Precursors: Armored Angels

[quote][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/6142328/][b] With 1,300+ reviews, make sure to follow The Cpt Froggy Club Curator Page for plenty more![/b][/url][/quote]  The year is 2517 AD and humanity has left Earth and spread out to the stars, colonising three new planets, Athenais, Otnia and Qion Gud. You are part of the Armoured Angels Organisation, which consists of Dawn, Glance, Sparkle, Victoria and Grandor Craig. While most of the Federation retreated back to Earth after the defeat of the Federation Fleet one year ago, the Armoured Angels Organisation decided to stay behind and deal with the alien threat attacking our colonies new homes. You have one-hundred and twenty days to prepare before the enemy returns to finish off humanity.  Starting a new game, you have the choice to play from three game difficulties, Easy, Normal and Hard. Next you have two game mode choices Classic and Various, Classic is for those new to the game and Various for veterans or at least decorated with the rank of Ensign. There is some information about resources you start with in each of the game options.   There is a tutorial where you will learn the basics of the game which you can go back to at any time by visiting the menu screen. Along with the tutorial is Tactics, where you can learn about the different types of weaponry and you also have Pilots where you can find some information of each of the pilots, these can be found in the Academy.  On the main menu screen, you will also find Missions, Units, Research and Build along with the Academy. On the right-hand side of the screen is your Resources, Engineers and Scientists showing how many you have of each. You will also the countdown here showing you how many days until the alien threat arrives. Any research being researched and any current mech builds are displayed on the right side as well letting you know how many days they have left until completion.  You begin with three mech units and these can be found in Units, along with any others you build as you progress. You’re able to upgrade any of your mech from here with any new technology you’ve researched. You can also assign or swap Mech Pilots to any mechs you currently own. Should you wish, you can also change your mechs looks by visiting camouflage and choosing a new colour.  Once you are ready make your way to Missions and you’ll have a choice of two or three missions to play. Each of the missions on offer will give you some information about the mission and it will also tell you what rewards you will collect for completing a mission. Rewards for missions consist of Resources, Engineers and Researchers, all of which can be used to research new tech, build new mechs and used for upgrading your mechs. Each mission will take a number of days to complete  Entering a mission will have you fight against a number of enemy mechs. The battle ground is divided into square tiles which is only seen while it’s a mechs turn and shows where that mech can move too. To find out the range of a mech’s weaponry you’ll need to hold down the corresponding button for a weapon, this will then show a red ring indicating the weapons range.   The battle ground is only three tiles wide although the length of the battle area is much more. This is fine if you only have three mechs in battle but when having more than three I always had a mech who’s turn would first but they were always on the back row. I couldn’t move and I couldn’t attack the enemy because they were well out of range, so, I would have to waste that mechs turn.   Each mech will have a number of action points which is different from mech type to mech type. You will use these action points to move and perform an action, moving one tile will require one action point, some actions will require more than one action point to activate.   When firing upon your enemy you must make sure that your targeting accuracy is as high as possible. It will take an action point to increase your accuracy and you may have to increase it a number of times before you feel your accuracy is high enough to do some damage. If your accuracy is low then there is a good chance that you attack will miss your target completely. You don’t want this to happen as some mechs only have a limited number of ammo onboard and wasting them may come back to bite you on the botty later on.   There are quite a few different types of mechs that you can unlock and build as you progress. They come will various weaponry and some may come with more than one type, you have your bullet, missiles and various laser type weaponry. You are able to upgrade both your weapons and armour for each mech you have if you have enough resources and have unlocked the technology.  Defeating all the enemy will give you victory on a mission and you’ll gain the rewards which were detailed at the mission selection. After which you’ll go back to the main menu screen and be able to check on any new technology you researched or check out your new mech build or upgrade your mechs before moving on to the next missions.  I wanted to like this game and while it did grow on me a little, I did have some problems which were either just annoying or had me fuming. I mentioned one problem earlier about having to waste a mechs turn, one annoyance I had was the camera angles, you’re unable to raise above the battle area, you can span around your mechs but this then brings the foreground into your view so you can’t see.   Then when the enemy attacks the camera goes back and forth from the edge of the battle area to trying to go behind the attacker but it never does and all you see is your mech being attacked. This back and forth would happen each time they attacked which was really annoying when they attacked two or three times on the trot.  I also had the game crash on me a couple times while in battle which was frustrating but the biggest problem I had was when the enemy wandered to my spawn area and stayed there. This happened a couple times but the second time of it happening the enemy mech somehow carried on off the battle area and decided to walk off into the distance. I could not attack it as it ended up being out of range and after waiting a number of turns to see if it would come back, I had to quit the game.  There are no game options, the only option you do have is to mute the music.  Edit: Update - Developers have sorted the mech wandering off the field error and are working on the other issues I had which will be released in patch update at a later time. Positives   + Nice graphics  + Lots of mechs  + Has achievements  + Active developers Negatives   - Annoying camera angles  - Crashed a couple times  - Mechs wandering off the battle area  Lead the Armoured Angels Organisation against the alien threat which is on its way to wipe out humanity in its new home in the stars.  5/10    [quote]Key provided by developer/publisher for review purposes via THE CPT FROGGY CLUB!    Any opinions expressed are entirely my own! [/quote]   [quote]For more reviews, great game giveaways and much more.   Come join us @ www.Zeepond.Com and [url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/thecptfroggyclub]The Cpt Froggy Club[/url] Steam Group[/quote]

Review Update: After many updates, many of the points I mentioned in my review have been resolved. In combat we can now use the mouse to move and we can now move the camera. The game is still missing some quality of life features but overall a very good improvement after these updates and there is yet another update coming this summer. My old review follows. This is a good game but it was developed on another platform so the navigation and the UI is not ideal for a PC game. I have proposed some suggestions to improve that to the developers and they will use some of them on their next update in March. The game loop is as follows: When you start the game you have 3 mechs with all their weapons and armour, you cannot change the weapons or armour on your mechs but you can upgrade them. From the Units menu you can upgrade the weapons and armour for each of your mechs if they had upgrades available to them and you can choose a pilot for each of your mechs which gives small perks and also you can change the colour of your mechs (camouflage), after that you can use research, to research the next upgrade for the specific weapons or armour on your mechs and after that if you have enough minerals you can build another mech which will be brought in on your next mission.After that, you choose a mission that you want to do, each mission can give you minerals, research and build points that make it faster to do research or build mech. Some missions are there only to give you a better chance to improve your mechs, for a hard mission, where only time past (preparation mission) or with easy combat.(scout mission) but keep in mind that you only have 120 days to defeat the enemies, so don't use those missions too much since they are only side missions and they don't bring you closer to the final mission but they take days away from the remaining days left to win. The part of the game that need to be improved the most is the combat since the way it works it not ideal for a PC game which makes it hard to use easily (the map doesn't pan or zoom, no point and click for mech movement, need more combat info) which I have pointed out to the developers so we should see some improvement on it in the March update. So buy the game right now to support the development of the game i.e. to give suggestions to improve the game or wait on the next update in March to get a better experience.

[h3]RANKING:[/h3] [table] [tr] [td] [h3][strike]AVOID[/strike] | [b]LACKING[/b] | [strike]MAYBE | WORTHWHILE | COMPELLING | UNMISSABLE [/strike] [/h3] [/td] [/tr] [/table] [h3]SYNOPSIS:[/h3] [table] [tr] [th][b]WHAT TO EXPECT:[/b][/th] [/tr] [tr] [td] Precursors: Armored Angels (P:AA) is an indie made strategy game of turn-based tactical battles. Set in a technological future akin to 'Blade Runner', players command and manage a lance of mecha called the Armored Angels. A time-limited campaign of "chosen" linear missions is fought on tiny 3D battlefields. Skilled pilots are assigned to mecha. Researched tech allows the upgrade of existing units, and the construction of new ones. The game has a 80s/90s anime style. Streamlined design delivers easy playability. Solo play only [/td] [/tr] [/table] [table] [tr] [td][b]STATUS:[/b][/td] [td]Released but future support is dependent of sales, if not already abandoned for other projects. A major update has been planned for 2023 but remains elusive for now [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]APPEAL:[/b][/td] [td]For fans of streamlined Battletech derivatives lite on depth, features and in need of QoL [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]VALUE FOR MONEY:[/b][/td] [td]Its cheap price would not be far off were it not for its issues. As it stands a 50% sale would be fair [/td] [/tr] [/table] [i]More info below....[/i] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2964398433 [h3]KEY ATTRIBUTES:[/h3] [table] [tr] [td][b]THE GOOD:[/b] [/td] [td] [b]▲ [/b]Visually quite striking, with artwork that conveys an epic setting [b]▲ [/b]Large roster of 94x mecha and tanks to build, command, upgrade and fight against [b]▲ [/b]Easy to pick-up gameplay with some tactical options, due to streamlined design and features [b]▲ [/b]Able to research weapon and armour techs for upgrades and to build new mecha [b]▲ [/b]Good sound-effects, music and voice-acting [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]THE BAD:[/b][/td] [td] [b]▼ [/b]Tiny battlefields make for frustrating times, moving and positioning mecha [b]▼ [/b]Arbitrary mechanics such as unbeckoned reinforcements and arbitrary damage [b]▼ [/b]Pilots barely matter, only providing minimal benefits [b]▼ [/b]No deployment phase, damage preview, updated models etc [b]▼ [/b]Clunky mecha movement and animations [b]▼ [/b]Fixed camera with very limited functionality [b]▼ [/b]Unpolished and in need of QoL [b]▼ [/b]Non-native English writing/translation [b]▼ [/b]Missing a raft of settings. Even resolution changes [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]AND THE REST:[/b][/td] [td] [b]↔ [/b]Campaign with around 20x missions, whose order can be chosen from batches of 1-3 [b]↔ [/b]Combat has a kernel of fun where mecha quality and numbers outweigh limited tactics [b]↔ [/b]Non-combat missions serve to increment the clock and allow mecha construction and the research of tech when the situation is dire for the player [/td] [/tr] [/table] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2964397860 [h3]KEY OBSERVATIONS:[/h3] [b]THE GAME[/b] ► A predictable "epic" scale man vs machines backstory that is suitable for this game. ► The campaign is short and too linear despite the option to choose missions. Missions are also the same small scale unit battles on the same tiny battlefields. The rewards play a key role in selection as more minerals, scientists or engineers, means the chance to upgrade and build better mecha. ► The countdown clock limits mecha construction and tech research, while restricting the ability to reinforce the lance with more or stronger mecha in time for the next mission. ► Days can only be skipped by selecting mission with no enemies present, and only when available. ► Combat is basic and repetitive with limited tactics and strategy. Mostly it revolves around switching between heat regulation, battlefield positioning and keeping targeting levels as high as possible to maximise damage. ► Mecha models appear fairly similar but are cursed with clucky animations. Some of the mechanics also seem unfinished or unpolished. ► Actions are limited to only 3x attacks by weapon type, activating shields (if they are present) or using a few assorted pilot skills that allow; repair, orbital attacks or sensor and targeting boosts. ► Range is supposed to play a part in targetting specific locations on a mecha, but this mechanic seems nebulous as there is no specific feedback; visual or otherwise to confirm results. ► Battlefields tiny, uniform and without tactical elements; such as cover or elevation. Manoeuvring is virtually impossible and when fielding a full lance, units at the rear are stuck out of attack range. Making them only able to provide support. ► Mecha with ballistic or missile systems can run out of ammo making them useless for the rest of the fight. With ability to switch weapon types on a mecha, this can only be countered by mixing up mecha types. ► Achieving victory means bringing a lance with the heaviest mecha, the most number of units or the strongest ones. The side that brings to bear the greatest damage as quickly as possible to eliminate the other side as fast as possible, will emerge as the victor. ► The AI does a passable job and was even able to defeat me in a few battles, but only because my lance suffered unnecessary losses in previous battles. Here enemy numbers made the difference. ► Mech construction and research are streamlined to the bone. Research provides the tech to upgrade existing mecha and build new ones. Though only one at a time. Given the campaign clock, timing is an important concept. Mecha can at least be dismantled and their resources used to build new mecha. ► The pilot roster never changes as they neither die, nor can there ever be more than six mechs active. They neither gain XP or new skills. Its impossible to build all 94x mecha in one playthrough. Upgrade paths are sequential and entirely necessary as they scale with enemies in future missions. ► Audiovisuals look inspired from Final Fantasy, generating an ambience that promotes the setting's anime origins. Detailed artwork is a highlight even if the graphics aren't on a par due to fixed resolution. Decent voice-acting, battle effects and a soundtrack amplify the ambience. However, the voice-acted dialogue does not tally with what is happening on the battlefield. [b]PERFORMANCE[/b] ► Steam supports: Overlay screenshot capture and achievements. ► Bugs, there are a few. None that are game breaking. [See Full Review] ► QoL issues: There are many. [See Full Review] ► No crashes were experienced, but those reported were apparently fixed. [table][tr] [td]For more details on [b]KEY ATTRIBUTES & KEY OBSERVATIONS[/b] check out this link:[/td] [td][h1][url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/TheIrregularGamer/discussions/0/3819657908523276031/]Full Review[/url][/h1][/td] [/tr][/table] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2964398066 [table] [tr] [td][b]REVIEWED WITH:[/b][/td] [td]Game Build v (unknown - Feb 17, 2023) Played on Normal INTEL i5 6600 3.3GHz, 8GB RAM, GTX970 @ 1GB 1920x1080 windowed, EVO850 SSD [/td] [/tr] [/table] [h3]SUMMARY:[/h3] P:AA is an entry-level Battletech derivative with uncomplicated gameplay akin to mobile gaming. It looks and sounds good, possessing a kernel of basic yet enjoyable TBT combat. However, its mired in issues that bring its overall quality down. Aspects of the GUI and animations are clunky. Expected features are missing or lite. Despite no critical issues, there are bugs and a lot of QoL is needed. A major update in 2023 has been announced, but this could be dependent on sales and the developer moved onto other projects, Despite its promise I found P:AA to be [b]LACKING[/b]. It appears unfinished and should still be in Early Access. [quote=]Thank you for reading. | Follow my curator[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/40556040-The-Irregular-Gamer/] here[/url]. | Key provided by [url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/tbtactics]Turn-Based Tactics[/url][/quote]

Introduction A stylized game about mechs and fighting machines in defense of humanity. The game combines the ability to command, assign pilots, develop research, construct and improve already created mechs. Gameplay : 4/5 Graphics : 4/5 Music : 4/5 Sound Effects : 5/5 Voice Over Narrations : 4/5 Storyline: 3/5 Overal Note : 4/5 Positive : An interesting physics-based battle system. Your weapons can hit both the enemy and your own units. Lots of mechs, several branches of research development. Even though the fight takes place on a small battlefield, there is something cool about it all, a spark that allows you to relax and feel the fight. It takes more than 6 hours to complete the game. And play it at least few times to check out mechs from other branches of technology. The game looks linear, but it is more non-linear than linear, and although some missions are repeated, it is replayable. Missions are timed differently, some have different rewards, sometimes the same and sometimes different enemies, there are several plot lines to choose from. Various opponents at different difficulty levels. The cool thing is that the entire plot and universe are interesting and quite coherent. Negative : The game has a difficult-at-first-time UI and management type. But it's not so bothersome that it prevents you from playing. However, it takes some time to get used to it. There's a lot of micromanagement during combat, and I had to take a break from the game every 2 hours or so. On the one hand, you want to keep pushing, but on the other hand, I turned it off every now and then to take a break from it for a while. Some special effects need refinement. Lasers and rockets are great, but explosions and superheat effects, while nice, are sometimes buggy. This polish is missing for the UI and tutorial known from high-budget productions. Overal Review : It's not as big a production as X-COM or Battletech, but a very solid independent production. An interesting adventure for a few to several hours.

Interesting turn-based game. I like the graphics and the fact that you have to think a little about each move. The mechanics of the game are also very interesting, especially after the last update, many things have become clearer and the game is fun.

This is a turn based tactical strategy with robots. and go on missions to get some tech or cash so you can upgrade and research in It's lab with lots of variety of new tech upgrades to help construction of huge machines witch each mech/pilot has different abilities and some of them have to cool down after a while the graphics are quite cool and music is reasonable the only thing that spoils the game for me is the info for the robots on the play screen could be a bit smaller and theirs no rotating cam in game if you like games such as X-COM, Battletech then give this game a try

A few facts about Precursors: Armored Angels: Fact #1 - Thanks to the tutorial at the beginning of the game, you'll get used to the game's mechanics and controls faster. Fact #2 - You won't need 3 hours to be sure you have a good grasp of the game. Fact #3 - Precursors: Armored Angels won't just let you go. It can occupy all your free time. It's one of those few games that you won't want to tear yourself away from.

Basically a small crossbreed of several turn-based games than another X-Com or Battletech variant.

A much smaller scale of production than X-Com or Battletech, but still an interesting niche for turn-based game fans

Пошаговая стратегия с мехами, где вам предстоит сразиться с внеземной угрозой. Графика игры привлекательна, но главное не забывайте, ваше оружие может попасть и по вашим роботам. По тому, как вы попадаете по противнику, это очень напоминает игру X-COM.