Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Oct 16, 2021

  This is somehow worse than the Xbox 360 version, which came out way back in 2014
• Sener

  Jan 18, 2023

  I can't recommend it in its current state, personally had a lot of fun with this but: - Got it on sale 75% off. - Played Airmechs years ago when it was a single game (got some cool legacy stuff, which make it better and let me play in different ways than are normally available). Pretty much devs tried a lot of stuff long ago then removed 60% of it ... and rest left unchanged so the more you play the more problems you find like: × There are 2 "ultimate mechs" ... which have best stats ... but ... you have to write their name to chat - add them to wishlist -> right click on them and then you can buy them (or you can buy them if you install AirMech Strike, from their ingame shop ... where it only count as skin, and you are unable to see what it add to Wastelands) × There are "loot boxes" which contains stuff which you can no longer use, but to open them you have to spend premium currency × There is "advanced crafting" ... but 90% parts for it is no longer available × There are 9 diferent mechs ... but only max 8 hangar slot, so if you want to try the 9th mech you have to remove mech and every time set equipment again. × There are 24 base camp slots ... but only 5 are obtainable at all time, next ~5 are obtainable during special events ... and rest is no longer obtainable. × First run is probably hardest since you most likely get blocked by "Battle of Whitewater" mission (in normal mission you fight with groups of ~10 at once, now after ~50% of main mission (~30 min gameplay) you have to defend 3 points which are under attack by more than 200 units at same time. So unless picked right airmech & got parts strong enough you are unable to kill enemies fast enough before you are overwhelmed. × There is "hardcode" mode with special Mechs (Void) ... but game dont tell you that, it only tell you you have to play it to lvl it up ... but if its destroyed it can make some of your equiped items disapper (some says they got part back after some time since its only unequiped and "non-visible" in inventory) -> "game is played on server" - so if server lags (not rare) it moves you towards side you were going (personally died few times to being teleported on top of enemy nexus, and regained control while exploding).
• Runiczny

  Mar 19, 2023

  Abandoned, not worth the price and have it's issues. I have this only because of nostalgia for AirMech: Arena, which was actually good.
• gamedeal user

  Dec 4, 2017

  Edit: The steam page kills the formatting for some reason. Click the review for the formatting which should make my wall of text easier to read. I'm still learning the ropes and this is Early Access so it is possible I may edit the review and change my mind further down the line and I understand that any criticisms I might make could well be the result of the game being in active development. Currently though, I'm absolutely loving the game. It reminds me of two of my favourite games: Future Cop LAPD from the PS1 and Custom Robo Arena from the DS. [b]The good:[/b] [list] [*] The mixture of RTS and direct player combat are fun and work well for most part (Unit controls feel lacking, more on that later) [*] Levelling and looting to improve mechs is satisfying and I haven't felt like I have to buy parts from the player market or gamble for them so far [*] Nice variety of units for the RTS side of things giving you lots of options for different missions and the addition of 'companion' units like the scrapper/repair drone/gun drones are a nice idea [*] The selection of mechs provides a lot of options and the way you unlock them is well done: You gradually unlock missions as you progress through the world map that act as introductions to new mechs which unlock the basic versions of mechs when you successfully complete them. I have bought a few mechs from the market with the free diamonds, but I don't feel like I have to. [*] The selection of missions is good fun so far with some nice variety to missions (There is a cool 'MGS' style mission to unlock a later mech) and some nice variety to the survival missions [*] Having a home base is a nice idea and I'm interested to know where they go with it and the Copilots (which currently are not implemented) [*] Very nice art style and overall graphical fidelity [*] Performance has held at 60fps in all but the most busy battles, dropping down to 45fps-ish with lots of units and gunfire on the screen (GTX980 4gb/5820k@stock/8gb DDR4/SSD) [*] Though I have only intereacted through the chat window - I haven't found a single unpleasant player, everyone is friendly so far. [*] Devs are active in the in-game chat window and helpful, answering questions when asked and giving little updates on various things. They also seem very honest which is a bonus. [/list] [b]The 'hmm':[/b] [list] [*] Understanding that the game comes from an F2P background, I get that there is a market because of this, but in the world of Microtransactions/Crates/DLC I'm anxious to see how much impact this will have on Wastelands and wonder just how much the devs entrench F2P mechanics in the game. Currently there is a player market where you can buy things other players have gained using 'diamonds' which I got 5000 of when I bought the game. These market place items include costmetics, parts for your mech (Does affect the game directly, but I'm not sure how I feel since this is PVE and not PVP), special versions of mechs (which show they have stat increases but I've seen that some players say they don't have these...confusing), units including better versions of units with stat increases (another iffy one for me), crafting parts and blueprints (haven't explored this yet), some misc items I don't understand yet and - more concerning of all of these for me - loot crates and keys to unlock them. I'm not completely clear how players get some of these items to sell on the market - I've gotten some loot boxes from missions but no special mechs or keys - and you can buy keys using scrap gained in game from the later markets. When I know more I'll be able to make a better judgement and everything is subject to change since it is EA so I'll reserve this as a 'hmm' rather than an outright negative for now. [/list] [b]The 'Bad'[/b] - a little disclaimer here, I'm not focusing on bugs here since the few serious bugs I've found have been fixed quickly and others (like mech colour schemes not working right now for some reason) aren't game affecting: [list] [*] Much of this will be because it is EA which I do understand, but still: It feels like almost nothing is well explained (which is made worse with the lack of a wiki at the moment) and the slow forums (The hub, Reddit and the official forums all seem dead?). I have no idea what a lot of elements of the game actually do like units having stats but no description, not being able to see an overview of my progress and various stats in one place(No player character sheet, stat values for mechs but no expansion on their effect, etc), lack of detailed description of different systems or mech abilities (I only figured out through trial and error that the passive abilities only unlocked when you picked up a part to go in to a specific slot on your mech - this is not explained at all)...I just want more information from tool tips or a proper archive or...anything better than having to rely on the chat window to find answers (how I found out that copilots aren't implemented after levelling one of them a bit). I will say this isn't a deal breaker though - the game spoils the player with quality which shines a spot light on lacking areas like this. [*] This could be that I've missed these options because of some lacking information, but I'll mention it anyway: Controlling units needs work. At the moment it feels somewhere between RTS and Tower defence while missing the best bits of both. If there are ways of grouping units in to formations and controlling formations/units independantly I've not noticed it yet and I feel like this really is an oversight if it isn't present. [/list] Overall, aside from the weakness in providing the player with information and my resevations about the F2P-ish elements present (although they are a hold over from Strike, which I understand) in a paid-for game, I'm loving my time with the game and trying to work on getting friends in to it for some CooP so I can explore the multiplayer aspects. Wishlist: [list] [*] More in-game information about all aspects of the game from systems to units to character/mech stat sheets [*] Better ways of controlling units [*] Keep the impact of F2P mechanics minimal [/list]
• gamedeal user

  Dec 31, 2017

  Decent, but quickly becomes a grind-fest after you beat the game once. Find a friend to play with and you'll have more fun, the community is kindof weak atm.
• gamedeal user

  Feb 14, 2018

  I like the direction this is going. It's got great PvE potential. Honestly, I like this more than PvP (mostly because I SUCK! XD). But if there is one improvement that I would suggest, it's that it should be made easier to find people to play with rather than just friends. Some of the side missions in this game are near impossible to do while playing solo. But other than that, great game. 8.5/10
• gamedeal user

  Jun 18, 2018

  Over all great solo game at 10 hrs of content. But as far as multiplayer content goes, abandonware, do not touch. Pros: + simple but engaging RTS components. + I’m not into “Mecha” yet the gameplay of the robot is fun anyway. + Average game is 10 – 30 min and very easy to pick up and go. + Good bit of the MMO RPG gear/unit loot system. + Missions are fun even though their rather simple. Nothing wrong with just having the cake. + Lots of different maps/mission layouts. + Skin/appearance customisation galore. + different classes are subtle enough to not regret lacking feature of other classes but distinct enough to offer a significantly different playstyle for most “mechs”. Cons: + Effectively 2 game modes. + Dev team too preoccupied with pvp balance and skins to actually make new content. + Multiplayer base as of this time is approx. 12 people max at any given time + 99.9% of the items looted are trash. Not joking there are 60 levels and for most of them you will use 2 – 4 items in each slot between level 1 through 60 because a lvl 1 purple item out scales a lvl 35 blue item. + Unfinished UI/game concepts. Bottom line for my take on this game is; If you want a single player action RTS with some main character customisation and squad control then this game will be a genuinely fun experience for at least 10 hrs. If what you are looking for is an online RTS to play with other people then look elsewhere it’s pretty much dead unless you play it with a real-life friend in which case you will both likely enjoy the hell out of it for at least 20 to 30 hrs of gameplay, possibly much less if you try hard/rush most maps..
• gamedeal user

  Jun 29, 2018

  Airmech wastelands is the companion game to airmech strike. While strike is a laserfocused player versus player experience, and it does so very well, wastelands aims to deliver the many trappings once common in singleplayer games. Drop-in coop missions, a non-linear world map, grinding for gear à la Diablo, scenarios that could easily have been in starcraft or warcraft at one point, gear, army, and 'hero' maintenance, AI sidekicks of questionable ability... It's extremely oldschool. So oldschool that it looks fresh and new? I lean towards a 'yes.' It is the year 20XX (possibly 21XX; the game's not very clear on the era), and mankind has bombed itself through at least one apocalypse. In such a situation, the only sensible course of action is to get in the cockpit of a giant transforming robot, with which one can do battle upon others so equipped. The story's delivered primarily through Samson, the resident good guy general dude, who bounces his ham and cheese off his evil counterpart, IRON 1, while other characters chime in occasionally. Overall, the voice actors are solid, but the story itself is thin, and they rarely dip into the setting's background, which is a shame, as it's a rather colorful one that begs to be explored. You begin with only the striker, but quickly gain access to about four more robots, and you'll have the rest by the mid point of the campaign. Like in strike, the robots classes are all very different from each other, with their own sets of skills, stats, and general abilities. Unlike strike, in wastelands, robots have a persistent progression system, they require gear, units come with a certain 'stack' number, which is the number of times you can build them, and variants have different stat buffs. For instance, a blackops warthog is more powerful than a 'classic' warthog, but the nexus variant is a bit more agile. If you want to keep a large number of robots on hand, then you need to level up your mech hangar base building. This is also a good idea in general, because robots that get shot down in combat are disabled for the rest of the mission, potentially stripping you of your level 55 'main,' leaving you with the starter striker, or instant defeat if the level 55 was your only airmech. In addition to your airmechs, you also need to maintain and keep track of your units, which - as touched - come in 'stacks.' A stack is only good for its set number of charges. Once they're out, they're out until you replenish them. You can expand the stack sizes, and use support units that replenish them, but they remain finite. There's a dizzying number of units, and many have variants that are produced much quicker, but are weaker, have a longer range and higher armor, but move and track targets much slower, or they could take dramatically longer to build, but be much stronger overall. Your drop deck has two rosters of 8, for a total of 16, and it behoves you to optimize your selection. Command of your army is done in an RTS styled fashion, and the two key elements to effectivly marshaling your dudes are a) your mech's ability to ferry units, and b) an order system that primarily is triggered in a circle around your mech. Add to all of this the fact that strike and wastelands share accounts, so anything you unlock in one exists in the other, although certain things may or may not have any use (pilots and parts are only equippable in wastelands, boosts are only found in strike). Speaking of pilots, they are the hinted at AI sidekicks, and if you are playing solo, you can bring any single pilot you've encountered along. They each have different combat behavior, lesser/higher level of skill, mech and unit preferences, and come with different cons and pros, which alter how you play. For example, Samsom greatly weakens mech damage and durability, but boosts your army's capabilities, while coming in a paladin support mech, favoring turrets and defensive play. Generally, taking a sidekick that focuses on whatever it's you're wanting to do makes you more effective at it, but their actual performance in battle is rather quirky and unpredictable. Yet further customization is offered through pilot skills, which is separate to your mech progression. The long and short is, as you make your way through the game, you aquire pilot levels, which allow you to put points into special pilot skills that apply to all your mechs and units equally, regardless of their level, gear, any sidekicks you bring, and so on. Most of the skills are small buffs, but you can put multiple points into a skill, yielding dramatic bonuses, and filling out an 'aptitude' completely unlocks very powerful abilities, such as vastly increased carry capacity, damage resistance for your whole army, and so on. You can change and reallocate these points as you please, but you can't have more points total assigned than your pilot level, which caps out at 60. Also part of the pilot skills are pilot relics; items which you find or loot, that individually may look weak - 4% more ground speed isn't that big, after all - but if you devote all 3 slots to items that boost ground speed, then you're looking at substantial gains. Some items provide stranger benefits, like a lucky coin that will let you cheat death, but it only works once per map. You also get the obligatory crafting system and player market, both of which are the domain of veteran players - the crafting especially, as it doesn't come with anything resembling instructions, and relies heavily on legacy items and materials. The market can mostly be ignored, but it's theoretically a nice thing to have. As for the missions, they come in the traditional starcraft flavors. There's tower defense, survival (may or may not have tower defense elements), Jacob's installation styled hero and friends with no base building, secure an objective/destroy an objective, escort, standard RTS, pseudo raids, and solo guy missions. It's a pretty nice selection. Bar a handful of early campaign missions and the airmech unlocking levels, you can do them in coop, with 3 difficulties (normal, nightmare, hell) like Diablo. Higher difficulty naturally gives better loot. Like its ancestors, wastelands generally doesn't fuck around. If you mess up the first couple of minutes on a tower defense map, you have a roughly 1005% chance of a game over, and going into a survival map with anything less than full defensive unit selection, maxed stacks, and top tier gear isn't smart. All this madness is set to a very industrial Front line assembly soundtrack, which on its own is probably worth the price of admission. So is it worth your time and money? I'll give it a yes, but more so if you have a group to play with. As a singleplayer title, it has about 20 hours of stuff in it before you start replaying on nightmare and hell difficulties, and eventually you'll probably want to check out airmech strike to get more gear and play actual PvP. Edit 27/8: for some reason, comments were not enabled.
• gamedeal user

  Jul 8, 2018

  Feels like it should be a free game, it has too many ingame purchases and does not live up to the original.
• gamedeal user

  Jul 8, 2018

  After playing it for a while it felt like it was still the free to play version. with the exeption of there being missions in stead of 3v3 matches. of course i like the free to play version which is why i thought id like this but, it didn't feel like it was made in to a single player game and, was very restricting. like building units is the about the same. Either i had to fly to a base to pick up the unit or click a very unresponsive image in the left. It didn't feel right. Which i ignored in the pvp mode since i felt like it was there to balance things but, here it just felt wrong. What really got me though was the free to play economy was still in this game. Theres no reason I should pay for a game and, have to deal with being subjected to things that make you want to spend an infinate amount of more money for things that don't actually exist. This wasn't exactly a bad game per say. but, it didn't feel fun to play.