Chris InglisWar Tech Fighters is a sci-fi mech action title that feels like a glorious collision between Pacific Rim and Battlestar Galactica. Originally released in 2018 by Greenman Gaming and in 2019 by Drakkar Dev and publisher Blowfish Studios, I spent time piloting these giant mechs across both Xbox and PC, and the transition to the big screen only makes the fantastic space vistas and low-gravity combat shine brighter.
The core gameplay loop revolves around Jacob and Nathan Romanis as they defend the Ares Colonies from Zatronian forces. While standard and heavy fire (RT/RB) handle the small fry, the real star of the show is the Execution system. Dropping an enemy’s health allows for a cinematic finisher that replenishes your HP and energy. Even after nearly 20 hours, watching my mech deliver a flying kick or cleave a capital ship in half with a sword never got old.
Combat is split between ranged dogfights and dedicated melee duels. When an enemy War Tech spawns, the game shifts into a tactical dance of light and heavy attacks, parries, and sword-locks. These encounters require careful energy management and timing, rewarding you with epic, slow-motion ninja finishes.
Credits are earned through completing missions, harvesting meteorites and by completing challenges, survival mode and replaying missions. You can then spend these credits on upgrading and researching upgrades and powerups for your war tech fighter. The Nebula frigate is your home base where you launch missions, customise your tech and research upgrades, as well as hit the war room for challenges and replaying missions.
Operating out of the Nebula frigate, you can customise the head, arms, torso, legs, sword and shield, with some awesome and badass looking machinery. Many of the later upgrades are unavailable initially as you need to unlock them through research, and this is done by collecting pieces of special projects whilst in missions. I highly recommend focusing on the Quantum Wave ability early on; it’s a literal lifesaver in the late-game chaos.
The heavy rock soundtrack perfectly complements the orbital carnage. While the story isn’t groundbreaking, it’s immersive enough to keep you moving. My only real gripe is the inconsistent voice acting. It’s present in major cutscenes but absent during missions, which occasionally breaks the immersion. However, the game combats repetition well by drip-feeding new mechanics and challenging bosses just as things start to feel familiar.
Overall, War Tech Fighters is a must-play for mech fans who want more than just a distance shooter. The blend of deep customisation, brutal executions, and tactical melee combat makes for a highly satisfying experience.
This review utilised a key provided by Blowfish Studios and War Tech Fighters is available on Steam, Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch.
#roundtablecoop
Daniel Agius