Incline MENACE - sci-fi turn-based tactical RPG from Battle Brothers devs

[Zanzoken]

Okay, I'm just gonna say it... this looks generic as fuck and I think it's going to flop hard. And I say that as someone who loves and has played hundreds of hours of Battle Bros.

Not saying they needed to just do BB2 but I don't understand the appeal of this game. It's such a weird departure from what got them their initial success.

If the game ends up being great then I'll be happy to be proven wrong and eat these words. But I just can't get excited about another sort-of X-Com clone.

 

[Üstad]

Okay, I'm just gonna say it... this looks generic as fuck and I think it's going to flop hard. And I say that as someone who loves and has played hundreds of hours of Battle Bros.

Not saying they needed to just do BB2 but I don't understand the appeal of this game. It's such a weird departure from what got them their initial success.

If the game ends up being great then I'll be happy to be proven wrong and eat these words. But I just can't get excited about another sort-of X-Com clone.

I think looks will never be good feature of games released by those devs, battle brothers didn't look good on surface either, it's just people tolerate it because it's not 3d or tries to look good.

 

[Jeskis]

Nah, it looks great and is going to be a banger. 3D allows for more freedom and this is its main appeal. With 2D you are effectively dependent on one or two artists to make any visual change.

 

[Strange Fellow]

We've had exactly one X-COM clone ever and it was called Xenonauts and it was pretty good. I'd like another. Not that this looks anything like an X-COM clone. Still looks more like a wargame to me than anything else.

 

[Alienman]

But I just can't get excited about another sort-of X-Com clone.

That's heresy talk.

 

[Tyranicon]

Not everyone is prestigious enough to play games with legless torso blobs.

Switching to 3D will draw in more of the normie audience. I hope they succeed, because BB was great and the devs deserve mainstream acclaim and moneys.

 

[Alienman]

We've had exactly one X-COM clone ever and it was called Xenonauts and it was pretty good. I'd like another. Not that this looks anything like an X-COM clone. Still looks more like a wargame to me than anything else.

Getting more 4X vibes than X-com.

 

[Shaki]

Not everyone is prestigious enough to play games with legless torso blobs.

Switching to 3D will draw in more of the normie audience. I hope they succeed, because BB was great and the devs deserve mainstream acclaim and moneys.

BB already succeeded, they have nearly 19k reviews on steam, that's absolutely massive for a small indie studio with a 2d game.

To compare, Age of Decadence sits at 3k reviews, Underrail at 5k. Even 3d normie focused Wasteland 3 has just 14k. And they're all more classic RPGs, which usually get bigger audience than pure tacticools. Phoenix Point for example hit 4k, Jagged Alliance 3 and Troubleshooter are both around 7k, Into the Breach which was one of this biggest tactical hits in normie crowds, sits at 15k.

I actually can't think of any tacticool other than nuXCOMs, that ever did better than BB. It was a massive success, and especially with 3 paid DLCs they made, I'm 100% sure they already made bank.

 

[Zanzoken]

I am not even talking about the switch to 3D necessarily. I mean the overall pitch and presentation of whatever this game is trying to be. It just looks extremely generic and uninspired.

I realize it's not 100% an X-Com clone which is why I included the qualifier "sort of". But it's military dudes fighting aliens in turn-based combat, which is close enough. And I just don't see anything about this that gets me excited.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Watch the teaser trailer for MENACE – revealing new unit capabilities and teasing the Snow Biome, one of 3 confirmed biomes in the game. MENACE is a turn-based tactical RPG set in an isolated system where a strange new threat has begun to emerge.

 

[Üstad]

I am not even talking about the switch to 3D necessarily. I mean the overall pitch and presentation of whatever this game is trying to be. It just looks extremely generic and uninspired.

I realize it's not 100% an X-Com clone which is why I included the qualifier "sort of". But it's military dudes fighting aliens in turn-based combat, which is close enough. And I just don't see anything about this that gets me excited.

It looks more like a war game actually but I get what you mean.

 

[Zombra]

How this game looks or what the theme is is irrelevant - Battle Bros was ugly colorforms in an incredibly generic fantasy setting, a masterpiece with a crappy cover. Either way, the cover doesn't matter here either. The question is whether the magical "pop" of their first game was due to brilliant gameplay design talent ... or a lightning strike. To mix a metaphor.

 

[Shaki]

How this game looks or what the theme is is irrelevant - Battle Bros was ugly colorforms in an incredibly generic fantasy setting, a masterpiece with a crappy cover. Either way, the cover doesn't matter here either. The question is whether the magical "pop" of their first game was due to brilliant gameplay design talent ... or a lightning strike. To mix a metaphor.

BB looked great, especially monsters and equipment, a lot of armor/weapon art is absolutely gorgeous, and character models also look pretty good. Also it had amazing sound design, which worked perfectly with the visuals, I can't think of any other game where combat felt so "meaty", visceral and satisfying, purely in terms of audio/visual feedback, effect of hits, crits, showing damage on combatants, etc.

The game was great in terms of aesthetics, with sound, visuals and writing blending together perfectly to elevate the gameplay. I don't think it would be even half as popular, if you'd replace the art it has with shitty uninspired 3d models, same if you'd remove the amazing writing or sound design. It'd destroy the atmosphere and remove the magic.

 

[agris]

How this game looks or what the theme is is irrelevant - Battle Bros was ugly colorforms in an incredibly generic fantasy setting, a masterpiece with a crappy cover. Either way, the cover doesn't matter here either. The question is whether the magical "pop" of their first game was due to brilliant gameplay design talent ... or a lightning strike. To mix a metaphor.

completely disagree. BB has a distinctive aesthetic that is charming, evocative of the setting, and not at all generic or cheap looking

 

[Zombra]

Shaki agris I stand corrected. Personally I never felt the art was the reason BB was good, it's definitely not what I think of at all when I think of that game. But I guess opinions vary widely.

For me, the proof of MENACE will still be in how it plays. I'm not disappointed in the looks because I had no expectations in that regard. (It doesn't look especially bad to me, I kind of like the vibe. And looking at that teaser trailer again the sound is pretty cool imo.)

 

[agris]

Shaki agris I stand corrected. Personally I never felt the art was the reason BB was good, it's definitely not what I think of at all when I think of that game. But I guess opinions vary widely.

For me, the proof of this game will still be in how it plays. I'm not disappointed in the looks because I had no expectations in that regard. (It doesn't look especially bad to me, I kind of like the vibe. And looking at that teaser trailer again the sound is pretty cool imo.)

that's cool, of course people's opinions differ. AND we're talking about art, the interpretation and judgment will always be subjective.

i hope it's good, but here's a good example of what i'm talking about with the 'lack of menacing vibe' and sterile presentation.

compare the shot of troops deploying in the cutscene vs in-game. of course cutscene is cgi, but the vibe is totally different. it looks menacing through the lighting and fog, whereas the actual gameplay has none of that vibe. the assets in the cgi portion are also distressed, the walls and ground are dirty, it looks... menacing

maybe they're selective about when they turn it on, and i hope for a good game too, but that's what stood out to me.

vibe shift?

 

[Strange Fellow]

Those are two completely different locations. It can't be all menacing all the time, that would be awful.

 

[agris]

Those are two completely different locations. It can't be all menacing all the time, that would be awful.

for sure. did you see any gameplay footage that did?

 

[Strange Fellow]

Those are two completely different locations. It can't be all menacing all the time, that would be awful.

for sure. did you see any gameplay footage that did?

That trailer was a huge nothingburger, I wouldn't even count that as gameplay. But by all means assume the worst, that's always the smart thing to do.

 

[Alienman]

Watch the teaser trailer for MENACE – revealing new unit capabilities and teasing the Snow Biome, one of 3 confirmed biomes in the game. MENACE is a turn-based tactical RPG set in an isolated system where a strange new threat has begun to emerge.

Could have been a Christmas game, but no. Got to release in 2024.

 

[Harthwain]

It is just me or the guy at 0:12 looks awfully lot like Imperial Guardsman from WH40K operating a Basilisk?

 

[Parsimonious cook]

Yes, it´s literally a guardsman firing an Earthshaker platform, hope GW wont notice this.

 

[Bastardchops]

We've had exactly one X-COM clone ever and it was called Xenonauts and it was pretty good. I'd like another. Not that this looks anything like an X-COM clone. Still looks more like a wargame to me than anything else.

What about Phoenix Point?

 

[Strange Fellow]

We've had exactly one X-COM clone ever and it was called Xenonauts and it was pretty good. I'd like another. Not that this looks anything like an X-COM clone. Still looks more like a wargame to me than anything else.

What about Phoenix Point?

I meant UFO: Enemy Unknown/X-COM: UFO Defense (1994).

 

[Yosharian]

We've had exactly one X-COM clone ever and it was called Xenonauts and it was pretty good. I'd like another. Not that this looks anything like an X-COM clone. Still looks more like a wargame to me than anything else.

What about Phoenix Point?

I've been playing Phoenix Point with the Terror From The Void mod and it's pretty good