Override: Mech City Brawl

I’ve been waiting for this game since I saw the trailer on Reddit some time in November.

Override: Mech City Brawl is a game where you pilot mechs and pummel giant monsters and other mechs into the ground. Which is why I am so looking forward to getting this game. The game supports local and online multiplayer, for co-op and versus. Just a note, despite having a campaign, this game is mainly multiplayer-focused. Case in point, it took me about a bit over an hour to go through the campaign.

The main focus of Override’s combat is on melee. There is a button each for left punch, right punch, left kick and right kick. Honestly, not knocking on other mech games that focuses on gun combat, but giant punch-outs are the whole point of mech fighting games. If I want to shoot people in large metal mechanical constructs, I’ll drive a tank. The reason why mechs have limbs is because they are needed to punch and kick equally or even larger targets into next week.

You can charge your basic attacks to release a much powerful strike. And if you charge a kick while in mid-air you’ll rocket downwards to drive your heel into the ground, hopefully with your target between the two. Besides, you’ll also get four different special attacks. On the top left of the screenshot above, you’ll see a blue bar with four segments. When a segment is full you can use any of your special attacks, and to charge the bars you just have to pummel your enemies. And also, you’ll get a

Every mech has their own ultimate. And the condition to activate your ult is to have your health fall below a certain threshold. In this sense, an ultimate is less of something you earn, like in most other games, but more of a comeback mechanic, to give yourself an edge when you’re being stomped into the dirt.

The arenas spawn weapons as well. There are melee weapons such as swords, scimitars, scythes, spears, sabers, and other weapons whose name doesn’t start with S. There are also ranged weapons. For those on controllers, the lock-on function is disabled, and the camera angle is changed to an over-the-shoulder view for heavy ranged weapons. That means you will need to manually aim them, which will put you at a slight disadvantage against M+KB users.

Speaking as a mouse and keyboard main, this game is made for a controller and is best played with one. For me it’s just more natural than to try pressing a bunch of keys that are all huddled together and got me to kick when I meant to shield. It could just be my salami fingers though. The heavy ranged weapons thing didn’t really bother me since I mainly play as a melee brawler anyway.

So far, I played through the campaign a few times, each time with a different mech so I can learn how they play. I started off with Contessa, then went on to play as Watchbot, Setesh, and Vidar. Currently, I am playing through the game as Metageckon. So far, I enjoy Setesh’s gameplay the most, as it is just a close-range brawler type mech, although Metageckon with its dash attacks are also pretty interesting.

Overall, I say Override: Mech City Brawl is a really good game, especially if you are into piloting giant mechs and beating up bigger stuff. I will recommend a controller, or just getting the console versions, but it is still playable using the keyboard and mouse. Having this, a few controllers, and a projector can make for an interesting gaming session.