I’ve been wanting to try Kriegsfront Tactics for a while now, and after playing the prologue, I’m really impressed. It has the potential to be one of the best new turn-based strategy games out there. While it’s clearly inspired by games like Front Mission, it has a unique feel of its own. It’s looking like a deep, strategic experience focused on mechs, and I’m excited to play the full game when it comes out.
What is Kriegsfront Tactics?
Kriegsfront Tactics is a turn-based strategy game in development by Toge Productions. You control a team of customizable mechs battling through the jungles, villages, temples, and mountains of a fictional 1970s Southeast Asia. If you’re familiar with games like XCOM or Jagged Alliance 3, you’ll quickly understand the gameplay. What really stands out is the game’s unique visual style – it intentionally looks like a classic PlayStation 1 game, and it’s done incredibly well, especially for those who appreciate that retro aesthetic.
The game begins with a prologue that offers a preview of the full experience. It includes combat, key story moments, and managing your mechs, giving players a good idea of what to expect in the finished game.
A Unique Southeast Asian Setting That Elevates Tactics
One of the first things you’ll notice in Kriegsfront Tactics Prologue is its refreshing setting. Rather than the typical sci-fi landscapes, the game takes place in a vibrant, detailed environment inspired by the forests and jungles of East and Southeast Asia, and this setting significantly affects how you play.
The dense forests offer natural hiding spots and opportunities for ambushes. Ancient temples and ruins provide solid cover during battles, and the varied terrain makes gaining the high ground a key tactic. While long-range visibility might seem possible, the abundant foliage quickly breaks it up, and forests or ruins can easily interrupt established defensive positions. It’s a surprisingly effective setting for mech combat, considering it doesn’t immediately seem ideal.
Turn-Based Combat That Feels Like XCOM
I believe turn-based combat works best when it’s straightforward, but finding that sweet spot is tricky. It’s easy for it to become either too simple and boring, or overly complicated and feel like a chore. Kriegsfront Tactics uses a familiar system – if you’ve played games like XCOM: Enemy Unknown or Jagged Alliance 3, you’ll quickly understand it. You move into blue squares to act, or yellow squares for longer movement, but then you can’t do anything else. Otherwise, it’s very similar to those games, including the ability to ‘overwatch’ for enemies.
The game introduces some interesting new features, like the ability to target specific parts of enemy mechs – their torso, arms, and legs. This is a must-have for any good mech game, as it makes combat more strategic. Damaging limbs realistically impacts how a mech functions. In one funny moment, an enemy mech without arms tried to kick my mechs, reminding me of a scene from Monty Python.
Each mech has multiple weapon slots, letting you customize them for any role you want. You can equip a mix of weapons like rifles, mortars, and missiles – you don’t need a dedicated artillery mech. This level of customization is a strength of mech games, as it feels natural for robotic units. Plus, there are even mechs built for close combat! The game also includes armor, adding an extra layer of defense beyond just health – shots must first break through the armor before damaging the mech.
PS1-Inspired Graphics That Work Surprising Well
It’s surprisingly impressive how good the game looks, with its retro, low-poly graphics. Instead of feeling old-fashioned, the visuals have a unique style, featuring crisp shapes and smooth animations. The mech designs are excellent, and the atmospheric lighting, combined with lush, detailed environments inspired by Southeast Asia – lots of browns, oranges, and dark greens – creates a really immersive world. It successfully captures the feel of classic mecha games like Front Mission and early Armored Core, but with a modern, polished look.
The game’s visual style isn’t just appealing; it also makes battles clearer and easier to follow. Combined with satisfying animations and sound effects, it really brings the feeling of intense metal combat to life. Plus, the particle effects and user interface are clearly inspired by the classic Metal Gear series, which is a great touch.
Players can also completely personalize how their mechs look, including colors and camouflage patterns.
Final Thoughts: A Promising Tactics Game Worth Watching
Honestly, I don’t know what took me so long to finally check out Kriegsfront Tactics: Prologue, but I’m really glad I did! If you’re into turn-based strategy or mechs, you absolutely need to play this. It really sets itself apart from other games in the genre, and if the full release is anything like the Prologue, it could easily be one of the best turn-based tactics games we’ve seen in years.
And considering the Prologue is free, it’s absolutely worth trying.
Read More
- Byler Confirmed? Mike and Will’s Relationship in Stranger Things Season 5
- One-Way Quantum Streets: Superconducting Diodes Enable Directional Entanglement
- All Exploration Challenges & Rewards in Battlefield 6 Redsec
- Quantum Circuits Reveal Hidden Connections to Gauge Theory
- Entangling Bosonic Qubits: A Step Towards Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computation
- Every Hisui Regional Pokémon, Ranked
- Top 8 Open-World Games with the Toughest Boss Fights
- Star Wars: Zero Company – The Clone Wars Strategy Game You Didn’t Know You Needed
- What is Legendary Potential in Last Epoch?
- If You’re an Old School Battlefield Fan Not Vibing With BF6, This New FPS is Perfect For You
2025-12-04 17:43