Source: Game Top
Now when talking about mecha-themed games, I don't know what everyone's first reaction is?
Is it last year's popular war game "Ganglan"? Is it "Armored Core 6", which won the TGA Best Action Game? Or is it still irreplaceable for some veteran players?
This subject that is full of characteristics but difficult to develop may be a big challenge for all manufacturers. Especially without too much accumulation, it is even more difficult to create the sense of realism of large-scale mecha battles and unique driving gameplay.
However, Xishanju, which has always been famous for martial arts games, vows to fulfill this mecha dream. "The Unrestricted Machine", which has been issued last month, is moving forward at full speed and is about to come to us.
Early in the morning of April 5th, I went to the Kingsoft Software Park in Zhuhai to participate in the offline trial of "Unlocking the Limit". In addition to experiencing the game's 6v6 battle and the new mode "Mashmark", the author also visited the office of the R&D team, and witnessed with his own eyes how this group of challengers has a love for mechas.
So as an original domestic IP, to what extent can "Limit Relief Machine" portray the mecha theme?
After this trial meeting, I have a bottom in my heart.
A mecha masterpiece full of "ritual".
For me, there are at least two factors that make a good mecha game.
The first is that the design of the mecha should be recognizable, and the second is that the gameplay can reflect the action characteristics of the large mecha. From these two perspectives, "Unrestricted Machine" has a relatively prominent degree of completion.
First of all, the comprehensive presentation of the mecha in terms of appearance design, combat style, and performance planning is definitely the most important point for lovers of this theme. As soon as you enter the trial venue, you can see the original design manuscripts of the body all over the wall, which intuitively shows the design logic behind different machines.
In my opinion, the design of "Liberating Machine" is between the "real series" and the "super series": there is not only a cool and gorgeous body beauty, but also a thick and solid military atmosphere, both sci-fi futuristic weapons, as well as swords, spears, shields and other melee weapons, it can be seen that this is a new mecha product that the production team has deeply refined the classic elements in past entertainment works, and then organically reconstructed.
Specific to the game, the differences between different models of aircraft can be felt even more.
The game has made light/heavy, attack/combat/defense/sniper positioning for each body to give players an intuitive feeling, and then use different main and secondary weapons + 3 skills to deeply depict the performance advantages and corresponding shortcomings of different machines. As a result, players only need to try it out, and they can feel the core differences of the body beyond the appearance, and gradually find out the combat style that suits them.
For example, my personal favorite melee aircraft body "Black Panther", although there are almost no long-range means of fighting the enemy, but the spear that can charge and dash, as long as it hits the enemy, it can trigger a large amount of assault damage, the actual combat difficulty is not low, but the feel is addictive.
The extremely thickly armored "Triceratops" is a turret-type body with strong firepower and lack of mobility, and after transforming into a fortress, it shoots wildly with a defensive shield and has a refreshing feeling of pouring firepower. The highly maneuverable "Gyrfalcon" does not fight for firepower but instead fights for the enemy, and uses the ultra-high speed after transforming the "plane" to meet the enemy, which tests the pilot's sense of space and emphasizes the sense of achievement brought by precise operation.
The newly added Hurricane and Sky Raider in this offline trial can clearly feel the production team's deep digging into the characteristics of the body. The decoy release and floating cannon of the Hurricane, and the dense barrage woven by the wingmen summoned by the Sky Raider, all have very distinct combat characteristics.
The differences in the gameplay genre of different mechs allow players to quickly establish an initial impression of "Limit Breaker". At the trial site, I came into contact with many players who tried this game for the first time, and they basically found their preferred body style after the trial, and exchanged driving experience and team matching. As an original IP, the body can be remembered by players in a short period of time, which shows the design skills of "Limit Solving Machine".
Secondly, let's talk about the presentation of mecha characteristics in the gameplay of "Liberating the Limitation Machine".
In my opinion, mecha games must give players a strong feeling of "driving a robot". The immersion of an ace pilot who feels like he is in the cockpit and constantly crashes enemy planes as the body moves and moves is exactly the kind of fun that no other genre can offer.
On the one hand, it simulates the unique operation feeling of large mechas, such as the speed of jet acceleration, the inertia after sprinting, and the weightlessness during landing, and on the other hand, it is necessary to match the "limiting" elements such as fuel, energy, and overheating to show the mechanical resource consumption that needs to be considered by the pilot.
In both aspects, "Unlimiting Machine" is very old-fashioned. The feeling of controlling the unrestricted aircraft to fly up and down, sprint quickly, and accelerate to the ground is silky, which completely shapes the fast-paced and three-dimensional pulling of friend and foe in mecha battles. At the same time, the game also sets up corresponding resource management, with the armor value on the left and the energy gauge on the right, and the player must always monitor the resource consumption to avoid empty slots becoming targets and being caught.
As a result, we were able to experience a comprehensive game that not only has high-speed battle operation, but also resource management and teamwork strategy. There are many places worth developing in terms of gameplay, whether it is the body method under the three-dimensional space movement, or the multiple combat methods that take into account melee combat and shooting, or the overall situation judgment involving the enemy team, all of which well portray the excitement and cruelty that should be on the mecha battlefield, which is straightforward.
There was a Long Yuan parked at the trial site
In particular, it is worth mentioning that it can be seen that "Limit Relief Machine" attaches great importance to the unique "sense of ceremony" of the mecha theme.
For example, a special face pinching system was made for the driver to enhance the sense of substitution, a cutscene animation was made for the whole process of boarding the machine body and the battle, and even a display table of the Longyuan body was set up in the trial meeting, and the feeling of "boarding and fighting" was created on the spot at the beginning of the trial through sound and light performances. It can be seen that the production team is really serious about "opening the mecha".
Senior rubber guy's "power generation for love"?
When I tried it, I had a strong feeling that the people who made this game must know it very well. This is not just about knowing how to make a mecha game, but also about understanding and loving mecha culture from the bottom of your bones.
Sure enough, when I visited the office of Torch Heavy Industries, the first thing that caught my eye was the mountains of "plastic boxes".
According to the accompanying studio brother, the team of "Solving the Limit" is basically a senior "glue guy", who is very keen to collect all kinds of model toys. When you enter the office, you can also see that the desks of the R&D bosses are stacked with models of well-known mecha IPs such as Gundam and Transformers. Drawing and modeling in the rich atmosphere of "machine warfare" must be able to get twice the result with half the effort.
The enviable gate of Torch Heavy Industry
In the office of Kris, the producer of "Liberating the Limit Machine", you can also see a whole cabinet of personal collections, which attracted the exclamation of fellow players. I was pleasantly surprised to see that there were not only Gundams with a wide variety of variety, but also models that I personally liked, such as METAL BUILD EVA Hatsuken and Demon God Z.
At the same time, it can also be felt that the refinement and presentation of the concept of mecha in the creation of Xinhuo Heavy Industry can be said to be inclusive of all rivers and rivers, and the strengths of each family. They understand the beauty of mechas, and they understand the possibilities of this beauty, which makes the presentation of "Unlimited" not too stereotypical, and can stand out from the mecha lovers in the setting.
In the past, when I approached many studios, creators would emphasize how much the team loved such and such a theme. Because this kind of love is related to what kind of enthusiasm and energy the team can put into a product, and whether the team's understanding and expression of the subject matter are in place. Especially those products with more vertical themes, they are often successfully incubated with the help of enough love.
I think "Limit Relief Machine" is also such a product built on "love and blood". It's not like a project motivated by a purely commercial motive of wanting to quickly occupy a certain track, but more like a group of capable and passionate mech enthusiasts who want to prove themselves - China should also have an original mech action masterpiece.
Still just the tip of the iceberg
I admit that as half a "radish powder", I have some filters on "Limit Breaker". But now that I'm calming down, I still have to say a little "but" - look forward to the future shape and possibilities of the product.
I am confident in the core gameplay framework of the game, and "Limit Solving Machine" has indeed achieved the first echelon level in the same genre, but as a product focusing on multiplayer battle experience, whether it can be recognized by more players in the future depends on the design and commercialization of the gameplay mode.
In addition to the 6V6 core gameplay that has been polished to perfection, the game obviously wants to add more and larger-scale new modes. This will involve the influence of factors such as balance, cultivation elements, and whether multi-person interaction is smooth, which undoubtedly has a lot of tests for the long-term operation and content iteration of the game. In addition, it is also worth paying attention to whether the PVE gameplay that many players are looking forward to exists and what kind of process it will be enriched.
At present, it is too early to talk about commercialization, but as far as I personally observe some clues, "Limit Relief Machine" will most likely refer to the popular GaaS product model, focusing on appearance and passes. I have to say that the painting system in the game is worth looking forward to, even for players who are not so keen on fighting, with the original intention of pure collection and play, to feel the beauty of the body, and to DIY the protagonist machine in their hearts.
In short, from last year's test to this offline trial, "Unlocking the Limit" has given a rather bright debut. It has excellent quality and a production team that loves mecha enough, but in the end, where will the key experience and long-term content composition of the game fall, and whether it can completely open up the mecha, which is not so mainstream in China, and become another major IP pillar of Xishanju, remains to be seen.
Let's wait for the next test metamorphosis.