Pinoy developer’s ‘Garrison: Archangel’ shows great promise

I power up my mech’s propulsion system, setting its thrusters ablaze as I zoom across the battlefield towards my enemy. He spots me, and lets loose a hailstorm of bullets from a pair of shoulder-mounted Gatling guns. I dodge quickly to the left, narrowly missing obliteration. My energy sword drawn, I close in for the kill.

In a blink, my foe rushes forward and smashes his shield into me. As I reel from the assault, he unleashes a barrage of sword slashes that rip into my armor like a hot knife through butter. In desperation, I retreat until his strikes can no longer harm me. But then I notice his blade folding backwards to reveal the barrel of a gun. There is flash of explosive energy, and before I can tell what is happening, my mech goes down, defeated.

Welcome to “Garrison: Archangel.”

 

An original IP from Philippine game developer Indigo Entertainment, “Garrison: Archangel” is a giant mecha fighting game that wears its inspiration on its sleeve. It’s impossible to go a single round of battle without being reminded of anime and manga classics such as Gundam, VOTOMS, and Macross. This, of course, is a good thing – especially if you’re a fan of the Real or Super Robot genre.

The game is currently in its pre-alpha stage, and belongs to the last batch of titles that received the Steam Greenlight. Thankfully, Indigo Entertainment managed to produce a working, downloadable demo, allowing anyone with a PC to discover what the game has to offer. With so many positive responses from the Steam community, I’ve been eager to try it out for myself.

Let’s just say the experience has not disappointed. Sure, it’s a tad rough around the edges, but for the most part, “Garrison: Archangel” is the real deal: a solid fighting game boasting exciting mechanics and oozing with giant robot charm.





Create, then destroy

Like other fighting games, “Garrison: Archangel’s” core concept is simple: select a fighter, then beat on another fighter until he or she is too weak to get back up.

What makes it different from most fighting games is that here, you get to create your very own character. “Garrison: Archangel” comes with a Garage mode, which allows you to pick your robot’s color scheme, body parts, and armaments.

Your mech’s appearance will depend on the body parts you assemble for it. But customization is far from a mere cosmetic endeavor; the many options available to you will drastically affect your robot’s stats. For example, the Kodiak torso type offers the best armor but the worst speed, while the Falcon will give you the best speed but the worst armor. The same is true of the various types of head, arm, and leg parts.

It gets more interesting when picking your mech’s armaments. There are numerous weapons available, and both of your robot’s hands can wield them. So you can have a sword in one and a gun in the other, or you could even have your mech hold two shields – not that I’d recommend such a strange configuration.

Melee weapons have secondary forms. For instance, the Blutreiter is a quick, short-range axe that converts to a slow but wide-reaching scythe. The Magnum Barrette is a sword that transforms into a gun. Basically, think “Bloodborne’s” trick weapons.

Guns and shield lack secondary forms. However, smaller shields allow you to parry blows, while larger ones can be used to bash opponents.

In addition to handheld weapons, you can attach weapons to your mech’s shoulders, and missile launchers or thrusters to its back. You can also equip its internal systems with a variety of enhancements, such as extra ammo storage and additional layers of armor.

Ultimately, your playstyle will be hugely influenced by your choice of body parts and armaments. Modifying your mech’s strengths and abilities through the Garage is a lot fun; not only does it allow you to exercise your creativity, it also challenges you with creating the best gear combinations to produce robots that’ll prove more than a match for enemies. There will be times when you’ll find yourself pouring more effort into the customization process than actual fights.

 

Fast and fun

Fighting in “Garrison: Archangel” takes its cues from “Dark Souls” and “Bloodborne.” Dodges are important, as is the proper and timely use of shields and weapons – just like in the “Soulsborne” games.  But “Garrison: Archangel” is much faster, so your reaction time plays a more important role in battle. Oh, and you can also speed around the battlefield, jump real high, and frickin’ fly.

Admittedly, due to its speed, battles are sometimes reduced to a mindless exchange of blows, with victory going to those who click on the attack buttons the fastest. This changes with higher level play, though. The smarter the opponent, the less you can rely on cheap tricks, and the more you’ll need sound strategy and expert skill to win.

Depending on your choice of weapons, your mech can attack and form combo strings by mashing buttons. You can lay into the enemy with several sword slashes, then use your shield to block any retaliatory strikes from your enemy. For extra offensive power, you can dual wield swords or guns, or go for the sword-and-gun combination. This, however, will reduce your defensive options, so make sure your dodging skills are excellent before going this route.

Swords, hammers, lances and the like are great for powerful melee attacks, but you can also damage enemies from afar with guns and your shoulder or back-mounted weapons. Bullets and missiles can catch your opponent off guard, while those with the ability to home in on targets can be a real pain to dodge. Ammo is limited, so the judicious use of firearms is something best learned quickly.

While different weapons allow your robot to perform distinct attacks, the game lacks special moves in the traditional sense. There are no Hadokens or Spinning Piledrivers here, no super moves that strip 30% off your opponent’s life bar, no fatalities that add insult to the injury of defeat. All your moves are “normals.” This doesn't make the action unappealing, but the addition of special moves would give players more tools, and therefore more options in battle. Perhaps this is something Indigo Entertainment can consider as they continue their development on “Garrison: Archangel.”





A work in progress

In addition to the aforementioned Garage mode, “Garrison: Archangel” currently comes with Arcade mode, which has you dueling a string of preset enemies; Tutorial, which teaches you the basics of the fighting mechanics; and Custom Game, which lets you pick specific settings for your match, including the battle type, map, time limit, background music, and number and nature of the fighters involved.

Unfortunately, the demo only comes with one map and one battle type, Elimination, which is basically a free-for-all fight to the death. You can have up to four robots in the arena simultaneously, assign fighters to teams, and even adjust the difficulty of the A.I. opponents.

The biggest mode that’s missing is online multiplayer. Thankfully, this is something the studio is committed to making one of the game’s major features, and should be available – along with other upgrades – come “Garrison: Archangel’s” official launch.





Showing promise

Indigo Entertainment has been working on and off on “Garrison: Archangel” for the last nine months. Suffice it to say that it hasn’t been an easy task, given they also have client work to maintain.

Nevertheless, the studio has been able to develop a product that shows great promise. Indigo Entertainment has ambitious plans for “Garrison: Archangel” – which you can read about here. I, for one, can’t help but be excited for the game’s official release in Q1 2018.

The “Garrison: Archangel” demo can be downloaded here. — TJD, GMA News