Update: The Mecha Break team reached out to clarify a few things. First, it was stressed that the core gameplay experience is fully free and that some unlocks can be obtained by progressing through the game and completing tasks. It was also highlighted that premium content is entirely optional, and the team has worked to keep prices accessible.
Also, as this is a live-service game, the goal is to continually improve Mecha Break and make it ‘the best it can be for its global audience’.
Original report continues…
Mecha Break, a free-to-play shooter built around the concept of creating, customising, and waltzing into battle inside hulking mechs, has hit the market after months of promotions, tests, and trailers. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been the most successful launch, reviews-wise. The player counts are climbing, but the impressions of Mecha Break seem to be heading the opposite way.
In recent hours, almost 100,000 concurrent players were recorded in the Mecha Break world on Steam. However, those who have reviewed the game on Steam have left it sitting with a ‘Mixed’ rating, with 43% of all reviews having something negative to say about it.
Not The Best Start
Mecha Break has been a long time coming, and as a free-to-play title, it was almost guaranteed to pull in a lot of players. However, in the weeks before launch, some prospective fans started to get cold feet over the game’s monetisation model, which works as you’d expect for a free shooter.
Most recently, the team at Amazing Seasun Games revealed a stacked roadmap of events and unlocks for the game’s opening ‘season’ of content. Not everything needs to be bought, and a lot can be earned, but there’s still something that rankles with gamers when it comes to a game heavily backed by microtransactions.
In the Mecha Break reviews on Steam, some players have slated the game. One referred to the title as a ‘shallow copy of its former self’, with movement mechanics being nerfed since the beta tests. Another user wrote: ‘Live service slop with boring gameplay and predatory microtransactions’.
In one review, the use of AI voice actors was criticised, as was the ‘nearly $100 skins’ you can buy to customise a ‘character you barely see while playing’. There’s another trend running rampant in the negative reviews, and it’s made up of folks bagging on the kernel-level anti-cheat engine that many feel might give China a backdoor into your setup.
Do you think it’s reasonable that a free game should have so many exorbitantly-priced microtransactions? Let me know on the Insider Gaming forum.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that Hollywood turned down a Crash Bandicoot movie
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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