Last year’s Armored Core VI gave mech fans a taste of lightning-fast action with the satisfying difficulty that only From Software can deliver. But that’s not all there is to mech games. There’s just something about giant fighting machines that lends them so well to turn-based tactics. Maybe it’s the lumbering gait of a mech, the strategic precision of kitting a frame out with weapons, or the sheer destructive force that takes a full battlefield to truly convey — whatever the reason, mechs feel right at home in tactics games. A free new game on Steam is the perfect example of my point, melding an old-school presentation with dense tactical combat so well it’s a must-play for fans of early Front Mission games.
Kriegsfront Tactics — Prologue is essentially a demo of an in-development mech tactics game, but despite its short and incomplete campaign, it’s already one of my favorite strategy games this year. Developed by Toge Productions, creator of Coffee Talk and publisher of A Space for the Unbound, Kriegsfront Tactics takes place in an alternate history version of the 1970s. Set in Southeast Asia, its story follows a global conflict that resulted in mechs called Kriegers left behind by battling superpower nations being taken over by locals whose homes were destroyed in the fighting to earn their own freedom.
Rather than join the battle on the side of the freedom fighters, you start Kriegsfront Tactics in control of a squad of deeply unlikeable soldiers here to take control back for one of the imperial powers that ruined everything in the first place. In the two hours or so it takes to finish the prologue, you only get a peek at Kriegsfront Tactics’ story, but it’s safe to say it follows the likes of Front Mission with its politically minded story and the near certainty that its characters will have their loyalties tested by the time the battle is over. Despite being a work in progress, Kriegsfront Tactics already features solid voice acting for its entire cast and a crunch PS1 lo-fi art style that immediately put me in mind of not just Front Mission, but also Metal Gear Solid.
Similarly, Kriegsfront Tactics feels both old-school and innovative at the same time. Kriegsfront Tactics uses an Action Point system that lets you move and attack as long as you have points to spend. During the prologue, I almost never found myself in a turn with nothing to do, since each mech is equipped with multiple weapons, and even able to shoulder check enemies or set up for a counterattack with any spare points they have at the end of a turn, which keeps battles moving quickly.
Giant robots have a tough time taking cover, but Kriegsfront Tactics has some interesting alternatives. At least in the prologue, battles take place in the jungle, and any mech that ends its turn in the foliage will be hidden from attackers. That goes for allies and enemies alike, meaning almost any step you take could lead you into an ambush. While that could make rooting out enemies a slog, Kriegsfront Tactics’ heavy reliance on explosive weapons means you can always lob rockets into the treeline to burn enemies out of hiding. It’s clear Kriegsfront Tactics is making a point of just how callously your squad is willing to burn anything in its way — from jungles to villages — and I’m eager to see how its reckless battle tactics play out in the full game’s story.
Aside from launching rockets, Kriegsfront Tactics has one other inventive weapon I was always happy to use. When a member of your squad takes aim with a sniper rifle, you’re briefly put into first-person view to target specific body parts, letting you choose whether you want to go for the knockout or hit an arm or a leg to make them more vulnerable instead. It’s a small touch, but one that I found effective every time.
Between missions, you’ll control your squad on a zoomed-out world map as they dodge enemy patrols and raid weapon depots left behind in the last conflict. Here you can also get to work on your mechs, scrounging parts as replacements or upgrades, and manage your squad to assign new abilities and help them recover from the last battle. Pilot management is clearly not as complete as combat at this point, but it seems well on its way to making Kriegsfront Tactics’ campaign feel like a satisfying test of endurance instead of just a series of battles.
If Armored Core VI makes you feel like a powerful force of destruction, Kriegsfront Tactics is aiming to make you feel more like a cog in a horrifying machine. I’m already sold on its combat, and what I really want to see is how it tackles its alternate history story from the point-of-view of its U.S. stand-in bad guys. As a free game you can polish off in an evening, there’s no reason not to check out Kriegsfront Tactics — Prologue if it piques your interest. The full game doesn’t yet have a release date, but it’s now squarely on my radar for future updates.
