Slightly ‘Mech’anical- Mytran Wars Review

In the beginning, there was only “Game.”  In time, Game begat Role Playing Game.   Role Playing Game begat Strategy Role Playing Game who, in turn, finally begat Giant Robot Role Playing Game.  In the family tree of video games, few branches are as esoteric as the “GRSRPG,” sporting only a few titles such as Front Mission and Super Robot Wars, and it is a sub-genre that has had very little success in the West.  Nevertheless, Stormregion has tried to break into this niche-within-a-niche in their new PSP title, Mytran Wars.

In Mytran Wars, a heartless corporation, called the Kondor Corporation, has discovered a valuable energy source on the distant planet of Pythar.  They invade Pythar, only to find that it is already inhabited by an advanced alien race called the Mytrans.  Rather than trying to communicate with the Mytrans or to even try to study them, the Kondor Corporation opts to shoot now and ask questions later.  The player takes control of a team of Kondor soldiers, piloting giant mechs, who have landed on Pythar to conquer the planet in the name of their corporation. 

The battles are fairly straightforward: anyone familiar with SRPGs will be able to jump right in and start wiping the floor with conscientiously objecting alien scum, but the game paces itself slowly enough that a first time general can ease into the experience.  Between missions, you can upgrade your mechs and change your weapons load out to tackle the mission at hand.  There are a small variety of mission types ranging from capture-and-control to extermination, to keep the game from feeling stale.  The user-interface can look and feel a little cumbersome at times, it requires a few too many button presses to issue commands or survey your surroundings, but overall, the game is not difficult to control.  Also, the attack animations can be agonizingly slow.  After you aim, brace, fire and reset, the enemy takes a few seconds to reflect on his life before counter attacking in the same slow, calculated fashion.  This makes exchanging blow after blow with tougher enemies feel much more like a chore than a challenge.