Speaking of D3PUBLISHE, many players may feel unfamiliar, but when it comes to “Onechanbara” and “Earth Defense Force” series, I believe most players have heard of them even if they haven’t played them. Today, we are going to talk about “CUSTOM MECH WARS -CUSTOM MECH WARS-” (hereinafter referred to as “CUSTOM MECH WARS”) developed by D3PUBLISHE and published by Yunbao Entertainment.
CUSTOM MECH WARS was first revealed in August this year, and the official release date was announced at the Tokyo Game Show the following month. In the trailer, players can see various absurd creations such as the Beast King robot, the beautiful leg tank robot, the hamburger robot, and the tram robot. In addition to the “modelling system” full of rich freedom, what makes this game different from other mecha games? Let’s take a look together.
Simply put, the story of “CUSTOM MECH WARS” tells the story of a space observation telescope discovering a comet approaching the solar system. Although it will not hit the earth, it will inevitably cause natural disasters such as crustal changes and volcanic activity due to its huge size. Faced with disasters, humans choose to implement large-scale refuge, and large unmanned cities are handed over to AI management. After the straight comet passes through, residents return and find that AI has abnormalities .
After advancing to the fourth level, the assembly mode is unlocked. First, key parts are selected. The head is responsible for the camera and search function; the chest is responsible for the spray; and the legs are related to movement. After selecting the chest and legs, the head and arms can be assembled at any of the 10 connection points throughout the body. After selecting the connection points, the X, Y, and Z axes of the parts can be rotated or moved to achieve the desired effect.
Next is equipping attack parts and decorations. In addition to the original connection points of the body, the assembly of the main weapon adds a connection point to the head and three connection points to each arm. Each connection point can be reused, and the assembly of throwing weapons, melee weapons, automatic weapons, and killing weapons is also based on these connection points.
In addition to assembling key parts by ourselves, the self-made team also set up pre-assembled bodies for players like me who lack imagination. In addition to the most basic Atoms, there are also modified mechs such as heroes like Demon God Z. After purchasing the body in the development department, assemble the attack parts, add decorations to change their favorite colors, and complete the body assembly.
As for the gold required to purchase pre-assembled bodies and parts, it needs to be obtained through the campaign mode.
The campaign mode is the main source of parts, gold, and materials. Like other mecha games, this game mainly focuses on action shooting . In the campaign mode, players need to deal with waves of enemies. The gameplay is still too monotonous throughout the game experience. The subsequent levels only change the scene and weather, and there are no changes in the gameplay.
Each part of the mecha has an independent health bar. If any part of the chest or leg is damaged, the entire body will explode. After the explosion, the pilot can summon the rest of the mecha in the hangar again, and the explosive mecha will not be consumed in battle.
What needs to be complained is that the mechs in this game have already used light guns and automatic weapons, and the bullets fired still have a high delay flight trajectory. Since the attack determination in this game is based on the red box after locking onto the enemy target, there is no auxiliary aiming and flight trajectory. The shooting and combat experience brought to players is much worse than other mecha games.
The melee aspect is different from other games. In other melee games, when using melee attacks, the player will rush in front of the enemy. However, in this game, after equipping the arm with melee weapons, the player can only swing and chop in place. Therefore, the combined use of melee and long-range shooting in this game is still too useless.
It is worth mentioning that “CUSTOM MECH WARS” adapts to the DualSense controller. When the mecha lands, is attacked by enemies, and collides with buildings, it will give different degrees of vibration feedback, even when it hits an “inconspicuous” street lamp on the roadside. Excellent Self-Adaptation triggers are also indispensable. When the player controls the mecha to fly and sprint, the L2 key will show obvious damping, bringing players a realistic starting experience. Of course, if you are not used to it, you can turn on the pause and turn off vibration function and the Self-Adaptation trigger option at any time.
Overall, “CUSTOM MECH WARS – CUSTOM MECH WARS-” is flawless. Although the assembly mode has a high degree of freedom, players can create various “ghosts and monsters” with their imagination. However, to fully experience it, you must grind in the lengthy and boring campaign mode, which can be said to be an hour of assembly and five minutes of combat. Compared with dealing with waves of enemies in the campaign mode, it is more enjoyable to directly start the body action test after assembly.
