MENACE: A Tactical Masterpiece That's Too Early to Buy. An Honest Review

The "Early Access" tag here is misleading: the game is closer to a raw beta version. But the content is already so good that you fall in love with MENACE immediately.

Space Hinterland

In the story of MENACE, humanity has conquered space. But the further you fly from Earth, the less order there is, and without control, piracy and corruption flourish. The player will have to lead a squad of marines to restore order in the far reaches.

Arrival at the Outskirts ends in disaster: the ship is destroyed, the crew is dead. It is impossible to fight in this state — you will have to work for the local despotic managers from corporations or the criminal underground. After all, large factions pay with resources for the destruction of enemies.

The cruiser "Impulse" will become the base. The better the reputation of the factions, the greater the variety of compartments and the number available for installation. They repair equipment, treat fighters, increase rewards for completing missions, and hire crew from local planets. The guns on the ship will allow you to hit enemies from orbit directly during missions. But be careful: replacing a compartment costs the full price each time.

Marines and mercenaries fight on the surfaces of planets. Commanders control squads of up to eight people. The number affects the health and damage of the squad, but you should not waste people — crew reserves are limited, and replenishing them is difficult and expensive.

Commanders level up and receive specializations as they level up: sniper, scout, assault trooper, or tank. And each has its own features. For example, Gene Sai is a looter: if she finishes off an enemy, you will receive an additional reward. Edwin Pike can be made into a real commodore, inspiring soldiers to long marches and additional actions.

A separate caste is the pilots of vehicles and walkers. Machines transport infantry and provide fire support, while walkers maneuver on jetpacks. Remember: damaged equipment works worse, and breakdowns remain until the end of the campaign. At the same time, depending on the pilot's skills, the commander may be better at repairing combat vehicles on the battlefield or, conversely, at colorfully slicing the enemy into slices from a heavy machine gun.

Fighters react vividly to what is happening: they praise or scold each other for successful or failed actions. They also receive bonuses and penalties to morale, which affect their behavior in battle — if you accidentally shoot your own, don't be surprised that they will be offended. And commanders also get tired — without rest, the squad's effectiveness drops. The roster of troops will have to be constantly changed.

Restoring Order in the Outskirts

The MENACE campaign consists of sets of mutually exclusive missions. The rewards for completing each one are constantly changing — leveling up fighters, weakening enemies in future missions, or resources.

The tasks in the missions are classic: assault, base defense, evacuation, or sabotage. There are also additional conditions: destroy a certain percentage of enemies or save the lives of all commanders. Time-limited tasks are annoying: for the sake of the timer, you often have to sacrifice fighters and expose them to bullets. Completing missions earns points that are needed to level up commanders.

There are only four types of enemies so far:

• Pirates — rabble with weak weapons, but dangerous elite fighters. They drop garbage for the initial stages of passing or barter.
• Rebels — pros with excellent equipment and vehicles, which are not a sin to use throughout the game.
• Xenos — diverse and dangerous alien bugs, reminiscent of those from "Starship Troopers."
• Cyborgs — "sponges" for damage, the very threat from the name of the game. They appear in the later stages of the campaign and are found in the ranks of other factions.

Excess equipment and trophies from bugs and cyborgs can be handed over to the black market. They also sell weapons, armor, vehicles, and dossiers for hiring commanders. The assortment changes randomly, and this is a problem: the desired product may not appear for months. I would like to have access to a store with a basic set of equipment as well.

Combat Operations

Before the mission, we assemble a squad, taking into account the weight limit, which varies depending on the mission. The conditions on the planets are different: sands, snows, dense forests. Trees serve as cover and allow you to sneak up on the enemy or set up an ambush. Night reduces the visibility of squads — night vision devices will come in handy here, if you are lucky enough to find them for sale.

Action points are spent on movement and shooting. Their number is affected by the commander's effects, the equipment of the fighters, and the conditions in battle: suppression, pinned, panic, and others.

The arsenal of soldiers is extensive: assault rifles, lasers, sniper rifles, flamethrowers, machine guns, and rocket launchers. Armor comes in light, medium, and heavy, and its choice directly affects the weight limit. NVGs, stimulants, or drones can be taken in support slots. There are also grenades, but they are of little use compared to rocket launchers.

Tactics in MENACE decide everything. Send a squad for reconnaissance, cover yourself with equipment in an open field, suppress the enemy's morale by flanking or suppressing fire from a machine gun.

The only thing that can be confusing in battle is that the enemy AI is unstable. Sometimes it brilliantly uses cover, flanks and partisans, then it's stupid, runs around the map from the player or lands troops right under your guns.

The main pain is armored targets, like Cyborgs. Without armor-piercing weapons, you won't even scratch them, and by the end of the campaign in early access, most of these enemies will be. It's a shame that because of this, you have to ignore part of the interesting arsenal, locking yourself in the framework.

Verdict

MENACE is captivating with its elaboration. Beautiful picture, destructible environment, traces in the snow — everything works for the atmosphere. Battles make you think about every move, apply different tactics and rejoice in victories even over single enemy squads.

But so far the game is raw — it's all the fault of early access. Now there doesn't seem to be even half of the content, and you can forget about the finale. It is worth launching MENACE now for the sake of an excellent tactical sandbox, cool soundtrack and atmospheric universe. If the plot and dialogues, the balance of the gameplay and the polish of the game are important to you, it is better to wait for the full release or a larger number of patches.