Mech Havoc is a twin-stick shooter about vehicular combat featuring dozens of guns and all sorts of vehicles to pilot. The early access release has several new missions to go through, and an arsenal of weapons to utilize in a series of mechs, cars, and tanks.
While the game isn’t actually a roguelike or a roguelite, I think genre enjoyers should give it a look, especially if you’re a fan of mechs.
Mission objectives range from collecting materials, eliminating the horde, and defending convoys. For the most part, it boils down to just blowing up everything on the map as you’ve got endless legions of enemy vehicles coming after you at all times.
Levels are decently destructible as most walls and objects can be blown up, but I wish there were a bit more incentive to do so. I would also like to see some bigger buildings or even all-indoor maps. For now, the buildings are mostly there to poke into briefly to blow up objectives or to be used as cover from the onslaught.
While the premise and level design are a little basic, I want to get into why Mech Havoc excites me so much. The large variety of weaponry and vehicle choices allows for tons of experimentation and replayability. Each vehicle has different stats and weapon restrictions, so they all behave a little bit differently.
Cars are a bit faster and harder to control with only a couple of weapon slots, while tanks have tons of firepower but limited movement. Mechs are an in-between option with bipedal manoeuvrability, but slower speeds, with plenty of weapons slots.
A fully stocked arsenal
Guns vary between dual machine guns, rocket launchers, and explosive shotguns, through to more experimental weaponry, such as laser streams and plasma launchers. There are a ton of ways to build your arsenal in Mech Havoc, with a crap ton more toys coming with updates.
Enemy variety is already in a good spot with all sorts of cars, mechs, and tanks rolling your way. It actually matters where you shoot them, too; you’ll blow enemies up faster if you hit the same spots each time, as they act as weak points. Enemies can also have shields preventing them from taking much damage head-on. The physics system makes combat a bit more interesting than just spray and pray.
Enemies called HIVE come at you in relentless waves, and I found myself back-peddling, strafing, and hugging corners in search of effective lines of sight. The different weapons and behaviours of the enemy units mean a constantly shifting battlefield.
The developer did a fantastic job with the presentation, with the grenades making a satisfying ca-chunk noise, enemies leaving behind exploded debris when dealt with, and there’s a nice soundtrack as well.
It’s still only in Early Access, but Mech Havoc is already an enjoyable little sci-fi blaster. My initial impression was that the visuals were somewhat reminiscent of a classic action roguelike by the name of Teleglitch, although the similarities end there, and Mid Development’s mecha game isn’t really a rogue at all. It is, however, a decent twin-stick shooter in the making, and we will be back for another look when it leaves Early Access at the end of next year.
Finally, Mech Havoc is out now on PC (Win), and we played via access kindly provided by the developer. Check out the roadmap below for a better idea of what is still coming to the game and when!
