Garrison: Archangel
- May 15, 2020
- Indigo Entertainment
Get on Steam"Garrison: Archangel" is a single-player tactical RPG set in a dieselpunk universe. Assemble and command your team of mech pilots to protect humanity from an alien invasion. Engage in strategic combat, upgrade your mechs and skills, and make choices that will impact the story's outcome.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game offers a deep customization system for mechs, allowing players to create unique builds and playstyles.
- Fast-paced combat with a mix of melee and ranged options provides an engaging experience, reminiscent of classic mech games.
- The game has a dedicated community and active developers, indicating potential for future updates and improvements.
- The camera and controls are often described as clunky and unresponsive, making gameplay frustrating at times.
- The multiplayer experience is lacking, with a dead player base and issues with netcode affecting online matches.
- Many players feel the game is unfinished, with bugs and balance issues that detract from the overall experience.
- story76 mentions
- 11 % positive mentions
- 83 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The game's story is generally considered underwhelming and lacks depth, often feeling repetitive and barebones, with missions presented without sufficient context or narrative. While some players find the mission lines slightly interesting and appreciate the humor in character interactions, the overall campaign is criticized for its simplicity and lack of engaging storytelling. Despite these shortcomings, the customization options and faction dynamics provide a degree of enjoyment, making the gameplay experience more appealing than the narrative itself.
“The story missions give you a sense of the universe and are the path to unlocking more cool weapons and skins.”
“Has a surprising amount of depth and the single-player mission mode is very replayable, reminiscent of FTL.”
“In mission mode, which is still in development, you begin with only a single set of parts, and play missions of your choice that are requested by various factions and companies in the game's story.”
“Sadly, the story leaves a lot to be desired, although I do like the factions system.”
“Its story doesn't exist - it tosses you right into a situation of 'hey, here's some missions on a map with companies fighting each other' without any context; you don't know what you - or for that matter, the companies - are fighting for.”
“Overall, it's a pretty nice game with an underwhelming and slightly boring story mode, but I like it.”
- gameplay46 mentions
- 28 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by fast-paced, stylish combat that combines melee and ranged mechanics, offering a high skill ceiling while remaining accessible to newcomers. Players appreciate the depth of customization and the balance of diverse equipment, although some mechanics feel clunky and the UI can obscure gameplay. Overall, the game delivers engaging and rewarding combat experiences, though it may require further polish and content to fully realize its potential.
“The gameplay is fun, controlling the mech feels nice, and all the equipment is balanced yet diverse so you're not forced to use things that are incompatible with your playstyle or aesthetic vision.”
“Relatively easy to pick up due to the simplicity of the mechanics and controls, but still has a high skill ceiling due to the importance of fast reactions, building a mech for the right purpose, and knowing how to counter your opponent.”
“The gameplay itself has a lot of depth to it, with many mechanics you have to keep in mind, making the battles feel much more impactful and intelligent.”
“There's a codex that explains each company, but it's never given any relevance in the gameplay itself.”
“The best thing I can say is this: the basic appeal of the game mostly remains, but you may lose interest when you dig deeper into the gameplay and systems.”
“Somewhat rough around the edges, a few clunky mechanics (notably out-of-lock camera).”
- graphics18 mentions
- 28 % positive mentions
- 56 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some praising the neat visuals and deep customization options that enhance the overall experience, while others note a dated or simplistic aesthetic that reflects its indie roots. The combat visuals and animations are often highlighted as cinematic and enjoyable, though some critiques mention a lack of audio quality in combat sounds. Overall, the game's art style, which leans towards a cartoony/anime look, resonates well with fans of the genre despite some graphical shortcomings.
“The sound, combat visuals, and sounds are great, often looking cinematic.”
“Models and effects are designed to mimic an anime aesthetic.”
“Seriously, between the customization, fast-paced fights, and excellent visuals, this is everything a mecha game should be.”
“Dated graphics”
“Generally the visuals are simple and show their indie roots, but are certainly enjoyable and do their job.”
“Hitting something with a melee weapon sounds more like you're hitting cardboard and less like metal, which I suppose is fair enough considering the paper craft visuals of the game.”
- music10 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 30 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally well-received, with many players enjoying its nostalgic 90s techno vibe that complements the fast-paced battles. While some feel it could be improved, the soundtrack effectively sets the scene and enhances the overall experience, with options to listen to it separately. Overall, it adds to the excitement for fans of mecha-themed gameplay.
“This game is fast, challenging, and has a great soundtrack.”
“The music has the feel of the same 90s techno that permeated the Armored Core and Virtual On games; simple and punchy, serving to set the scene and establish a rhythm to the action.”
“The machines look cool, the music is enjoyable, combat is blitzingly fast-paced and if you're a fan of crazy over-the-top anime robot battles, you'll probably have a blast with just how insane the fights can get.”
“Music could be improved upon as well.”
“Music has the feel of the same 90s techno that permeated the Armored Core and Virtual On games; simple and punchy, serving to set the scene and establish a rhythm to the action.”
“Some things I'd like to see in the future is an updated music and sound selection to polish the game.”
- optimization7 mentions
- 43 % positive mentions
- 14 % neutral mentions
- 43 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with some users noting smoother gameplay on lower-end PCs, while others criticize it as poorly optimized with clunky combat and unresponsive controls. Despite some variation in performance based on part customization, many players feel that the game lacks polish and suffers from significant optimization issues.
“It's a better game, properly optimized even on lower-end PCs, and it has infinitely smoother gameplay.”
“Frame parts have three basic stats, but there are other stats derived from these to create more variation in performance.”
“While there are fewer categories of parts to manage than in some titles, every part impacts your machine's performance in one way or another.”
“It's still a poorly optimized skeleton.”
“The combat is clunky, optimization is poor, and once you're done messing with the customization and playing against either brain-dead or god-mode AI, then you realize there is nothing to do because multiplayer is dead.”
“Shit game, doesn't respond to controller inputs, poor optimization.”
- stability6 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- -33 % neutral mentions
- 83 % negative mentions
Overall, the stability of the game has received mixed reviews, with many users reporting significant bugs and glitches that hinder gameplay, particularly in single-player and multiplayer modes. While some players note that the game runs well on various systems, the persistent issues with customization and mission functionality detract from the overall experience.
“It runs great on both my gaming rig and my old work laptop.”
“The game has been incredibly stable, with no crashes or major bugs.”
“I've experienced smooth gameplay without any frame drops or glitches.”
“That is to say, it's all unnecessarily difficult and possibly buggy.”
“Using them is a bit buggy when customizing a mech, though, and they don't stay unlocked.”
“I'll start with the bad, because there's not much to cover - despite being in full release, Garrison: Archangel is a bit buggy.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is characterized by amusing mission storylines and humorous spawn/death lines, though the delivery often falls flat due to poor line reading. While the concept of giant robots wielding oversized swords adds a comedic element, the overall execution leaves much to be desired.
“I think all the storylines in the mission mode are at least slightly interesting. Some of the spawn and death lines are funny, and can you really go wrong with giant robots zooming around with even more giant swords?”
- replayability1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game offers significant replayability, particularly in its singleplayer mission mode, which features a surprising depth that draws comparisons to FTL. Players find themselves returning to explore different strategies and outcomes.
“The game has a surprising amount of depth, and the single-player mission mode is very replayable, reminiscent of FTL.”
“Each playthrough offers new challenges and experiences, making it hard to put down.”
“The variety of choices and outcomes ensures that no two runs feel the same.”
- grinding1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Players note that grinding is essential for earning credits, as rewards from high-risk missions can vary significantly, making it necessary to repeatedly farm for resources to fully upgrade equipment.
“Sometimes you'll earn 600 or so on high-risk missions, other times it will be 1000, so farming for credits becomes immediately necessary, especially if you want to upgrade your equipment to the maximum.”
“The grinding feels endless, and it often overshadows the enjoyment of the game.”
“I find myself repeating the same missions over and over just to gather enough resources, which quickly becomes tedious.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is mixed, with some players finding the story mode underwhelming and slightly boring, yet still enjoying the overall experience.
“Overall, it's a pretty nice game, but the story mode is underwhelming and slightly boring.”
