Mech Armada. Deep Tactics!

Mech Armada is a tactical turn based rougelite game developed and published by ‘Lioncode Games‘. Mech Armada came out in 2022 on the Xbox Series X/S, XboxOne, Nintendo Switch, PS5, PS4 and pc. X35 Earthwalker likes deep tactical games with options. Mech Armada looks to have a lot going on. Haven’t heard anyone talk about this. Let’s take a look.

Mech Armada is far more deep than you would initially see. We wrote about this game before. X35 Earthwalker definitely loves strategy games where things get seriously tactical. Mech Armada definitely brings the strategy. Players will learn from experience on the heavy. Energy, credits and meta energy. Energy is for building mechs and transforming them. Credits is for buying new mech parts and upgrading parts. Marta energy is for permanent upgrades. So each one matters.

Now let’s focus on the main factors here. With Mech Armada you can build your own mechs and decide the transport, the body and the weapons. You decide the entire combination as long as you have the amount of energy. Each part has a different cost and function off course. For example you can get a mini walker which has legs meaning you can go over rough terrain. A actual walker is more expensive travels the same distance but can still move after taking an action. The mini tracks and tank can’t go over rough terrain but they move extra further on roads. Some bodies allow a mech to hold 2 weapons while others allow 1. There is a body though that allows mechs to hold 3 weapons though. 

The weapons are the main meat though. There’s machine guns, heavy double gun called double double, missile launchers, sniper rifle, satellite air strike and other weapons that buff your allies instead. The double double fires twice, sniper has a longer range, missile launcher has area of effect etc. The sniper is crazy as it has a range of 3 which is the highest standard range. The satellite air strike also has a range of 3 but it has a one turn delay to deliver a mad powerful attack. This sets up some little traps for those nasty enemies.

Each mech part can be upgraded with credits. For example a tank can be upgrade to a mega tank which has an additional armour and gains the ability to push a unit adjacent to it. The walker when upgraded gains more health points and the passive ability of gaining an extra movement after taking an action. That’s very powerful. There’s a body called bodyguard part that grants adjacent allies extra armour. When upgraded the amount of armour given is increased. So do not underestimate those upgrades.

The game in a way plays like chess. Some enemies can move 1 space, some 2 and some 3. Some can move diagonally. Some enemies have melee attacks whole some have range attacks. Some have special abilities like firing a laser the entire row or stunning mechs. The rhino enemy for example moves 1 space but has a charge ability which has a range of 3 spaces. So almost like a knight piece in chess, it can move in an L shape pattern.

The enemies in this game are very annoying. Annoying as in they are smart. the rhino enemy actively tries to get a position where you are trapped and someone is getting hit. The slug looking one with the long piecer also tries to restrict your movement with the eye laser.  The enemy always prioritise a kill over everything else, including its survival. This could also be exploited though. Get tactical players.

You basically need a mech for every occasion. Getting the weapon that lets you release drones. There’s a combat drone and a healing drone. Does what it says on the box. These drones can help out and can even take the fall or a be bait for your main team. enemies always prioritise the kill. So they won’t resist an easy to kill drone. You can even use the satellite air strike to get easy damage on an enemy. Learn their movements and predict where they will go.   

There’s bosses at the end of every path you take and they are a big problem. They so slow though and move one space. The bosses come with allies and that makes things a problem. A boss with two rhinos is just unfair but doable. Mech Armada allows players to create and fight their own way. You can even play cheap and spawn in a super cheap mech to take a hit for a main one. You can even stall in a level just so you can absorb more energy. Energy makes all the difference here. There’s lots of strategy. Using your mechs carefully, single or diagonal movements, using multiple weapons in a turn, upgrading certain parts.

Mech Armada is underrated. It’s so far excellent. There’s so much to say about this game and we still have more to discover. Mech Armada is so far excellent. X35 Earthwalker is the smartest man in the world and so this game is good for him. X35 is playing this without cheap tactics though. Now Mech Armada may have deep strategy but it’s far too shallow for… the ‘Earth Walk!’