Mechajammer - New Demo

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Whalenought Studios has prepared a new demo of Mechajammer for Steam Next Fest.

Mechajammer has a brand new demo for Steam Next Fest

Play it today to familiarize yourself with the core mechanics of the game

Steam Next Fest has arrived and so have we with a new tutorial demo for you to get to grips with in preparation for when the full game is released. It should give you a taste of the different tactic styles you can deploy in order to traverse the grungy deadly sectors of Calitana.

Let's look at the features of this demo:

Stealth mechanics:

You can choose to tackle obstacles (both alive and dead) head-on but it may benefit you to be aware of how you can use stealth to heighten your advantage of survival.
Sneaking past enemies, using the surrounding environment to escape hostile situations, and finding different ways to break into secret syndicate bases are just some of the options that lay before you.

Enemy targeting:

Plan and prep your attack. Multiple modes of attack and weapons' to use depending on the situation.

Companions:

You control your character, as well as up to 4 squads of companions, who are controlled by AI but can be given instructions.

Squad commands:

This demo will show you how to organize, and direct your party.

[...]
Link to the store for the demo.

More information.
 
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I've just tried it. The demo takes the player through a series of training exercises. The demo doesn't save the progression so you have to do everything before going back to the main menu.

It's not love at first sight.

The graphics are really not my cup of tea, the pixelization (what they call 'pixel art' I suppose) makes the whole experience weird. Aiming at anything is a little more uncomfortable, and for example looking for hazardous spots that we're supposed to avoid on the ground is straining. So is reading anything. I just don't see the point (...).

There are interesting mechanics like jumping over obstacles and stealth, but the controls are cumbersome, especially to interact with the 'companions'. For example, talking to them always opens the inventory first, that needs to be closed to reveal the basic options of dialogue.

The worst is the combat system. It's a good attempt at being original and maybe with some practice it gets more engaging, but I just don't like it. The idea is you give the instructions to your minions, then you do an action, and while your action is ongoing, everybody moves or do their own actions. So it's a RTwP with a coarse control of the pause.
 
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Thanks for the impressions. I skipped the 2nd demo, and I guess I'll skip this one too.

I agree with everything you said there especially about the way you interact with things. I found it very unintuitive. It probably wouldn't take long to get used to, but I'm not sure if the game is compelling enough to try.
 
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Will have to try it when I find time for it. I was really looking forward to it. Also as pixelated graphics are pro in my world, not con. But combat system done wrong would be really bad news.
 
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I agree with everything you said there especially about the way you interact with things. I found it very unintuitive. It probably wouldn't take long to get used to, but I'm not sure if the game is compelling enough to try.
I feels like there's something promising in that game, but they would need enough feedback and time to rework that part, and make it appealing to more people.

It's released later this month, so that won't happen. Maybe in a 2nd game. I won't buy this one but I'll definitely keep an eye on what they do.

Will have to try it when I find time for it. I was really looking forward to it. Also as pixelated graphics are pro in my world, not con. But combat system done wrong would be really bad news.
Don't take my word for it, I suspect it's very subjective, like TB and RTwP. :)

I had to quit after the first battle with companions and multiple enemies, so I could only do 3 or 4 small fights total, and this one with more participants. When I saw the demo hadn't saved the progression, I gave up. Perhaps with a bit of practice one can get to appreciate this mode a little more. I'm curious to hear your thoughts about it.
 
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Gave it try and I think its quite cool. Although its clear controls will take some time to get used to it I didnt really found them offputting. Graphics is great to me and I only hope story and encounters will be good. And character development, hopefully leveling-up will have significant impact on gameplay,

Im starting to be allergic to leveling by speed of machinegun, while each level means +0,8% dmg and +0,5% defense increase + same skill as last time but in different color and none of it actually matters because of level scaling.
 
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I feels like there's something promising in that game, but they would need enough feedback and time to rework that part, and make it appealing to more people.

It's released later this month, so that won't happen. Maybe in a 2nd game. I won't buy this one but I'll definitely keep an eye on what they do.

But is this actually releasing this month, though? I know RPGWatch's database seems to think so but the Steam page simply says coming soon and the official website says "to be announced"… no mention of release date in recent Kickstarter updates either, so I've no idea where the October release date came from.
 
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But is this actually releasing this month, though? I know RPGWatch's database seems to think so but the Steam page simply says coming soon and the official website says "to be announced"… no mention of release date in recent Kickstarter updates either, so I've no idea where the October release date came from.
Good question! I trusted the date shown in our game page but I have no idea where it's coming from. Normally when the date is yet to be announced, we set it to "TBA", when it's something like "spring 2022" I tend to put the estimation at the end of the season (21 June 2022).
 
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Good question! I trusted the date shown in our game page but I have no idea where it's coming from. Normally when the date is yet to be announced, we set it to "TBA", when it's something like "spring 2022" I tend to put the estimation at the end of the season (21 June 2022).

There may have been a time when it said somewhere Fall 2021 but I haven't seen Hannah & Joe get any more specific than "soon". They seem to be still taking in a lot of feedback from their demos, and sometimes say "we'll try to change this before launch.. If not, soon after".

Since they now have an "indie publisher" it's quite possible Modern Wolf has final say over their launch date (their website actually says 2021).. but whatever date they have in mind, I don't get the impression that they're releasing it in a couple of weeks.
 
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