Mechanicus video game Wishlist thread the sequel

[Battybattybats]

So some years back I made a thread here for us to wishlist about Mechanicus inclusion in video gaming. Many of us got a lot of what we asked for with the recent Mechanicus game (so much so I wonder if the designers read the thread).

 

So perhaps it’s time we consider once more what we’d like from representation of our faction in that genre. Including from dlc or sequels to the game we got or other existing games.

[DanPesci]

Really really enjoyed the mechanicus game.

 

However I found it waaay too easy. I never lost a single mission, and only ever had a techpriest killed once in the entire campaign (and that was only as it was a really low level priest id brought to its first mission when everyone else was up at lvl 10+)

 

I know theyve apparently released a patch for this, but ive not had time to replay through and see if this alters the endgame difficulty at all.

 

Obvious updates/DLC for me would be

 

- Hard mode/Endless mode/Game mode ++ etc

- More troop unit choices...get some sicarians or priests in there.

- New campaign that isnt necron based. Fighting necrons was fine..but id want something different to vapourise. Genestealer cult uprising on a forgeworld would be pretty cool, and tie in with the current GW release schedule.

 

If they did a full sequel id definately want there to be multiple factions you were fighting to keep you on your toes more.

 

 

Im not really sure how else I see mechanicus working in other games.

The openness of how a techpriest can customise themselves is an obviously great point to base RPG elements around...but then im not sure I could see say an open world RPG ever being made (elderscrolls: MARS haha).

 

What could be done really well is some sort of adventure/puzzle/mystery game based on a forgeworld...like a really grimdark monkeyisland :D

[MajorNese]

Yeah, the Tiresus patch indeed made it harder - a lot less CP generation, weapons cost more CP, a lot of Tier 1 skills toned down. Still not hardcore, but not the simple walkthrough like before. They patched while I was mid-campaign, which did come as a surprise during the next mission.

 

Endless mode would be awesome, a few more gameplay mechanics (armour and damage types are extremely simple) and different enemies would be welcome. Customization was good, my only gripe with it is that it was pretty much impossible to make melee chars (considering the limited melee weapon slots).

 

Tech wise, they kept pretty much spot on with existing 40k models. If they hadn't mixed in the skitarii/kataphron/Carl weaponry, that would have been quite limited, but as they did, it was okay. Still, a bit more customization would have been nice. If they do another Mechanicus game, they would have the opportunity to expand this, as they already have a good stockpile of guns.

 

Fluff wise, it was just spot on. Religious zealots, greedy, dogmatic, greedy again, and mixing in the one or other joke.

 

All in all, I do hope that they make another Mechanicus game. This one was great, and expanding the current mechanics/units/options would make it a lot more replayable.

[Prot]

(EDIT: I see now I may have played this through the post patch era, leading to my finding it harder than most?)

 

I had difficulties quite a bit early on.  I did find the gear made the game far easier, but I never, for a second, got bored of it. I loved every minute.

 

I would have paid for the Soundtrack had it not been included in the premium edition of the game. It was perfect.

 

Ben Counter had exceeded my expectations on this and manages to entertain the new 40K player, as well as us vets. The story line is a common theme for Mechanicus, but well done with some great insights into the Necrons as well. I used to be a big fan of his during his Grey Knight novels, but I hadn't read much of his that caught me like the content in Mechanicus. The art is great too... just all of it really fits together and the most disappointing part was the end. Literally I didn't want to finish so I stalled out as long as I could, but once you hit 100%, that's it. You're forced into the final conflict.

 

I heard the company was having severe financial trouble and the release of the game dug them out a bit. I'm not sure if that's true or rumours, but I would imagine that all the work that's gone into this game lays the groundwork. Could a new enemy or 'part 2' not be an easier task to take on as a developer?

 

I'd love to see even a part 2, or if it were a new enemy, Tau would be a very interesting contrast. Even Chaos is a good one because of the tech heresy created from a typical daemon engine. It would play into the moral conflict of the purists versus those that seek knowledge at any cost.

 

All I know is I just want more. If I have to pay for a sequel that pits Mechanicus vs. Orks wielding broken garage door openers as weapons, so be it. I'll buy it! (Maybe the Mechanicus needs more garage door opener tech. The STC door is stuck again!)

 

At any rate I think we all know the batting record for 40K games (while improving) is still quite stinky overall. This is a true gem, and it doesn't even focus on power armour!

[Magos Takatus]

I thought Mechanicus was a gem hidden among the bloated over-hyped triple-A games industry of late. It had plenty of attention to detail, interesting characters and as MajorNese said, they even managed to hide the odd bit of humour into the game. I wanted to see some Sicarians and some Electro Priests (perhaps even some FW Myrmidons), but I managed to waltz through the campaign without even finding the Kataphron technology, so I must have missed a few pieces of important tech. I completed the game before the final phase because I thought waiting until the Necron awakening was an automatic failure, so I triggered the final encounter earlier than usual. 

 

Over all I think they did a good job of delivering on capturing the soul of the Mechanicus in the game, so I'm not sure how to do a better job without just being more of the same. People have long clamored for some kind of Inquisition RPG game that included the investigative aspect of the Inquisition and I imagine a similar structure could work for some Mechanicus characters.

 

Having more representation of the Adeptus Mechanicus in the games recently is a big deal. Who here recalls the Space Marine game being set on a Forge World called Graia yet there not being a single tech priest in the entire game? Now they show up in most 40k computer games which is brilliant because it layers on a bit more of the uniquely weird 40k atmosphere.

[Black Knight]

Just finished it last night and this was the harder version? I agree that the first few missions are touch and go and I failed one but as soon as you get some AOE its game over for the Necrons. I do not think they can alter the CP anymore as right now there is just enough for the big weapons so they would have to alter it in some other way.

 

But the atmosphere itself is amazing, I got a little WeeEEEE from my vox caster every time a new unit or weapon was unlocked. It is a laid back X-com based game that for me was more enjoyable because the whole 95% missed shot thing is taken out and that is a much better system. Not nearly as hard due to that but honestly I hate X-com for that random difficulty spikes even if I like the background.

 

For expansions etc, they may have the engine running but they are stuck with Necrons and what we have already. Designing new levels doesn't take that much time but creating the art assets, textures, models, animation, etc is where the time sink is. If they wanted to release a new load of content quickly it would need to be based on Necrons again with the current listing of equipment. Plus with the whole Necron story arc that 40k has right now I wouldn't be surprised if their licence for a game had the condition that the Necrons were in it.

[RandyB]

The game offers a lot of replayability. Focus on Videx's mission set, and you get a different game ending than if you focus on Scaevola's. Then there's the secret mission chain. Further, the random offering of mission gear and semi-random tomb layouts and battlefields means each playthrough will offer different challenges.

 

For a sequel, or future expansions, other opponents would be fun. Genestealer Cults, Bladed Cog in particular. T'au. Drukhari (investigating/invading the Webway).

 

Or, For Great Justice!: Dark Mechanicus.

[Battybattybats]

The Blackstone plot could allow a sequel to add several factions while still including Necrons. Necrons wanting their Blackstone back for their own fight against the warp while Chaos wants it too.

 

Having some battles on a Forgeworld or onboard a Mechanicus vessel would be fun visually even though I agree it’d be likely a sequel not dlc because of all the time and money heavy art work.

 

I’d very much like to see Mechanicus vs Genestealers either in a sequel to the current game or adding Mechanicus to one of the Space Hulk games. The artwork showing Ruststalkers vs Genestealers has me excited by the idea of they and Infiltrators in a hulk.

 

I’d also like to see the Mechanicus game adding the two standard Dominus heads and the Manipulus into the techpriest paths and upgrades.

 

Also... am I the only one who wants to play through a mission (or dlc arc) where we find out how Reditus dies at the hands of Necrons before being turned into a servo skull?

 

Reditus gives us such an ‘in’ to the game through the magnificent intro cinematic that sets the tone for the game so well, brings Faustinius the message from Silva Tenebris, guides us through the tutorial and pops up through the game often enough that it makes me hugely curious about his death.

[Black Knight]

Oooh infestation of the Arc Mechanicus, they are huge to begin with and the tech on board is 3/4 not understood. That would be good.

[DanPesci]

 

Endless mode would be awesome, a few more gameplay mechanics (armour and damage types are extremely simple) and different enemies would be welcome. Customization was good, my only gripe with it is that it was pretty much impossible to make melee chars (considering the limited melee weapon slots).

 

 

My favourite guy was a lvl 18 maxed out explorator (mixed with the other path one that gives you more CP).

 

Him running around with a lvl 3 power axe, and two pistols became utterly lethal. He could literally run round the whole map, picking up CP as he went. 

 

Pop the '+ to pysical damage this round' item, usually kill a necron in one swing (get more cp!), and clean up that one or another with pistol shots. Then run him next to another necron (or two) who hadnt moved so when it does move, that also died as you still have the damage buff.

 

I always had the +9 to physical damage canticle...which made him hilarious too.

 

 

 

 

 I managed to waltz through the campaign without even finding the Kataphron technology,

 

I did the same, no kataphron! Got the kastelan who became ridiculous once you can bring him in for 1 CP :)

 

I couldnt figure out quite whose missions you should be picking to get what (although the skitarii leader lass seemed to give more troops than most..the troops still ended up in say scaveola missions too)

 

 

Damn, might be time to start up another campaign. Do not have time for this this weekend :D

[Prot]

Gees I had the Kataphron destroyer for (what feels like) most of the missions. His Grav Cannon was a pain to use though. It's just so easy to knock out half your team.

 

What I loved, even though it wasn't the greatest tool, was the Kastelan Fisty bot with flamer.

 

I found the simple Skitarii ranger at level 2+ just to be the best though especially with the fire twice ability. He went right through that armour usually when I really  needed it.

[MajorNese]

Grav cannon on a full dominus was a problem - I usually put it on someone without max level dominus. Otherwise, the explosion radius was so ridiculous, I could never even fire that thing.

 

The range just becomes fun when using arc pistol - take down necrons in an area, pop max range arc pistol on it for free, and just vaporize everything in a huge radius.

 

Gotta play it again sometime...so much to play/paint, so little time...

[Magos Takatus]

See, I didn't even try using Arc weapons in my playthrough. The huge variation in damage numbers made me pick more reliable alternatives. Is the Torsion cannon a weapon available in the game?

[MajorNese]

See, I didn't even try using Arc weapons in my playthrough. The huge variation in damage numbers made me pick more reliable alternatives. Is the Torsion cannon a weapon available in the game?

Arc pistol is nice, because it has AoE (great for finishing multiple necrons) and (after the patch) doesn't cost any CP to use, unlike other pistols.

 

Torsion cannon is in there. IIRC, it's the up-leveled version of the grav cannon.

 

And towards the end I grew rather fond of the CC mechadendrites - damage enemies (or finish off), knock back (to avoid opportunity attacks) and free to use.

[Magos Takatus]

I quite liked the ability to upgrade your servo skulls to deal damage. I had two in the party that did that and it was a nice way to finish off distant foes and gain cognition points too. It'll be interesting to see what tactics stop working in this harder version of the game. In the first playthrough I only had one tech pried go down and I lost a few servitors but the rest was mainly me mowing down Necrons. I bet if I try again I'll just get my backside kicked. :p

[RandyB]

I started playing the game post-patch. It's tough going early on - there are a couple of "Easy" missions that are tougher than they appear. But once you have your preferred tech-priest builds and play style worked out and get past the early challenges, it becomes an exercise in logistics - managing cognition and hit points to complete the missions, minimize Necron awakening, and maximize blackstone.

[Battybattybats]

Are there any other games you would like the Mechanicus faction added to as DLC?

 

Are there any other genres you would like a Mechanicus game in?

[Prot]

Are there any other games you would like the Mechanicus faction added to as DLC?

Are there any other genres you would like a Mechanicus game in?

My favourite Mechanicus novel series was by Graham McNeil and it has a very similar theme to the video game but I think it’s worth revisiting the series which I think would make a great sequel.

 

The other thing I’d love to see is something involving the exploits and adventures of Cawl as a sequel. There’s so little about him.

 

On a different note I sometimes look for Mechanicus content on you tube and quite often a space battle game comes up. It’s not my cup of tea but it seems popular. I know it’s beem out a while, the name escapes me. (Battlefleet Gothic I think. )

 

I think Mechanicus as a selectable race in a 40k mmo could be a lot of fun too.

[Magos Takatus]

Cawl does show up in the prologue to Battlefleet Gothic Armada 2 briefly but I don't know how much attention is on him during the rest of the game. It would be interesting to explore his character since there are so few characters for the Adeptus Mechanicus. If there was more depth to the character perhaps people would be a lot more welcoming toward him. I think he's an interesting character because he challenges a lot of Mechanicus dogma just to get things done. Seeing a little bit of his past would be welcome in my opinion to see how he became so influential.

[MajorNese]

Problem with Cawl is, he got established right before the Fall of Cadia. There's a lot of "product placement" fluff out there (Skitarius and the shorts around it) that is boring as hell - any fluff about Cawl could end up in the same uninspiring direction, just repeating the codex entry. Rather have unique characters like the techpriests from Mechanicus - true to the fluff, yet not shoehorned to represent this model they want to sell.

[Magos Takatus]

If you forced me to choose between a novel about Cawl and either a novel/game following the characters from Mechanicus I'd pick the same way too. The bickering between the various tech priests was entertaining. I merely thought the idea of filling in some background for Cawl was a good idea because people dislike how he just sort of materialized out of nowhere into the background. This is probably GW's fault for failing to develop any pivotal characters for the faction until they needed to for an army. The only other tech priest I can think of right now is Delphan Gruss from the old Inquisitor game and I have no idea if they ever developed that character after that. I wouldn't mind seeing him in 28mm. They could probably do a good job of him with their current modelling abilities.

[Battybattybats]

Call does make an appearance during the Heresy novels apparently. Not in one I’ve yet read though.

[Battybattybats]

With another new techpriest coming later this year for both Blackstone Fortress and a bookstore exclusive mini-game as well, with even more new weapons I’d definitely like to see those as well as the Manipulus added.

[Magos Takatus]

That's a good idea but one of the surprising things about Mechanicus was that it's not 1:1 connecting the miniatures to their appearance in the game. I really want the cool stuff from the Manipulus and the new Tech Priest added, but I'd like them to also be able to do their own thing if they need to. Yeah, I am asking for the moon on a stick for wanting what you want as well as them having leeway when designing tech priests. :D

[MajorNese]

With another new techpriest coming later this year for both Blackstone Fortress and a bookstore exclusive mini-game as well, with even more new weapons I’d definitely like to see those as well as the Manipulus added.

Adding the manipulus - unlikely. The developers created unique techpriests, and that is better than just re-digitalizing existing models. Love the higher-ranking techpriests' artworks, they really drive the theme home.

 

Adding the weapons and wargear - sure. For this game, they already used almost every weapon in the model range. To flesh out the game in the successor, adding even more would be probable.