Mech Mechanic Simulator

Developer: Polyslash | Publisher: Polyslash, HeartBeat Games, PlayWay S.A. | Release Date: 2020 | Genre: Casual / Simulation / Indie | Website: N/A | Purchase: Steam

“Mechanic Simulator” games have pretty much become their own genre in recent years and these days players are spoiled for choice when it comes to taking things apart and putting them back together again. However, just when we thought there was nothing left for people to tinker with Polyslash came along with Mech Mechanic Simulator. It is set in a future world where cars are a thing of the past and giant, powerful robots are all that matter. Players start as a mech mechanic with a fairly basic workshop who can take on repair jobs to earn money and boost their reputation. More cash means more workstations that can be put to use tackling bigger and better-paying jobs. Mech Mechanic Simulator sticks pretty close to the confines of the genre, but with the obvious novelty of working on giant mechs.

Mech Mechanic Simulator opens with a tutorial, which teaches you the basics of accepting contracts and then satisfactorily completing them to receive payment. Afterward, the game leaves you alone to focus on what you enjoy doing most. For some players, this will be repairing an endless succession of mechs while for others it will be buying and customizing their own stable of mechs. Polyslash has also thrown in a few other extras that are not often seen in the genre, such as the ability to dabble with the stock market and mercenary-style missions that can be assigned to your own mechs.

All tasks in Mech Mechanic Simulator begin with accepting a new contract from your computer or tablet. Before taking on a contract players can view the list of requirements to see if it will be worth their while or not. Some mechs only require players to fix one or two broken parts while others might stipulate that all broken parts must be replaced with new ones. There are usually other criteria too, such as having to clean the mech, give it a new paint job with specified colors, upgrading its operating system, and so on. Typically, the more labor a job requires the better the pay will be, but sometimes you might luck out and receive a mech with easy-to-fix issues. Other times you might find that the deadline for a job is way too stringent or that to get to that one tiny part that needs repairing you have to almost completely dismantle an entire mech arm or leg.

As with most of the games in the mechanic simulator genre, Mech Mechanic Simulator doesn’t require any special skills or knowledge to play. The fact that the game features giant mechs might actually make it less daunting to players who typically shy away from these types of games. Many players mistakenly believe that intimate knowledge of the inner workings of a Sherman M4A3E8 is required to enjoy something like Tank Mechanic Simulator for example, while Mech Mechanic Simulator is clearly rooted in fantasy. However, that doesn’t mean that stripping down a mech to its components and then rebuilding it isn’t a little daunting. Most of the repairs in the game focus on the limbs of the mechs and each of these contain enough interlocked parts to give a typical Lego Technic model a run for its money.

Mech Mechanic Simulator is played from a first-person perspective and the game allows you to roam around your rather sizeable workshop. Apart from your rather annoying android companion ambling about the workshop is rather empty and sterile, but most of your focus will be on the mechs in any case. There is a beautiful view of the outside world, complete with flying cars and giant neon signs, through the windows which do add a bit more life and color to the game. The mech designs are also very good and there’s enough variety between them to keep things from becoming boring too soon. While working on the mechs players can rotate the camera and zoom in or out to get a better look at the finer details. It can sometimes be a little tricky to spot one missing wire until you try and re-attach the entire limb only to spot your mistake. For the most part, though, the interface works well. Parts that need to be fixed or replaced are highlighted in purple while missing components are highlighted in red. The fact that the game highlights whatever components are blocking the ones you are trying to get to is also very useful.

Apart from tinkering around with mechs, the game features a few mini-game style segments for variety. These range from matching the amplitude and frequency of a mech during the scanning process to solving logic puzzles if you want to “calibrate” a mech and take it for a brief spin in a virtual environment. Actions like welding broken pieces, removing rust from components, or repairing wires with a “Pipe Deram” style mini-game are all pretty neat. Unfortunately, as with most games in this genre, you do eventually reach a point where there’s nothing new left to see or do. The game will continue to throw out thousands of generated jobs to keep you busy, so you can essentially keep playing for as long as you want.

The audio in Mech Mechanic Simulator is fairly decent, if a little run-of-the-mill, but considering the number of time players can spend in the game this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The sound effects also get the job done, but some more ambient noises to make the workshop feel a little more alive would have been welcome. The android that wanders around has a habit of saying annoying things at random times, but we didn’t mind it too much. Thankfully, players who grow tired of its nonsense can mute its voice from the options menu.

There’s no doubt that Mech Mechanic Simulator can become very grindy, but that’s an issue that the genre has as a whole, so it’s not just restricted to this game. We did find the game to be very relaxing for the most part and going through the process of upgrading your workshop and buying new mechs is quite rewarding. We also liked the subtle things in this game, like being able to do “illegal” jobs for extra rewards and being able to buy stocks. The latter is particularly neat as you can then boost your income if you focus on mechs from the company whose stocks you own.

Overall, if you’ve played any other titles in the Mechanic Simulator genre and enjoyed them you will already know what to expect from this game. On the other hand, if you have yet to try any and enjoy science fiction or giant robots, then this game is also a great place to get started with the genre. It doesn’t do anything radically new or different, but it is enjoyable and can be played while listening to music or podcasts.