Recent reviews by EXTERMINATVS

Just a couple days after early access launch and the game is already very good. At it's core this is a game of balancing risk vs. reward and there's many intertwined layers of well thought out systems at work here.

Menace is a hybrid squad-based, turn-based, rogue-lite (sort of), tactical battle simulator set in a sci-fi space setting. You have finite resources to draw from and if you don't play smart you're going to suffer for it. Everything is a balancing act, since you have a limit to how much stuff you can bring on each mission and anything that you lose is gone forever and not easily replaced. You can bring a handful of large, fully kitted out squads to a mission, but risk being outnumbered and overrun by too many enemies. You can bring more squads with you, but you're not going to be able to deck them out in the best gear. It's fun assessing the mission you're suiting up for and weighing the pros and cons of what you need to bring.

The game runs smooth on my aging PC and I've only encountered a couple small bugs (so to speak) and none of them were game-breaking. The core structure of a fantastic game is in here and the devs seem to be very responsive to feedback and eager to deliver the best game possible. My only gripes are in small quality of life features I think would be helpful. For example, your squad leaders stats improve gradually over time based on their performance in missions. Landing more shots on enemies leads to an increase in their accuracy stat, and I'd love to be able to see those stat increases on the post-mission screen. Currently you kind of just have to keep track of what each leader's stats are in your head and make note when someone who had 0% crit chance now has 5%. There's also some issues with visual clarity in certain places, like white / gray UI elements being very hard to read on snow maps.

Minor nitpicks over things that will probably be worked out sooner rather than later aside, this game is solid. There's a lot of depth to the systems, the voice acting is good, the art style is coherent and the graphics are solid. And it's fun. Getting a squad tricked out in jetpack armor, submachine guns, and grenades then hot-dropping into a swarm of insects brings me joy. Having a big ass mech with twin linked autocannons shred a path of destruction towards the objective brings me joy. All your Starship Troopers fantasies are here.

Honestly, not bad.

Just make all the content in the game available when you buy the game. Nobody wants to grind for hundreds of hours to "unlock" things. So stupid.

I initially gave this one a thumbs down. After more play time I realized it was a skill issue. It's not an easy game to get the hang of but once you do it's a blast.

I had a blast with this game when I first discovered it. It's a bit grindy and slow paced but there is a sense of constant progression which is nice. Never a period where you're just waiting around for that next level or whatever as you will be discovering new recipes and unlocking new perks all the time. The concept of managing a mercenary company through a fictional, low fantasy 30 Year's War is very cool. Truly a very good game.

BUT. I'm changing my review from positive to negative here because, after picking up like $40 of DLC, which is more than I paid for the base game, I go to start a new game and... it crashes during character creation. No problem, boot it back up and try again and... it crashes during character creation.

Bruh. Can't even get into the campaign before the CTD bugs show up? Crazy.

Also, why doesn't this thing have Workshop support?

It's like Diablo 2 and Elden Ring had a baby. Runs good enough on my aging PC with no major bugs or crashes so far. I feel like drop rates especially from tough act bosses could be increased. Gameplay is fun and the classes are cool. Definitely still in early access but the bones of an amazing game are there.

Absolute mess of a sequel.

It's the same game I played as a teenager but better.

great game if you enjoy hitting the end turn button over and over while nothing happens.

best dying simulator ever