This is the first long form feedback that I would ever post about Mech Battle. While there are many things to be said about the game, I think that maps would be one of the things that could be refined in this game.
Desert, Plant and Snow are all fine in terms of competitive viability. I do not mind the random spawns – they make the game fun and chaotic…and they add a minimal amount of RNG to shake up an otherwise linear Mech Battle gaming experience.
Now, if you ask me why a Mech Battle game is quite linear at the moment, it’s because right now, it’s more efficient to kill off robots than to play the objective. As a result, many of the builds in this game are focused on dealing damage than positional control and mobility.
However, I want to point out that Tunnels is the best map that Mech Battle has ever created. Basically, it is composed of a tunnel system that has four beacons situated approximately similarly away from each other; there is a fifth beacon, but it is way out there.
In addition, Tunnels is notorious for its claustrophobic, no-holds-barred close quarters combat. This means that you need to use cover and time your pushes accordingly…and that no amount of shenanigans (i.e. jump, stealth, flying mechanics) would ever save you as the volume of fire that one can place on a tight space is simply enormous, not to mention the fact that heavy robots have a HUGE HITBOX.
Now, it creates a dilemma for teams who play the game as they are forced to choose between two options: Do they go for the tunnel push as four? Or do they risk being three for a while until the other guy who captures the outlying beacon joins them through one of the murder holes?
This map is extremely interactive in its design and makes players go for different tactics and strategies instead of relying on range or sheer space control. While you can see the robots coming, you won’t know whether it is a shotgun robot or a robot with five weapon slots – so you have to calculate risks and learn how to play efficiently!
Of course, the better players (or the more intuitive players) out there would just treat this as second nature – and would go on with their aim duels, then follow if up with objective grabs whenever they can.
As for Last Man Standing, Tunnels is a pretty crazy map to be in. Killing robots inside a tunnel is simply tantamount to shooting an active shooter in an alley – the results are crazy and unpredictable!
With the new patches that fixed the interaction between hitboxes and projectiles, Tunnel, which was already a popular map, is becoming the defining map of Mech Battle. Yes, when people think of Mech Battle, they actually see murders happening in the tunnels.
Now, here is my feedback: While it is true that the basics of the game still need to be solidified at this point in time, I would highly suggest that one of the next steps in evolving this game is to create maps like this – or better yet, maps that force players to adopt different dynamics in play.
Map making is just as important as making weapons and robots viable when it comes to the in-game content portion of things. But then, I would always prefer a base game that is solid and non-buggy than a game which is rather rich in content, yet unoptimized and buggy.
I really hope that more maps like this would come in the future.
