Garrison: Archangel

About

"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.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Local Multi-Player Play with friends in the same physical space using split-screen or multiple screens
2-Players Play with one other player, either online or locally, in a cooperative or competitive game mode
Multi-Player Compete or cooperate with other players online
Co-Op Team up with friends to complete levels or missions together
Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo
PvP Player versus Player - Fight against other players in real-time, often in arena-style combat
Split Screen Play with multiple players on the same screen, often with divided or shared screen real estate

85%

Audience ScoreBased on 201 reviews

story9 positive mentions

optimization4 negative mentions

The game offers a fun and fast-paced mech combat experience, reminiscent of classic titles like Armored Core and Custom Robo.
Customization options are extensive, allowing players to create unique mechs with various parts and weapons, enhancing replayability.
The multiplayer mode, while currently limited, has potential for exciting battles and community engagement.

The game suffers from balance issues, particularly with melee and ranged weapon effectiveness, leading to frustrating gameplay experiences.
There are significant technical issues, including camera control problems and lag in multiplayer, which detract from the overall experience.
Content is currently limited, with a lack of depth in single-player modes and a dead online community, making it feel abandoned.

story
94 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
85%
5%
The game's story is largely minimal and lacks depth, serving primarily as a backdrop for its mission-based gameplay. Players engage in a variety of missions for different factions, but the narrative context is often vague and repetitive, with scripted events and humor sprinkled throughout. While the mission system allows for some customization and replayability, many reviewers find the overall storytelling to be underwhelming and in need of more substantial development.
- “A clever soft-RNG mission system turns this into one of those 'write your own story' mech games with scripted events when certain missions reach critical tipping points.”
- “The story missions give you a sense of the universe and are the path to unlocking more cool weapons and skins.”
- “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.”
- “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.”
- “There is not much to say about the storyline; in fact, there isn't even one!”
gameplay
61 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
69%
7%
The gameplay is a fast-paced blend of mech combat and fighting game mechanics, offering a satisfying mix of melee and ranged options with a focus on customization and strategic depth. While the controls are generally tight and responsive, some players noted issues with clunky mechanics and balance, as well as occasional crashes. Overall, the game provides an engaging experience with diverse mission objectives and a high skill ceiling, appealing to fans of both mech games and competitive fighters.
- “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.”
- “A customizable mech game featuring fast-paced and stylish gameplay with a focus on melee, but allows ranged options.”
- “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 gameplay is a bit too slow for my taste, not very precise, boosting is confusing and very limited.”
- “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.”
graphics
27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
67%
11%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some praising the neat and slick visuals that align well with the mecha theme, while others criticize them as dated and simplistic, reminiscent of late-90s arcade games. The art style leans towards a cartoony/anime aesthetic, which some players find enjoyable, but many feel it lacks modern graphical fidelity and detail. Overall, while the visuals may not be cutting-edge, they are often described as charming and fitting for the game's indie roots.
- “The sound, combat visuals, and sounds are great, often looking cinematic.”
- “Seriously, between the customization, fast-paced fights, and excellent visuals, this is everything a mecha game should be.”
- “The mechs themselves are very sharp and have awesome classic mech designs and style, simple in their aesthetic but very memorable.”
- “Dated graphics”
- “The game is not really beautiful, so that's a joke in my opinion (PS3-like graphics).”
- “Graphics is quite minimalist with mostly geometrical shapes, not much modern eye-candy such as reflection on textures, detailed shaders, weapon marks after hits, no dynamic damaging of enemy mechs either.”
music
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
47%
20%
The music in the game is generally enjoyable, featuring a high-energy soundtrack reminiscent of 90s techno that complements the fast-paced combat. While some players appreciate the nostalgic feel and variety, others find it a bit repetitive and suggest improvements for future updates. Overall, the soundtrack enhances the gameplay experience, though it may not stand out as particularly exceptional.
- “This game is fast, challenging, and has a great soundtrack.”
- “The music is enjoyable and the quick-paced battles are spot on for that mecha fanboy itch.”
- “Heavy electronic beats and melodic symphonic tones intertwine in a high-energy soundtrack that sounds like it's right out of Japanese arcades.”
- “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.”
- “As for you staring at the blue screen for a while and a little bit of repetitive garage music, it may look a little tiring, but there's nothing a minimized volume, or a third-party music player (the game's alt-tab function is handy) would be a huge help.”
- “Passable music.”
optimization
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
30%
40%
Overall, the game's optimization is widely criticized, with users reporting poor performance, frequent frame drops, and unresponsive controls, even on lower-end PCs. While some aspects of customization affect performance, the general consensus is that the game feels like a "poorly optimized skeleton," leading to clunky gameplay and a lack of engaging content.
- “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.”
- “Terrible performance, frame drops everywhere, even in the menus at low settings...”
- “Shit game, doesn't respond to controller inputs, poor optimization.”
stability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
83%
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 lag.”
- “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.”
humor
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized by amusing storylines and funny spawn/death lines, enhanced by the presence of giant robots wielding oversized swords. While the fan-generated voice acting varies in quality, it often leans towards the comically bad, adding an unintentional layer of humor to the experience. Overall, the humor is a mix of intentional jokes and the charm of amateur performances.
- “I think all the storylines in the mission mode are at least slightly interesting; some of the spawn/death lines are funny, and can you really go wrong with giant robots zooming around with even more giant swords?”
- “Voice acting is done by fans during game development, and some of it is pretty terrible while some of it is very funny.”
- “It's not even bad enough to be funny, because you can tell they were trying, but they're all just really bad at reading their lines.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
67%
The game offers a variety of modes, including arcade, survival, horde, and mission modes, which enhance its replayability. Players appreciate the depth of the single-player mission mode, likening it to FTL, and the engaging brawler mechanics provide ample opportunities for tinkering and repeated play, making it a worthy successor to classic titles like Virtual-On.
- “Arcade, survival, horde, and mission modes provide excellent replayability.”
- “The game has a surprising amount of depth, and the single-player mission mode is very replayable, reminiscent of FTL.”
- “This is an engaging brawler with a lot of tinkering and replayability, making it a worthy successor to the legendary Sega arcade fighter, Virtual-On.”
- “Arcade, survival, horde, and mission modes to play for replayability.”
- “This is already a surprisingly engaging brawler with a whole lot of tinkering and replayability, and it's a more than worthy successor to the aforementioned mech arena classic 'Virtual-On' for fans of that particular legendary Sega arcade fighter.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players note that grinding is essential for upgrading equipment, as rewards from missions can vary significantly, making it necessary to farm credits. The game offers a balanced experience for both single-player and multiplayer, allowing friends to engage without compromising the grinding aspect.
- “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.”
- “Throw in a robust versus system to play with your friends that, in a genius move, does not break in half for grinding single player.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is mixed; while players find the overall experience enjoyable, the story mode is perceived as underwhelming and somewhat boring, which may detract from its emotional impact.
- “Overall, it's a pretty nice game, but the story mode is underwhelming and slightly boring.”