The tight maps and interactions mean that nothing is wasted, and every turn is a fresh puzzle to solve. Using three mechs to turn away five far more powerful Vek is sure to put a smile on your face. It’s reminiscent of Aikido, where the best technique is often to turn your opponent’s own momentum against them.īecause of the breadth of potential solutions to any given round, Into the Breach continually presents you the chance to feel wonderfully clever.

In addition to direct damage, you have to consider moving Vek around to use the environment, or even to redirect their own attacks at one another. Unlike their aquatic forebears in Pacific Rim, Vek can’t stand the ocean, so any ground-bound Vek that get knocked into water or chasms are immediately destroyed. Colliding with anything, whether a building, mountain, or another unit, does one damage to both parties. In addition to doing damage, most of your mechs’ attacks also push their targets around.

What makes Into the Breach so satisfying is that positioning matters just as much as - if not more than - directly hitting your opponents. You’ll quickly realize, however, that you don’t put out nearly enough raw damage to wipe out everything in time. The fact your first squad includes a biped mech that punches, a tank, and a mobile artillery cannon supports this notion. A few mistakes will put you in dire straits.Īt first blush you might think that, like in Advance Wars, strategy revolves around maneuvering your mechs to avoid damage while blasting down the enemy with superior firepower. With only five out of seven total power on the grid at the start, the stakes are very high from the get-go. Buildings have a low chance to resist damage, but generally one hit is all it takes to knock each one over, either from the Vek themselves, or from the collateral damage of tossing each other around like you’re in King of Monsters. You can complete any given level simply by outlasting them, but every time a building is destroyed, you lose one tick on the power grid meter at the top of the screen, which serves as an overall life meter for the run. The goal in each level is to survive the allotted handful of turns until the Vek retreat, while preventing them from destroying the planet. Into the Breach is a masterclass in elegant game design.

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