Jumping headfirst into Mecha BREAK\u2019s chaotic, frenzied combat is overwhelming at first. That\u2019s partially because its presentation is dizzyingly stylish, with flashing neon beams and blisteringly fast mecha screaming through the sky as you and your teammates do your best to capture a king-of-the-hill-like objective or push a payload. The chaos amps up the energy and tension of each skirmish, and certain bots (like my favorite: the Falcon) have additional abilities to help kick up the speed of a match even further. Mecha Break showed lots of promise during my last hands-on preview in January, and now, after a few more hours of hands-on time with the multiplayer mech shooter in its open beta, I\u2019ve had the opportunity to experiment with more of Mecha BREAK\u2019s arsenal of mecha, as well as get a better feel for its modes and controls. And I\u2019m still highly impressed with its arena shooter-style gameplay and with how good it looks.<\/p>\n
While my go-to mech is good for jetting around above the battlefield, laying suppressing fire, and stacking up assists, it\u2019s kind of a glass cannon. That\u2019s where something like the Tricera comes in. New in this beta, this tanky terror is appropriately named after the armored dinosaur. It may be slow and less maneuverable than Falcon, but what it lacks in speed and mobility, it makes up for in raw firepower with its twin gatling guns, overhead cannon, and beefy shields. Each mecha truly feels and plays differently, and I loved swapping between them from match-to-match.<\/p>\n
Even the act of unlocking new mecha is really cool. Instead of just gaining a new selection in your pre-match lobby: unlocking a mech using one of the two in-game currencies I encountered triggers a really flashy cutscene, flexing Mecha BREAK\u2019s stellar mecha design while showcasing some of the new chassis\u2019s capabilities. It does remind me a bit of unlocking a new playable character in a gacha game, which points to some potentially concerning monetization practices. Emphasizing my concerns, Mecha BREAK appears to have something resembling a battle pass, complete with premium and free tiers along with a premium currency. Everything I saw in the beta was free, and most of the apparently premium unlockables I found were cosmetic, with only one mecha being gated behind battle pass progression. But just as gameplay in a game\u2019s beta might not reflect the final version at launch, monetization and in-game mecha or currency prices might not be final either.<\/p>\n
Unlocking a mech using one of the two in-game currencies I encountered triggers a really flashy cutscene, flexing Mecha BREAK\u2019s stellar mecha design while showcasing some of the new chassis\u2019s capabilities. <\/p>\n
The looming threat of aggressive monetization tactics aside, I had lots of fun with this beta\u2026 even if I had some trouble shaking off my rust after a few months. After a match or two spent grappling with its controls thanks to an unfortunately scant tutorial, I was eventually able to get back up to snuff with Mecha BREAK\u2019s fast-paced gameplay. As I unlocked and tried out more and more mecha, things started to fall back into place.<\/p>\n
Its half-baked tutorial\u2014which doesn\u2019t seem like it\u2019s changed or improved since my last preview \u2014left me with more questions than answers about the starter Alysnes\u2019 mecha\u2019s abilities. This was even more frustrating given the fact that you can take any mecha into a firing range of sorts to test out its abilities from the main menu after completing the tutorial, which was a much easier way to learn each machine\u2019s strengths and weaknesses, free from the introductory level\u2019s dissociative chaos.<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t help that the tutorial begins abruptly, seemingly in the middle of a story without any context, and doesn\u2019t have any bearing on the rest of what I saw in the beta. Backed by flat, generic dialogue trying to squeeze story and plot into a place where it doesn\u2019t make much sense, the tutorial (where you essentially march forward, shooting spongey enemies before taking on a titanic boss mech) felt like an entirely different game compared to its high-energy multiplayer, which I couldn\u2019t put down.<\/p>\n
The modes I saw all followed pretty standard objective-based modes you\u2019d find in any team shooter: I escorted payloads and captured objectives, and had lots of fun doing it thanks to Mecha BREAK\u2019s combat, which is easily the star of the show. By catering to different playstyles and power sets, each mecha felt distinct and natural within its suite of abilities. Equipped with a diverse mix of melee and ranged attacks and helpful abilities like cloaking or shields, I found something to enjoy in every match I played\u2014not just ones where I got to play as the mecha I was best or most comfortable with.<\/p>\n
While this beta doesn\u2019t add too much new content on top of what I\u2019ve already seen in previous versions, it did cement my excitement for Mecha BREAK\u2019s eventual launch thanks to its polished gameplay and visual style. But it also left me more wary about its other modes, which are still gated off, and its monetization structures. Let\u2019s hope my worst fears about those don\u2019t come to pass.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jumping headfirst into Mecha BREAK\u2019s chaotic, frenzied combat is overwhelming at first. That\u2019s partially because its presentation is dizzyingly stylish, with flashing neon beams and blisteringly fast mecha screaming through the sky as you and your teammates do your best to capture a king-of-the-hill-like objective or push a payload. The chaos amps up the energy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3699,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n