AirMech Review

It's been nearly a quarter century since Herzog Zwei -- arguably the granddaddy of real-time strategy games -- graced the Sega Genesis, but it wasn't until AirMech came along that I realized just how unbelievably ahead of its time that old game really was. AirMech's inspiration isn't even a little bit hidden. It places you in the cockpit of a transforming aircraft/robot with the ability to lift, carry, and give orders to constructed units in a constant push to capture intermediate outposts and destroy an opposing AirMech's home base. That's pretty much Herzog Zwei, albeit with a much more modern look and a greater wealth of units to build. Oh, and it's free.

Robots in Disguise

Transforming into a robot and machine-gunning a bunch of goons on your front doorstep while simultaneously ordering up some anti-aircraft guns to be lifted and dropped at a choke point is a frantic good time. A lot of that is thanks to how AirMech incorporates a steady stream of creeps, the familiar automated soldiers from MOBAs (like League of Legends and Dota 2) from each player's base. They can't be commanded, though you can give them a lift if you're so inclined.


They're the most important element of victory in AirMech, however, and protecting them while keeping your opponent's little bastards out of your already-occupied outposts results in a constant, white-knuckle back-and-forth with no real chance to take a breather. A few simple hotkeys make it easy enough to queue up units to build even in the thick of a firefight, and with cash as your only resource there's not a lot of economy to manage. Which is good, because there's not much down time to plan complex strategies while doing the kind of micromanagement usually found in an RTS. Most of the time you'll be too busy picking up tanks, dropping them off with new orders, and frantically zipping back to what you thought was a secure base to counter your opponent's infantry drop.

A simple 1v1 match of AirMech will blossom into a surprisingly complex battle of reflexes and wits, but once you get a good 3v3 going there's ludicrous potential for strategy. Pickup games can be a chaotic mess sometimes, but find a couple friends and coordinate over a headset and you'll clean up. There's a CTF mode here as well, which I didn't personally care for quite as much as the old-fashioned team-based slugfest, but it can be a welcome break.

More Than Meets the Eye

Bear in mind, though, that AirMech is a pretty much entirely a PvP game. There's a solo option to play against bots, but honestly, the AI is dumb as a chicken with multiple concussions. At best, it's good for a match or two to learn the ropes, or to do a little farming for Kudos and XP. Playing co-op against AIs with a couple buddies is also an option, as well as a survival mode, but again, the computer opponents are just too embarrassingly thick for it to be much fun. You know, other than ganging up and completely trashing a helpless machine. Not that I'll judge if that's your thing.


There's a fair amount of customization available, should one want to put the time into it. Before the match even starts we're given a choice of 15 pilots, each with their own pros and cons, like gaining cash faster at the cost of decreased in-game experience gain. There are seven basic types of AirMech at present, including the familiar jet, a slow-but-rugged warthog, some flimsy-but-cheap and quickly rebuilding helicopters, and a weird UFO that transforms into a spidery robot that has the ability to capture and convert enemy units.

I found myself inclined to go with the big bruiser warthog, which steers like a pig (appropriately) but has the lifting capacity to quickly haul the larger, expensive tanks I tend to favor close to the front lines or to isolated islands where they'll more than outgun anything a lighter opponent might be able to bring over.

Variety Show

Each of these has two more variants that are purely cosmetic and can only be acquired by throwing down some cash. Most importantly, there are 34 different units that can be deployed on the battlefield, with multiple tiers of tanks, turrets, repair trucks, mines, and drones. Again, much like League of Legends, these can be either purchased with currency earned in-game or just bought outright, though and there are always a rotating selection on trial. Between all those and a small selection of accessories that provide additional minor perks, it's possible to put together a highly specialized loadout that caters to an individual's playstyle.


Even after a few weeks I'm still seeing someone pulling off something new every few matches, and no one strategy appears to dominate games. More than anything else I can appreciate that unlike the perfect knife-edge one has to walk in most any other MOBA, it's completely possible to turn the tide of battle late in an AirMech match. A sneaky drop near an under-defended base or a well-placed ambush won't always turn things around, but it adds a welcome level of strategy to a genre that normally offers a mostly linear path to victory. Its a game comprised of multiple satisfying "oh shit" moments and recoveries, rather than a single point where you know you're boned and might as well just pack it in.

Free as a Bird

We can count AirMech in the category of free-to-play games that've successfully pulled off the "free as you want it to be" formula. That said, it might be worth very seriously considering the $30 bundle on offer which opens up every one of the mech classes, all of the units, and a slew of other goodies and cosmetic options, which would otherwise take days of dedicated play to unlock, or weeks for those of us with, you know, other stuff to do sometimes.


If AirMech were just a straightforward, updated clone of Herzog Zwei, I'd have been pleased. That it actually builds considerably on its template while incorporating some of the best elements of its descendants has me nothing short of ecstatic. It probably won't pull away, say, hardcore League of Legends players, but that's not really a shortcoming.