Menace – Early Access Impressions

The early access release of Menace is here, and after giving it twenty sweaty coffee-infused hours like the nerd that I am—I’m ready to give my first early impressions. While I do feel it’s a much better experience than the demo, since we are actually in control of progression and the campaign now—sadly, my issues with the general gameplay remain. This means that the combat is still mostly abstracted, with a strong wargame (board-game) feeling that work against the immersion in parts.

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MENACE [Full cinematic trailer]

When Overhype Studios released the demo for Menace, they also dropped a small teaser that showed off the brutality of their created world—in part. Well, fret no more, the full length trailer is here, and it’s awesome (as expected). Sadly, it isn’t that much longer than the teaser, but it adds context to what we saw earlier. 

Two noticeable things here. The sludge that grabs a dead (or wounded) marine around the one-minute mark looks really nasty and terrifying. I foresee grotesque body-horror in the future! Also, note to self, avoid everything slimy and bubbling. Then the second thing comes at about one and a half minute in—and it’s a damn Terminator machine, directly manifested from my “future wars” nightmares. Wow! Talk about the unexpected, and it looks like what the title of the game indicates: Menacing! Check out the cool trailer after the jump.

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Menace – Demo Impressions

Finally, the Menace demo has arrived for us to download and play like the tactics starved maniacs that we are! So, how is it? I would say it’s okay, showing potential for the future. However, the high boardgame feel of it really surprised me. It’s a game that is a lot more abstracted in combat simulation, LOS (line of sight), and damage than I was expecting—especially compared to their last title; Battle Brothers.

For example, “overwatch” has been dumped in favor of faster gameplay, forcing you to move forward instead of turtling behind defenses to ambush the enemy. Fair, I guess, but it also means that the defensive safe playstyle that I like is out the window. And it feels a tad ridiculous that my special forces unit when having action-points left after a move, say up to a building, can’t defend themselves. 

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