Brigador impressed me rather quick. The menu is a bit of a mess of information and lore, (not unlike the xcom ufopedia) with entries unlockable as you increase your score in game. I spent a bit of time here just looking at some things. The world is an interesting dystopia of off world colonies that has a strange future noir feel, a lot of the language is french-derived (or seems?) that give the fictitious world of sobe nore an unusual tone. I like the background of the game. the main menu music is top notch. this type of music is actually original and goes really well with the weird world of brigador! (It's a very differnet sort of feel from any synthwave i've heard used in a game and detracts heavily from the kind of themes and motifs most of that music has, which aren't actually that broad tbh)

You can pilot a classic mech, hover aircraft (attack helicopter type role), ground vehicle (mostly tanks, but some fast attack and recon roles) or hardsuit (recon role). the various platforms have advantages and disadvantages, you can select heavier or lighter chassis within these platforms as well, heavier meaning more shield hull and weapon hardpoint, the downside is decreased mobility and turning radius(i'm not sure that is a big downside) with weapons there is a LOT of flavor to pick from. You have a main and secondary weapon for each plus a special ability for defense. You can get creative with this. Weapons have different performance characteristics. shield penetration, rate of fire, splash damage, arc, spread, damage, and my favorite is plain penetration. the first heavy weapon you aquire (it's already unlocked you just need a chassis that supports the heavy weapon category) is a depleted uranium shotgun of sorts that fires in a tight spread. it can go through a good bit of the scenery.

i mentioned scenery. just about everything in this city is in your mechin' way. you can stomp your way through it but a lot of it slows you down. some things blow up too, so its good to clear your path a bit before you walk. you can get stuck (especially if you pick a big mech, which i usually do) if you get stuck you can stomp your way out, same with walls. enemies acn hear you fire your howitzer and will come rushing in from off screen so you have to be a bit careful in how much you shoot as you progress through the map.

God, i love the way the enemies are made. armor, aircraft, tanks, support vehicles hover bikes, all kinds of moving targets that will try to bum rush and hunt you down. you dont have to get real clever about it but all the vehicles in this game have strengths and weaknesses and it's fun to see what they are. you can pilot a lot of the vehicles you fight against as well.

objectives feel a bit like desert strike. blow this building up, blow up there radar centers, primary and secondary, etc etc. truth be told the mission objectivers aside from the writing and flavor text of what you are supposed to be doing arent that interesting. (This is one of the larger pitfalls in the experience, especially when going into freelance mode, it becomes monotonous quick and the thought of marathoning 10, 20 or even more of these in one sitting is gruesome.) there are also commander enemy units which tend to be stronger and that's often an objective, but you might as well try and kill them all for more points. the maps themselves are different and have a nice feel. some are luxury residential areas with mansions behind these riot walls and some are shoddy junkyard or industrial areas. theres also lots of pedestrians you can gun down and stomp on.

as you progress you can unlock pilots mechs and weapons but i'm not sure why you need to worry about this. in the beginning you get the most money through the campaign and you cant pick and choose anything other than a few defaults. the freelance mode is it would seem for after you complete the campaign.

visually this game looks nice. lots of debris and gritty looking stuff. the music is this fantastic synthwave type thing. the weapons sound cool. when your mech ducks down there are nice creaking metal bridge type of sound. The subtle details are there if you look, some things are hard to notice. A big issue is communicating to the player some of these details and whats going on (story, why my mech stopped moving, where that last enemy unit/objective is hiding, etc.)

the game feels a bit lacking in story. there's a great background to it but the campaign only does so much storytelling. for most this isn't much of an issue probably but i am just curious, and it would be nice to have more unfold as you play. there aren't cutscenes voice overs or anything of that sort of depth, but lots of good writing in it.

probably the best mech game i've played since mechwarrior 2. I dont knwo what to compare it too aside from desert strike. You feel a bit like steve jackson's ogre since you solo as the big dog against a whole slew of armor and mechanized support units. while already powerful from the beginning, i feel a certain lack of progress in my career as a brigador. unlocking weapons for freelance only takes it so far. if you could hack up your mechs when you earn enough money and accumulate an endless amount of weapon hardpoints or other abilities it could get real interesting. still the balance is spot on and the strategic clearing and engagement of maps is a game of pacing oneself and their ammo supply. you can engage in combat in different creative ways thanks to smoke grenades and cloak and a melee attack as well as the sound dynamic (explosions can be distraction) plus flanking enemies deals massive damage.

there are some rough spots and a bit of balance issues (like the mobile battle mechanized hardsuits just seem to just be a handicap) and there is a lot here that simply feels like it could go so much further than it already has, but as is its great fun. this is a lovely pure unadulterated indie game and what they should be like. the weapon ideas here are brilliant and if you want a mech game with lots of tactical options for weapons look no further, you wont be disappointed. Remember Wendell Hicken's turn based artillery Scorched Earth and how much fun that was to experiment with each weapon and see the results? The experience in playing Brigador is very similiar!

A lot of things in Brigador really shine. The cool soundtrack and really in depth backstory and lore heavy environment (table top RPG worthy) with this strange frenchy-feeling retrofuture and sensation of revolution with a tasteful touch of mashienkrieger like flair amidst a chaotic background of explosions lasers and gunfire. The really authentic feeling tank drive controls (some complained and there was a more arcade style traditional type movement scheme introduced as an option) married to a projectile trajectory dependent hit system (the height of your mech creates a steeper angle which makes smaller enemies that are close to you harder to hit since your shots can go over their heads) Loadout and vehicle options to diverisfy your tactical options or personal play style all combine together to provide a very nice balance of arcade style action and combat simulation. There is a lot to like here, it's a shame that what is there is also a bit dry in some spots, rough in others, and leaving anyone who plays it hungry for more in some way or another. The lack of voice and video is one thing, but the campaign itself feels a bit hollow when pitted against the lore heavy background with repetitive objectives and base mission type structures. While the suprise factor is fun of testing everything out yourself, video or gif demos of how the guns work before you buy them (or test them) would also have been nice to help you make your choices. The learning curve is while not terribly steep is 100% trial and error and it's a bit easy to feel lost or simply not know things due to the lack of tutorial the first hour or so you play the game. Brigador like many of it's own vehicles, is a bit barebones, but just enough to get the job done. luxury seats and AC have been thrown out of this ride and all the power is right where it matters most: in your weapon hardpoints and engine. :D

One of the more interesting things I discovered recently coming back to Brigador on a second play through is the in game dev mode... i randomly saw on a forum someone suggesting to press F1, and WOW.... i've never seen anything quite like this! You can modify the game in game on the fly as you play it. you can change the portraits and icons of everything and the text descriptions as well. This is maybe the coolest idea! I managed to test all kinds of weapon effects and it got me in a creative mood as i made my own super weapons pack.

So as you fight and shift uncomfortably in your 'seat' and sweat puddles, you start to note at some point that lot really stinks in the ride of a Brigador. Ammo is a real problem for some mechs (it seems the smaller mechs have a harder time than siege type fortresses) and resupply can really make or break you, and it's random if you can come across a depot compatible with your weapons in time (not exactly a great way to LOSE a marathon you put a good amount of time into). IMO, some weapons seem to have real balance issues in this ammo dept too (but maybe i havent foudn the sweet spot for their combat role) again, this is where tutorial could be helpful. How to field the use of some of this gear. The variety is nice and plenttiful but often it's very hard to know how to use it right/as intended, or what to pair it with. there are other minor issues too getting stuck in busted buildings, wrecked terrain or some bit of debris you can't see is a bummer as well, it happens easier with bigger vehicles, this is alleviated by stomping, there are a few things wher ethings can go wrong and you dont know why or what's happening until it's too late. Try as i might i can't master hit and run tactics. circling terrain and luring enemies into columns with using structures as cover works, but you have to not sound alarms, picking them off from distance is better but is often a short lived luxury as longer ranged weapons tend to be noisier, drawing a lot of off screen attention to your location. Other issues include the risk to reward for completing secondary objectives. Many times i've blown myself up simply walking over the wrong darn thing ending my mission and more or less wasting my time. There is little incentive (other than personal satisfaction) of clearing maps. I don't like this. I also don't like the plastic nature of in game currency and rewards, you can unlock stuff but since most focus is on the campagin mode, you need zero money until after you actually finish the game to buy things to unlock in freeplay mode. and even then you know what you like so there is little reason to buy anything other than what you like the most. i really find myself wanting some kind of 'committmenet' factor to my mech my gear, and my pilot who i might spec in some fashion towards a certain play style. plilots are nothing of that nature and seem unnecssary other than the flavor text. Make no mistake this isn't Front Mission and there is no RPG element here, and you don't play it as a character. You build no bond to your mech or your pilot and switch them as you see fit. (too bad becuas this is a great setup for RPG elements and stat builting) For some of us we are going to feel an irresistable and forever unsatisfied urge to mod and tweak our mechs just like in mech warrior 2. To get that extra turning rate, weapon ROF, or kinetic amror. Oh please let this happen someday!

This game is a must have for anyone who like the desert/jungle/urban strike games. It's a refinement of the idea and most mechwarrior 2 fans would enjoy this as well. A unique game and fun time. It's also incredibly beautiful as i know of nothing like it. It's a game you can love and look past it's flaws at times, shifting with an uncomfortable yet satisfied smyile in your open air seat as your autocannon works it's magic where it counts the most, and other times become frustrated by the corners that seeme to be cut as you blow up and die in a sheer stroke of bad luck or miscalculation. It feels like a rogue like where rather than making progress or bulding a character you are simply living in the moment.

-some veneer and implentation of a story and narrative. videos, audio logs, in mission events/plot twists. the lack of story is far too noticeable. The backstory is present the vision is cohesive and strong, this has to be conveyed to the player.

-in the same way, talk to the player. various UI improvements coudl really help the confusion and disoeritantion of battle. a lot has been done but still some more to do. the engine and detail of the world around is amazing. it doesn't do the game justice to have an engine that knows you are stuck in mud or stuck on part of a building but do not get a UI notification or hint of what's happening to the player. It feels like a real feedback issue, a tragic one not just in the sense that it creates a taxing hurdle for the player, but it limits the greatness of the engine and it's detail in a way the player is not able to sense or directly appreciate.

-speccing and career/character building as a 'brigador' committments to certain mechs/gear/pilots. This is just my opinion and personal take, but considering that there is plenty of choice and options for the player to work with, for an action game this has the tactical assortment you'd typically only see in a tactical TBT/RPG. it woudl seem natural for this game to havy RPG elements for character building as a brigador. freelance/Career mode could reflect something of this sort. (if done right a 'hardcore career' mode would be incredible... then it truly would be a roguelike)

-team missions. even if it's one other AI controlled friendly... anything added to the mission structure to give them more variety would be a big bonus. the complexity of tactical options and differentation between mechs really would make for an interesting experience in mixed unit tactics.

-the ability to train, learn, master, reverse engineer/re-engineer and mod and tweak all this crazy stock shit for those of us who are just that geeky (probably most of us) All this gear. I want to fiddle with it. I want to leanr to use a weapon and love and bond with it and at some point spend some of my hard earned career cash to comit towards improving that design slightly.

-team deathmatch, deathmatch, local co-op. if for no other reason than to just see the city explode and tenements vaporize.

completing one or two of those objectives to a reasonably degree would easily create a five star game. meeting most of them it would make Brigador perfect and maybe even one of the best games of 2016. If you like patlabour, mechawarrior, OGRE, japanese anime type robot stuff or any of the strike games you'll probably get a good time out of this and I would recommend the game.