Current Events > 40K: Mechanicus was made with love, but man did they not balance it.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Aesthetically, it's probably the single best vidya representation of anything from 40k, and I'm glad it was specific to the Mechanicus. Really, it'll be hard to outdo even if 40k goes big budget for other factions, since tech-priests all strive to be cybernetic horrors, which lends itself well to character customization. The OST is destined to be an obscure gem for all time, and I desperately need more robobass vocoded into choir chants. There are some gimmicks to the gameplay that make for some well-integrated tactical novelty, and it feels good when all your plans come together to give you surprisingly excellent animations and big fat damage numbers. The writing, while in desperate need of proofreading, manages to be solid on several fronts, always worldbuilding, while going from solemnity to hype to humor without ever feeling forced or cheap. Scaevola is bae.

But goddamn, for a game that starts you with a grim lesson of sorts, it sure does get stupidly easy about halfway through. In just one or two turns, you end up taking down what are clearly supposed to be threatening, plot significant units. There are many options and toggles to make this harder or easier, but the issue with increasing difficulty is how much longer it makes everything. You will end up making an efficient cycle to maintain upkeep and compensate for the increased health and damage of enemies, but they never get smarter, so the game doesn't change much aside from taking twice as many turns. There's one boss in particular with a gimmick that you are very likely to bypass entirely by accident.

Still, I believe this game has a wider appeal than the niche would suggest. If you want a fresh take on turn-based tactics, enjoy customizing Your Guys into absurd powerhouses, or just really like AdMech, it's worth the cheap, and frequently on sale, cost.