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Maegwyn -> Issue 35 - Someone's Stealing my Steel! (Stormfyre) (11/5/2008 18:50:36)
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Someone's Stealing my Steel
By Stormfyre
Another good mecha game besides MechQuest? Impossible!
I knew it was coming ... I just didn't realize how soon it would be. But it is true. A random reference from a friend yielded another good Gundam-style mecha game. Its name is Exteel. However, fear not! It is nothing like Mechquest! It is entirely possible to play both at the same time without getting bored, because their gameplay and content is very different. I would have never found Exteel until a friend and I exchanged game lists. I got into it pretty fast, both because I love giant robots, and also because I love shooters.
So let me set the groundwork for Exteel. You play as a mercenary pilot engaged in constant warfare with other mecha pilots. Of course, the plot is not what is important here. If it were important, you can bet your Dragonblade that I wouldn't be praising, or even reviewing, this game today. What's awesome about this game is gameplay.
All of you have seen now that I am a huge fan of variety, so it comes as no surprise that a completely customizable mecha game would appeal to me. Exteel is much like Mechquest in that it allows you to completely customize your mecha in every single aspect. But before I expound on the benefits of being able to completely refit your war machine, let me explain how Exteel works.
Exteel is a third-person shooter game that involves Gundam-style mecha. It is set in a world that is completely multiplayer, and possibly some time in the future of the Earth. Players pilot their "mechanaught," (Derived from Dreadnaught, I think) around a variety of maps, set in mountains, secret underground bases, even airships! They face off against other players in modes like deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag, and territory control. There is also another mode called Last Stand where players help each other defend a base against constant attacks of AI-controlled drones.
Let me talk about how the game combat works. Movement is controlled by W-A-S-D, or any configuration the player desires, and aiming is controlled by the mouse. With the exception of rockets and swords, all guns have an aiming reticle that varies in size with the type of gun. Players need to be within range of their opponents and locked on (as denoted by the yellow color of the reticle) to fire. Once players have locked on, firing will send bullets/plasma balls at the enemy. Hit rate is determined by the accuracy, or Marksmanship as it is called in game, stat of the player. Players get a certain number of shots until their weapon "Overheats," making them wait to cool down before firing again. Strategic monitoring of heat levels can ensure a steady stream of firing, however. Players can use their boosters to dash in any direction to give them a speed boost. Their booster will also let them jump higher as well.
A variety of items is available inside this game. It amazes me how the creators were able to make it so balanced. Like the game Wolfteam I mentioned in my previous article, this game has some serious customization. You can pick out different arms, legs, body core, heads, and weapons to tailor your mechanaught to your own playing style. In terms of builds, there are all sorts. The lightest, fastest builds do not do much damage, but they are excellent at dodging, and your enemies will often find themselves frustrated by their inability to hit you. Meanwhile, your dual light beam swords slowly chip away at their armor, weakening their defenses and allowing your teammates to move in for the kill, scoring you assists. There are heavyweight builds that wield nothing but siege cannons and rockets, firing from afar. They have so much armor that any opponents able to get close enough to them past their guns will find it hard to inflict serious damage; soon enough, the cannon-bot's allies will come and rid him of that nuisance. There are the sniper builds, focused on superior accuracy at the loss of some speed and hit points, but able to do so much damage with high-damage, low-accuracy rifles that it doesn't matter. By the time your enemy is able to rush the sniper, they're already almost dead. And of course, the ones who strive for balance are not left unsatisfied! There are builds in the game that allow players to raise all stats just by a little amount, giving them just enough flexibility to change between combat styles.
In terms of weapons, there is a surprising amount of equipment in this game. The simplest kind of weapon is the blade. These come in three flavors: The Crimson Edge, the Particle Blade, and The Annihilator. Each has its own unique stats. The Crimson Edge and Particle Blade share similar properties, but the Crimson Edge is heavier, so has a lower swing speed and damage. However, the Crimson Edge also has a lower overheat tendency. The Annihilator has the highest damage of all three swords, but also has the highest overheat rate. What blade the player chooses depends on that player's ability to hit accurately and strike deathblows before their weapon overheats. To complement swords, players also have the ability to purchase shields, which will defend against bullets and blades in certain directions. There are three types of shields, designed to defend against melee attacks, ranged attacks, and both.
The first, most primitive type of gun is the SMG, or sub-machinegun. This type of gun has the highest rate of fire, but its bullets do relatively low damage and it has a very short range. However, its overheat rate is low and its aiming reticle is also very large, allowing players to lock on quickly and fire for long periods of time. The second type of gun is the rifle. It has a relatively low firing rate, and overheats easily, but does significantly more damage than the SMG. It is good for those who enjoy sniping at their enemies from a distance, and who are good with sniper rifles in conventional FPS. The third type of weapon is the shotgun, which is good for close range combat as it fires large amounts of bullets at a time. However, it has very poor accuracy and at a range it is almost useless. The third type of weapon is the cannon. This type of weapon can generally only be fired while standing still, although one fire-on-the-move version has been developed. They are very heavy, and slow down the player a lot, but deal the most damage. One cannon shot from a good cannon can literally wipe out 1/2 of a player's Hit Points. The next type of weapon is the rocket, which does not have a lock-on reticle and deals slightly less damage than the cannon. This is good for those who know what they are doing and can accurately predict the motion of their opponents, firing a rocket at the right time to strike their enemies. Lock-on, homing missile versions have been developed, however.
Each type of weapon has three grades, C, B, and A, with C being the worst and A being the best. However, the game developers made trade-offs to balance the gameplay. Although A-grade weapons have significantly higher damage, their overheat rate has also increased, making it incredibly hard to keep up a high rate of fire with A-grade weapons. If you want to use A-grades, you'd better hope your marksmanship is high, AND you're good at aiming!
Besides body parts and weapons, you can also buy paint to color-customize your mecha to your tastes. I like black and crimson, myself.
Oh, another thing! Each of the non-default parts will have a certain Durability. Once the Durability runs out, you will need to buy repair points (Cheap!) to repair your mecha.
Here's my opinion: This is an excellent game featuring tons of variety. The fact that it is free just makes it even more impressive. However, this game experiences severe server-side lag issues. They have been gradually improving it, so you know they're working at the problem! Overall, if you like real-time Gundam-style fights, then this is the game for you. Totally.
Happy exploding; Stormfyre out!
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