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Description[]

AirMech Wastelands is an Action-RPG set in an alternate future America following a global collapse of modern civilization. Originally implemented into AirMech as the Warzone game mode, Wastelands expands on the PvE mode and turns it into its own original campaign-driven story mode.

Wastelands was released on July 6, 2018 through Steam. While preparing for this, the main AirMech game, which was renamed as AirMech Strike, had any content relating to solo play, such as the Warzone, as well as anything that might affect actual gameplay beyond basic units and mechs, such as Pilots and Parts, turned to either cosmetic items only or removed altogether and then migrated over for use into Wastelands.

With the release of Wastelands was also a new soundtrack from Front Line Assembly, who provided the music for the game, labeled WarMech a week prior.

It is also important to note, that while it is a separate game, Wastelands does have integration with Strike. Most notably through the inventory and community chat system. Any currency or items purchased or rewarded in one game will then also be available in the other, allowing for an interactive Player Market. When using the Global chat system, those playing within Strike have their chat name represented by a purple or bluish color, while Wastelands players will show as a yellow or greenish color. The specific individual color shown represents the player's level within the game they are currently playing.

Story[]

"You are one of a few skilled survivors who are able to operate AirMechs and maintain them. You begin in the center of what used to be America where pockets of survivors remain, since the coastlines were reduced to ashes during the war.

You will rise up from scavenger to leader, adding AirMechs and the ability to build armies of your own to command. Will you discover the source of the continued attacks on humanity?"

The story follows The Pilot (the player) starting out as a simple scavenger on foot that stumbles upon an empty AirMech who is then recruited into the resistance to join the fighting against The Iron Hand. It then continues along as The Pilot takes on additional missions to secure new bases, rescue additional pilots and eventually put an end to The Iron Hand and its leader, Iron 1.

Gameplay[]

Basics[]

The basics of the game is to run missions to increase your player level to gain additional skill points that can increase the power of either your AirMech, Units, or pilot abilities. A player's level is increased through experience points earned through missions, primarily from the destruction of enemy units. An AirMech may also gain level increases through the purchase of service upgrades from a shop, with the exception of Void AirMechs which gain levels via XP similar to pilot levels.

There are 4 difficulties available in the game Normal, Warzone, Doomsday and Apocalypse. Normal is the default starting difficulty. Each of the others must be unlocked by completing the campaign missions. With the increase in difficulty, enemy units will become stronger, but experience points, salvage and qualify of parts earned all increase, as does the maximum level allowed for the Pilot and AirMechs. Upon successfully completing the campaign, the player is rewarded with a set number of Diamonds and an AirMech skin for each difficulty level.

Missions[]

Standard match gameplay revolves around taking missions that play with the same basic style as that of AirMech Strike. Build units, capture outposts and destroy the enemy fortress, though there are also survival missions against waves of enemy units without any enemy fortress or AirMechs to fight. There are also missions that require the pilot to play on foot, though these are few.

What differs in a match from AirMech Strike, which is geared towards a standard Verses gameplay, is that in most missions, the player will always start at a disadvantage in the game as the enemy will already control most outposts and have many units scattered about the map that the player will need to contend with.

Also unlike Strike, where an AirMech will increase in level during a match, an AirMech's level within Wastelands is based solely on its level gained prior to the start of the mission with its abilities based entirely on the parts equipped on it.

Prior to starting a match, the player has the option to switch their AirMech by clicking on it and selecting which AirMech slot they want. From the mech screen, you can also customize the equipped parts on the mech as well. Additionally, you may equip your Units loadout for what would be available during the mission; if the mission allows for unit building.

During a mission, when an enemy unit or AirMech is destroyed, the pilot may collect any parts or items dropped which will show as a glowing item on the screen or a colored star on the radar, with the color indicating the rarity of the item from White > Green > Blue > Purple > Yellow, with White being Common and Yellow as Special. Additionally, Salvage may also be collected from destroyed units which may then be sold for Kudos which may be used to make purchases from the Shops and upgrade their Base Camp and AirMechs.

A player may be defeated by either destruction of their fortress or running out of AirMechs; depending on the mission. If the pilot's AirMech is destroyed, they may re-spawn so long as they have another AirMech available that has been set up within the pilot's Hangar at the Base Camp. Some missions, however, will not allow for any re-spawns.

In any mission that contains an enemy AirMech, if the player is playing co-op with another player, an extra enemy AirMech will be added to contend with. If the player chooses to includes one of the AI Bot Pilots, no additional enemy AirMechs will be added. An ally Bot takes no commands from the player and typically builds as it sees fit using a similar unit loadout as the player. Unless it finds an enemy within its range, the bot will normally mirror the player AirMech's movement around the map.

World Map[]

Outside of a mission, a player will be found on the expansive world map that contains the different World Map Nodes of where a player may go. The map allows for unrestricted flying around the map, though you may only visit a location you have already unlocked within your current difficulty setting. Any locked areas, unless they are your next objective, will normally be obscured by fog. While flying around the map, you may also see other AirMechs; these would be other players currently playing but not actively in a mission. These players may be selected to invite into a party for co-op. Though, you may also invite any players from your friends list to join as well.

There are 6 types of locations to be found on the map: Base Camp, Player Market, Shops, AirMech missions, Campaign missions and Survival missions.

  • AirMech Missions - This will unlock the different AirMechs types or provide other rewards if already obtain. They are not required. The first time played on each difficulty, you are locked to a specific AirMech type, after that, any AirMech may be used. The actual mission may also change when played the 2nd time on the same difficulty.
  • Campaign Missions - This missions are required in order to complete each difficulty. They can be a standard 1 vs 1 or survival and typically include other required objectives.
  • Survival Missions - Standard fare survival missions where you simply need to hold out against a specified number of enemy unit waves. Most of these were previously in Strike as Warzone maps.

Once the player opens the Base Camp, it gives access to add structures that allow a number of options. Though there are many, the main structures that help in advancing are:

  • Base - This allows the pilot to assign new skills as they level up, along with any pilot Items that they acquire.
  • Depot - This is where the Units are. It allows for restocking spent units after a mission and increase the number of each unit type that is available during a mission.
  • Hangar - This is where the pilot's AirMechs are kept. Each hangar slot allows for a single AirMech that may then be outfitted with any parts obtained and makes the mech available for use during a mission. Each upgrade to the hangar allows for 1 additional AirMech to be equipped, up to a maximum of 8.

System Requirements[]

Minimum:[]

  • OS: Windows 7 64-bit
  • Processor: Intel i3
  • Memory: 4 GB RAM
  • Graphics: DX11
  • DirectX®: 11.0
  • Hard Drive: 2 GB HD space
  • Sound: Yes
  • Other Requirements: Broadband Internet connection

Recommended:[]

  • OS: Windows 10 64-bit
  • Processor: Intel i5 (quad core or better)
  • Memory: 8 GB RAM
  • Graphics: DX11
  • DirectX®: 11.0
  • Hard Drive: 2 GB HD space
  • Sound: Yes
  • Other Requirements: Broadband Internet connection

Notes[]

It should be especially noted, that while many things are shared between Wastelands and Strike, most Units and AirMech Variants have increased abilities or stats within Wastelands over their basic versions, unlike within Strike where they are only cosmetic changes in order to keep balanced and prevent any thought of Pay-To-Win within the game.

Trivia[]

  • Most of the survival missions were the previous Warzone maps that had been migrated from Strike. Most had very little actually changed on them.
  • After release, Wastelands was provided free to players who had previously purchased the AirMech Prime pack to compensate players on the removal of content from Strike.

Gallery[]

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