Mecha BREAK is the latest in a long line of mecha games aiming to deliver the sense of speed, destructive force, and firepower that has attracted fans to the genre for decades. Although there have been some standout titles in the genre over the years, PvP-oriented fans have been chronically starved for a worthwhile competitive mecha game. With a class-based hero shooter-style approach to its Strikers, Mecha BREAK manages to channel the most fun aspects of games like Marvel Rivals into a lightning-fast, ultraviolent mecha game with a strong variety of Striker playstyles.
That wasn’t always the case, however. In an interview with Game Rant, Amazing Seasun Games CEO and Mecha BREAK executive producer Kris Kwok revealed that earlier in the development process, Mecha BREAK more closely resembled Armored Core‘s parts-swapping approach to mecha customization. Although this worked famously for FromSoftware’s PvE mecha games, it came with major drawbacks in a PvP setting.
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Game Rant spends the day playing the blazing-fast mecha hero shooter Mecha BREAK, testing out its Strikers in 6v6 PvP and the massive PvPvE mode.
With Deeper Customization, Mecha BREAK’s Strikers All Felt the Same
During Mecha BREAK‘s formative stages of development, it was initially poised to adopt a more modular approach to Strikers. Each Striker would comprise five parts that could be fitted with several components. This may sound like an opportunity for a deep customization system, but Kwok reveals that players would often gravitate to just one or two strong loadouts:
“In the very beginning during the design process, I conceived an idea where each mecha consisted of five parts, and each part could be equipped with three weaponizations, and you can choose your loadout before each battle. Under those circumstances, the range of customization was too wide, and everybody was good in every scenario. At range, in melee, and even in support. When it was so customizable, the range was so wide that you’d put six or seven mechas onto the battlefield and everybody functions the same. There’s no sense of uniqueness anymore.
Without specific roles, everybody ends up with the same 12 mechas, six on each team. They’re doing very similar things, they’re always in close range, and there’s no variety in gameplay. Because of the lack of space, you feel very tight and pushed in. Also, with a wider range of parts, it’s hard enough to get inspiration at the 10th or 11th mark, let alone the 30th one. The inspiration is being squeezed out.”
This earlier iteration also posed a creative problem for Amazing Seasun Games: with so many parts to choose from, it would be increasingly difficult to devise new ones over time. In a live-service multiplayer game seeking to engage players with a steady stream of new content, the team’s well of inspiration would quickly dry up.
Specialized Roles in Mecha BREAK Encourage Unique Playstyles
Instead, Kwok chose to tailor each mecha to a specific role—a pivotal moment for the multiplayer mecha game considering its arsenal of unique Strikers is one of its key highlights. Each new Striker design inspired a potential counter or complementary Striker, leading to a well-rounded cast where each pilot enjoys a distinct playstyle. Kwok elaborates:
“That’s the point where I made the conscious decision to place mechas in specific roles. For example, Welkyn, during this last iteration, I had to put it down on paper: “You have to be a charger. You’re the first one rushing into the battlefield.” Not only in terms of the stats—the defense and health bar—it’s the abilities you have. That’s another important factor in gameplay.
To create that sense of vertical space and horizontal space, you have to have a specific role. If you want to play Aquila, the aerial sniper, you have to have Falcon following somebody to stop the disruption of your snipers. That is the way that we created a sense of space in the balance sheet. Since people take different roles, they’re not clustered together anymore. That’s how we created space.”
The jet-like Falcon Striker and the bunker-transforming Tricera are complete opposites in terms of mobility and offensive capabilities, meanwhile, ground-based melee bruisers like Welkyn contrast starkly with an elusive aerial sniper like Aquila. As much as mecha fans love to customize every inch of their giant war machines, Mecha BREAK‘s hero shooter approach may be one of its smartest decisions.
- Released
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2025
- Developer(s)
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Amazing Seasun
- Publisher(s)
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Amazing Seasun