What would happen if EDF (Earth Defense Force) developers were to make an entry to the Armored Core series? What you’d end up with are ridiculously stupid and outright hilarious mech customization as you fight waves upon waves of robots.
D3 Publisher has a soft spot in my heart, it’s rare in this day and age for video game developers to simply “take the piss” and joke around or to actually be staffed with individuals who are devoted to a particular game project, D3 Publisher seemingly love to fuck around.
Announced during the Tokyo Game Show, D3 announced “CUSTOM MECH WARS”, a third-person mecha shooter that seemingly takes customization to the limits with realism and continuity thrown to the wayside.
CUSTOM MECH WARS is set to launch on December 14th for PC users via the Steam Store as well as on Sony PlayStation 5 consoles.
D3 Publisher are mostly renown for their Earth Defense Force series of third-person shooter titles, which has a fairly decent fanbase who are dedicated to the longstanding franchise which offers largescale battles with alien invaders involving a verity of different weapons and even large mechs to take down the largest of creatures.
Players often face massive swarms of creatures, creating chaotic and fast-paced action packed combat situations, add in destructible environments and a care free tone that seemingly replicates comedic films such as Starship Troopers.
The franchise is extremely over the top and doesn’t take itself all too seriously which is why it has increasingly gained popularity over the years with several sequels developed offering new and outlandish weapons and monsters.
Once again, if you combined Earth Defense Force with pure mecha combat titles such as Fromsoft’s Armored Core franchise, the result is CUSTOM MECH WARS. Another tongue-in-cheek title from D3 Publisher that aims to provide near endless customization possibilities with large scale mech battles.
You can even make a massive mecha robot that represents the symbol of America, capitalism and freedom.
It’s all very outrageous and exciting, however the major downside is that CUSTOM MECH WARS doesn’t come with a Player vs Player online component, meaning you cannot create the most barbaric and obscene mech imaginable and then use it to humiliate others in PVP conflict.
However what you can do is team up with up to a maximum of 4 players to engage in co-op destruction of an endless swarm of robots as you all cooperate to complete story missions.
Because D3 Publisher have unleashed their second trailer for CUSTOM MECH WARS that further highlights the possibilities of mecha customization with ginormous anime girl cardboard cutouts that rival high rise tower blocks.
The entire trailer is reminiscent of a fashion / beauty infomercial, continually offering “beauty advice” by referring to robotic parts and accessories as fashion items.
If you’re so inclined you can customize your mech to showcase your favorite “waifu” from D3 Published properties such as Omega Labyrinth, Bullet Girls Phantasia and Samurai Maiden.
This unsympathetically strikes the fear in the eyes of your average western gaming journalist.
If you’re so bold you can incorporate these character cutouts to stick onto your customized mech that are entirely adjustable as all parts come in three sizes ranging from small to large but even they can have their sizes adjusted to a degree which I absolutely love.
What I don’t love however is that you’re forced into buying the “Ultimate Edition” to receive these aforementioned part sets for Samurai Maiden, Bullet Girls Phantasia and Omega Labyrinth for $75, and it even comes with custom navigational AI voices from the likes of Tomoko Kaneda of whom voiced Chiyo in Azumanga Daioh.
Alongside Kikuko Inoue, who was the voice behind Belldandy in Ah! My Goddess!
However as a pre-purchase bonus you’ll only need to spare $67.50 to buy the Ultimate Edition, while the regular edition without the parts packages is $45, but hey, I’ve only bought one game throughout the entire year so far so this will more than likely be my second purchase.
It doesn’t just stop at character cutouts either, you can in fact have mechanized heads that eerily replicate characters from the aforementioned D3P published titles, such as this lovely mech robotic head of main heroine, Tsumugi Tamaori from Samurai Maiden.
You can incorporate any such robotic parts in anyway you see fit, you’ve got free reign over the positioning, angle, size and number of parts you use for your customized mech in CUSTOM MECH WARS, for instance would you like your robot to come equipped with a functioning drill penis that serves as a melee weapon?
You can do that. Dazzle your robotic foes with mechanized “toxic masculinity”.
And just like with Armored Core, the parts you incorporate onto your mech will of course change statistical values such as Health, Attack, Speed, Tracking, but obviously if you intend on making a large scale robot you’ll be increasing the weight drastically resulting in virtually zero mobility, but your damage output will be insanely high.
But of course you can take advantage of the three different sizes across all customization parts, beauty is in the eye of the beholder after all meaning you can combine small / large frames with any size parts and vise versa producing an entirely unique mecha each and every time, the only limit is your imagination.
Now obviously you don’t just start out the game with all of these lovely parts unlocked right out of the gate, to unlock additional parts all you will need to do is essentially play the game and demolish as many NPC robots that traverse the area, you also have the chance of coming across rare golden loot drops providing exquisite robotic parts.
The entire name of the game is to team up with your friends, destroy robots, complete missions, unlock new parts and let your imagine run wild, enhancing the “beauty” of your creations by making them more extravagant and gorgeous and the best part of all is that you don’t have to worry about facing ridicule for your twisted mecha fantasies, as you’ll be sharing it within the safe confinements of your own social circle.
D3 Publisher really know how to make something so simplistic yet so hilarious and fun, and I honestly cannot wait for it to release on December 14th and to bare witness the horrors of user created mechas.
