I am a simple man. I like mechs. I like mechs blowing up mechs. I like mechs blowing up mechs in alt history settings. There's a good chance, then, that I might quite like Grit and Valor – 1949, a real-time tactics romp that's evoking a lot of cracking games like Into the Breach, Iron Harvest and BattleTech.
Developer Milky Tea and publisher Megabit showed off the RTS for the first time in the PC Gaming Show, giving us our first look at its dieselpunk mech-on-mech action. Here's the skinny: World War 2 is still raging on in 1949, and the Axis powers have used their giant mechs to conquer Europe. Leading resistance mech pilots, you'll have to put a stop to their plans and turn the tide of the war—specifically by escorting an EMP into the heart of Axis territory, where it can destroy their HQ: Machine Tower.
As a species we are weirdly obsessed with the concept of 'World War 2 but more sci-fi', but like I said, I do love me some mechs, so I ain't complaining.
Your journey to Machine Tower will take you through a quartet of distinct regions, within which you'll encounter unique challenges and mechanics driven by the different terrain and enemy wave combinations. In these randomly-generated battlefields, you'll need to escort the EMP and tick off objectives while duking it out with waves of enemy mechs.
Like Into the Breach, it's a roguelite deal, so each mission could be your last—but you'll have a better chance of survival if you tailor your squad of mechs and pilots to each challenge, customising them with the right powers and upgrades. Your reward for each victory is the opportunity to beef up your fighting force so you can batter the enemy even more effectively.
Grit and Valor – 1949 will be launching on Steam in 2025.
