Not quite Into the Breach
There was a time when every war game that came out was set during World War 2, and I recall being sick to death of storming the digital beaches of Normandy and was so grateful when the industry reversed to modern warfare. Well, as they say what’s old is once again new and we are seeing more games take place during WW2 again, and Grit and Valor 1949 is one of those titles but with a twist; huge, armored, mechs.
MSRP: $19.99
Platforms: PC
Price I’d Pay: $19.99
Grit and Valor – 1949 is a tactical, squad-based roguelike game that has players controlling various mechs instead of the usual rank-and-file soldiers. I really liked the steampunk-type style for the visuals, it really enhanced the look of the mechs. While players will have a choice between bipedal types, spider-bots and more I was disappointed at how many simple palettes swap variants there were. These variants are just some of the unlockable that players will earn while playing. When they die during a run, players will be returned to the base where they can spend scrap on upgrades, mods and more to empower their mechs to go ‘once more into the breach’.
One of the things I was surprised to see was that Grit and Valor isn’t turn-based like Into the Breach but instead is real-time combat. Players will begin each run by choosing their path along each map that is filled with combat nodes, shops and more. Combat usually has players moving their mechs into strategic positions around the maps usually protecting structures. On paper this sounds fine, but issues quickly arise; not the least of which is the fact that you are unable to fire while your mech moves. Adding insult to this is the fact that players can’t actually chose their targets. Mechs start firing when enemies are in range much like the Vampire Survivor type games, but it’s just an odd choice here. Being unable to prioritize targets is a huge misstep and led to the majority of my deaths during each run.
Grit and Valor uses the tried and true rock-paper-scissors triangle for combat, so players will have to ensure they have a good mix to combat the different enemy types. As players move along the map, they will find areas where they upgrade units mid-run. None of these improvements really felt meaningful as most of them was just refills for the different type of heavier ammo attacks. Players will find some minor upgrades which will provide a buff and a debuff but even these didn’t feel like they added a real strategic edge.
As a big fan of Into the Bridge, I was expecting more from Grit and Valor – 1949. I ended up enjoying the real-time combat nature of the game even though I was expecting something turn-based. Mechs for me are always cool and some of these had a neat design but the inability to be able to target specific units feels like a huge miss. Grit and Valor isn’t a bad game necessarily it just doesn’t really feel like a good one either; it just doesn’t feel very interesting.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
