AirMech is one of those games that I tried about a year or so ago when Google first started promoting their web store, I didn't really spend much time with it initially though. I'd heard about it on a podcast (Gamers with Jobs I think) and I thought it looked nice but it didn't grab me for some reason, it felt a bit too 'Command and Conquer' which I guess I wasn't looking for at the time.
Cut to this week - I'm sitting staring at my PC trying to figure out which game on my virtual pile-of-shame(tm) to play and up pops a notification from Raptr telling me that I have some rewards. I gingerly click the link half-expecting to be inundated with popups for stuff I couldn't care less about and something catches my eye. What's this? $30 worth of stuff for nothing, including a 30-day long XP and "Kudos" boost? (sales pitch finished). I can't resist a bargain so I claimed my code and fired up the long-untouched Chrome client for AirMech.
A game client in a web browser? That'll be terrible! Stop right there, it's actually really quite impressive.
The game loads quickly and after logging in via a Google or Facebook account you're presented with a nice polished user interface. The first thing you'll notice about the UI is that it's positively littered with purchase buttons; yep, this is a free-to-play game (f2p). Screeeeeech, f2p? Forget it, I'm out. Hold your horses, let me explain ...
I don't personally think that f2p should necessarily mean a money-grabbing and frustrating experience, designed solely to relieve you of as much cash as possible. Granted, there are quite a few examples of "pay us or you can't play for another 20 minutes" *cough* Farmville *cough*, but there are also lots of games where I think it's been done right: Tribes Ascend, Path of Exile and League of Legends (LoL) to name a few positive examples that spring to mind. AirMech fits nicely into the latter category - it's totally free with no time-gates, but like LoL you have a limited number of "avatars" to play with which rotate into and out of free status. This means that you get to experience a variety of mechs the game has to offer, but only for a limited amount of time.
You can also acquire new unit types via AirMech's two currencies: Diamonds and Kudos. Kudos is earned naturally whilst playing games and Diamonds can normally only be acquired by spending real cash. It appears that every functional item in the game can be bought with Kudos but it might take you some time to get enough! Diamonds are generally used to purchase mech variants and cosmetic items, or for the impatient to buy units. When you've bought new units you can configure 'loadouts' to pick from before a battle. This allows you to quickly configure favourite mech / unit combos.
Like most f2p games, XP and currency boosts are also available for purchase to increase the value of your play time if you want a faster levelling experience. As your account levels up you unlock the ability to purchase different units and mech pilots for further customisation of the game.
The $30 pack that I claimed from Raptr included a couple of mechs along with the aforementioned boosts so I was able to jump straight in without even thinking about spending anything. For new players there's a good tutorial and some challenges which are all designed to help you get to grips with the game mechanics, hopefully performing them fast enough that you won't get totally destroyed in the first minute of a multi-player match! These are similar to the training/challenge modes included in StarCraft II.
Here's where we get to the potential turn-off for some players: there isn't a single-player campaign available. This game is multi-player only; you can play against an AI opponent if you wish but don't expect a nice cinematic storyline.
So, that's the business model out of the way, what exactly is this game? At its core AirMech is an RTS/MOBA hybrid taking part StarCraft. part League of Legends and adding a few interesting twists along the way.
You control a switchable flying/walking "AirMech". You start off in your flying mode able to zoom around the map at whatever speed your chosen mech is capable, but with the press of a button you'll land down on the ground in a walking robot mode. By default you're only able to attack ground-based enemies whilst in robot form and air-based when in your flying form. There is at least one special ability available to one of the mechs which allows it to attack the air from the ground and vice versa.
Speaking of special abilities, at the start of each game session you have none and your mech is at level 0. As you gain XP throughout the game you will unlock the ability to put points into one of your specials. These are really quite powerful and shouldn't be ignored!
At any time that you have the resources available you can queue up units to be built at one of the bases you've captured on the map. The rather cool thing about building units in AirMech is that unlike a traditional RTS where they'd would spawn outside of where they're built, your built units wait for you to fly over the top of a base and then they appear on an elevator ready to be picked up by your mech. This can be at any of the bases that you control on the map, not just whichever you're closest to. You can pick up one or many units at once; the weight of multiple units that your mech can carry is determined by its core stats.
As well as retrieving sparkly new units from bases you can pick up any that are already on the ground and ship them quickly to your preferred destination. This is an important tactic for creeps and soldiers to speed up capturing neutral bases early in the game. Whilst you have a non-creep unit carried under your mech you can order it to try and capture the nearest enemy / neutral base, attack the enemy fortress, patrol the area or link with other units.
There are many different type of units that you can build to assist you, from simple weak soldiers and trucks to mines, resource suppliers, stationary turrets (ground or air defence) and tanks amongst others. Each base that you capture has a few 'nodes' around it and placing certain units on these will increase their effectiveness (stationary turrents or money makers etc).
Whilst you're flying around building units your fortress is busy spawning 'creeps' a few at a time ala other MOBAs such as DOTA or LoL. These little guys are always walking towards the nearest un-captured base in an effort to take it over, or to attack the enemy fortress if you already "own" all the other bases on the map. They spawn roughly every 15-20 seconds and slowly increase in power throughout the game.
In the normal game mode your ultimate goal is to destroy the enemy fortress whilst preventing them from destroying yours.
I've embedded the official teaser trailer below which gives you an idea of just how hectic this game can get!
Something that impressed me more than it probably should have done is the fact that I could play the game with an Xbox 360 controller rather than the default mouse + keyboard controls. Normally that wouldn't be that big a deal but remember that this was running in a web browser!
There are native PC and Steam clients available too but I haven't had a play with those yet so I don't know how they compare.
Overall I'm incredibly impressed with AirMech and it'll definitely offer something new to those bored of their current game selection, without having to spend a penny.
Give it a look.
If you haven't already signed up for AirMech, please consider using my referral link below to do so. Cheers!
https://carbongames.com/signup.html?id=CodeThief
So, that's the business model out of the way, what exactly is this game? At its core AirMech is an RTS/MOBA hybrid taking part StarCraft. part League of Legends and adding a few interesting twists along the way.
You control a switchable flying/walking "AirMech". You start off in your flying mode able to zoom around the map at whatever speed your chosen mech is capable, but with the press of a button you'll land down on the ground in a walking robot mode. By default you're only able to attack ground-based enemies whilst in robot form and air-based when in your flying form. There is at least one special ability available to one of the mechs which allows it to attack the air from the ground and vice versa.
Robot mode
Flying mode
Speaking of special abilities, at the start of each game session you have none and your mech is at level 0. As you gain XP throughout the game you will unlock the ability to put points into one of your specials. These are really quite powerful and shouldn't be ignored!
At any time that you have the resources available you can queue up units to be built at one of the bases you've captured on the map. The rather cool thing about building units in AirMech is that unlike a traditional RTS where they'd would spawn outside of where they're built, your built units wait for you to fly over the top of a base and then they appear on an elevator ready to be picked up by your mech. This can be at any of the bases that you control on the map, not just whichever you're closest to. You can pick up one or many units at once; the weight of multiple units that your mech can carry is determined by its core stats.
As well as retrieving sparkly new units from bases you can pick up any that are already on the ground and ship them quickly to your preferred destination. This is an important tactic for creeps and soldiers to speed up capturing neutral bases early in the game. Whilst you have a non-creep unit carried under your mech you can order it to try and capture the nearest enemy / neutral base, attack the enemy fortress, patrol the area or link with other units.
There are many different type of units that you can build to assist you, from simple weak soldiers and trucks to mines, resource suppliers, stationary turrets (ground or air defence) and tanks amongst others. Each base that you capture has a few 'nodes' around it and placing certain units on these will increase their effectiveness (stationary turrents or money makers etc).
Whilst you're flying around building units your fortress is busy spawning 'creeps' a few at a time ala other MOBAs such as DOTA or LoL. These little guys are always walking towards the nearest un-captured base in an effort to take it over, or to attack the enemy fortress if you already "own" all the other bases on the map. They spawn roughly every 15-20 seconds and slowly increase in power throughout the game.
In the normal game mode your ultimate goal is to destroy the enemy fortress whilst preventing them from destroying yours.
I've embedded the official teaser trailer below which gives you an idea of just how hectic this game can get!
Something that impressed me more than it probably should have done is the fact that I could play the game with an Xbox 360 controller rather than the default mouse + keyboard controls. Normally that wouldn't be that big a deal but remember that this was running in a web browser!
There are native PC and Steam clients available too but I haven't had a play with those yet so I don't know how they compare.
Overall I'm incredibly impressed with AirMech and it'll definitely offer something new to those bored of their current game selection, without having to spend a penny.
Give it a look.
If you haven't already signed up for AirMech, please consider using my referral link below to do so. Cheers!
https://carbongames.com/signup.html?id=CodeThief
