Huggins told me a final boss was added to the last level and his team «redid all of the music and most of the sounds and
made a good number of smaller artistic changes that have to do with the
mecha and space.»