Mechanica

Mechanica

A Game by Deimos Interactive.
Different spin on a trending game concept.



We received a code for this game, Please see our review policy.
We did reach out to Tyler Hankinson from Deimos Interactive https://deimosinteractive.com/ during this review to ask a few questions.


This is Tyler’s first game, developing it with input from his community with a full release target of End of 2020/start of 2021.


Survival games have been increasingly popular. To be successful you need to have a unique spin, but still be familiar enough people can figure things out quick enough to keep the game fun.
The moment you start playing you are presented with a basic programming tool you need with a quick explanation of how to program objects. Looking around the room you can see how doors and lights are linked to switches and events.


The visual style of the game is design intent aiming for improvements later.
(TH: “There will be various visual improvements in the future, most notably atmospheric improvements. However the overall visual style of the game will remain roughly the same”)

Combat system is click to hit at the moment, we get into the crafting system and there is enough basic equipment to get a good feel for the way the game system is headingThe map is vast open spaces with random parts and gear laying about that you can pick up and place at your base of operations.

Dropping functions, events and triggers, into the object’s console screen to map out what you want the machine to do. You can tie these commands into certain triggers that we hope gets expanded on in the future. The next thing you start to figure out is all the machines you can build are limited. Even so you can get the feel of some of the basic complexity that is sure to come. Not many things to be built, yet.

The enemies spawn at intervals to come to attack you like clockwork often times being one or more as the game moves forward. Building or finding sentry turrets and telso coils seem to be the best key to dealing with these fleeting annoyances. They have no ranged weapons but there is this saw blade that can make short work of your character forcing a respawn.

What to expect:


First I am going to keep stressing this review is based on an early access release of the game. The developer seems active in his updates and has a trello board with this design intents and we have seen patches released since we first got this review key. Tyler is hard at work developing this game with his community’s input on the direction he is heading.
Like many of you that play early access games. I have been burnt with some titles but there are things to watch out for. Before you lay down your money check the community and not just the reviews positive and negative. Search out webpage, Check out twitter and other social media. Even times send an email to the developer asking some questions. My quick glance into the web told me this game is on an active development cycle.

Scoring it up:


Let’s get through my scores and why.

Graphics 4/10. The high frame rate is enjoyable and the style is design intent. With improvements down the road, Something to revisit.
Learning Curve Difficulty 7/10 This is an easy game to get feel for everything you will need to do within the first half hour of play. Where you get into some trouble is getting your head around the programming interface, but after a few tries though you can understand it. There are no skill trees or things to unlock now.
Gameworld 8/10. The map is huge and looking to get bigger. But it is empty and unlike other survival games the map is fixed with no digging or tunneling .

Combat 3/10 I mean beating a tin can with a bat is a bit of a trick, it is easy but still you get two or more and forget to move the saw blade till respawn. Turrets make things even easier if placed right. Be careful though the spawn will attack them too.
Development activity 10/10 it seems this game is the only focus and they are addressing bug fixes and new content all the time.
Overall 6/10. It is getting bonus points for being actively developed. . This is huge when it comes to early access titles. When a Developer stays engaged it is their supporters that provide the motivation to keep plugging away everyday at the keyboard. Tyler Hankison is taking input from his community as he develops this title and that alone is worth paying for this early access title.

Gamer / Game Critic / Coder / 3d Modeling with over 25 years of experience.

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