When it comes to creating a world that feels grimy and lived-in, players should look to the developers at Whalenought Studios and its upcoming RPG Mechajammer. Announced recently with a world premiere trailer at the PC Gaming Show during E3 2021, Mechajammer is a dirty, grimy cyberpunk RPG that combines an ’80s action movie feel with a unique turn-based combat system and visual aesthetic.
Originally announced in 2017 as Copper Dreams, Mechajammer started off as a successful Kickstarter campaign. However, as the original release date of spring 2017 came and went, the game somewhat disappeared until it resurfaced in mid-2020 with its name changed to the current title. Through its triumphant debut at the PC Gaming Show this June, Mechajammer simultaneously reintroduced itself to longtime fans and established its identity as an interesting top-down CRPG set in a visually striking dystopian world.
Mechajammer takes place in a dystopian cyberpunk future, where players are stuck in an off-world jungle colony with little hope of escape. Surrounded by hostile wilderness and plagued by the literal underworld full of occult syndicates, those who wish to leave this grim grindhouse of grimy streets and crime-ridden alleys must fight or die to get what they want. Players in Mechajammer will have to assemble a team of cutthroats, gang members and thieves to explore the city, battling all those who stand in the way to earn a shot at getting out alive and intact.
Mechajammer leans fully into its cyberpunk aesthetic, but its story is rooted in popular 80s action movies. Mechajammer has no world to save, no overarching narrative concerned with righting this corrupt world. The player’s main goal is to escape the desperate setting, and perhaps find a better life off the alien planet’s brutal environments. Mechajammer takes inspiration from films like Escape From New York and RoboCop, where the protagonists weren’t trying to save the world but were simply concerned with survival and navigating their own personal stories. By using these low-stakes films as inspiration, Mechajammer delivers a more grounded narrative for players to navigate.
Along with its unique inspiration, Mechajammer also delivers a unique visual style as well. The filthy streets of the cyberpunk city are displayed in all their glory, with citizens slinking along, dressed in drab clothing to match the equally drab and hopeless environments. Outside the city lies the foreboding sprawl of an alien jungle, so dense and hostile that no one dares try to brave its bleak landscapes.
Mechajammer is played from a top-down perspective and uses 2D sprite-based character models that can fully move in its 3D open-world environments. Mechajammer‘s mashup of perspectives, combined with its gorgeous pixel-art aesthetic and decidedly low-tech world make the visuals match its hopeless narrative, creating an effective setting for its cyberpunk action to play out in.
Another way Mechajammer stands out is in its combat system and the way that it handles its mechanics. Instead of utilizing the tried-and-true CRPG combat style where players and enemies take turns attacking and moving, Mechajammer attempts to combine turn-based fighting with a more real-time feel. In the game, players and enemies take their turns simultaneously, moving, taking cover and attacking all together in dynamic ways.
This allows players to strategize and react on the fly by surveying the battlefield and its fluid combat. For instance, if the player notices an enemy emerging from cover but not firing, the enemy is transitioning from a movement turn into an aiming turn. From this position, the player can choose to duck behind cover, or perhaps rush the enemy, or even get off a shot that may be quicker to attack.
Mechajammer‘s combat systems allow for unique encounters, like being able to dodge a knife thrown at the player by sidestepping, as the knife takes multiple turns to get to the character’s position on the battle map. Every action takes a turn, from moving and reloading to taking cover, and Mechajammer allows players to strategize movements while reacting to enemies’ choices in real-time. These ideas make the combat systems feel fresh and one-of-a-kind.
Altogether, Mechajammer is a game that combines a great visual style, low-stakes, personal storytelling and a dynamic combat system full of strategy and satisfying mechanics. For those who crave more cyberpunk dystopias and unique takes on combat systems, Mechajammer is finally due to release later this year on Steam and is available now in demo form.
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