TheRetroArcade
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Joined: Feb 2026
Joined: Feb 2026
The Battle Brothers makers have done it again, this time with a platoon-scale wargame.
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Menace has the bones to become one of the best strategy and tactics games released in years. The new early access game from the creators of Battle Brothers, years in the making, blends campaign strategy and platoon tactics—think the quicker-playing fun of Jagged Alliance or X-Com with the best bits of tabletop and board wargames.
In Menace, you're in charge of a shipful of volunteer space marines sent on a politically unpopular mission through a malfunctioning faster-than-light travel gate to a remote planetary system ruled by criminals, megacorporations, and military juntas. Naturally, this goes disastrously wrong and your ship half-explodes due to that busted warp gate and lots of people on board die. You're in charge because everyone above you in the chain of command is dead.
I can't stress enough how much fun Menace's core strategy play is.
So now you're spearheading a peacekeeping mission that's low on manpower, supplies, and weapons… but you're going to do it anyway, because that's just what a TCR marine team does. That means you'll be recruiting new soldiers not just from your own ship, but from the scum and mercenaries and villains of the Wayback system. You'll take them into different strategic operations, each a series of tactical battle missions against giant alien bugs, space pirate raiders, renegade local army units, and the eponymous Menace.
I can't stress enough how much fun Menace's core strategy play is, even with a few early access quibbles and only something like a third of its full content implemented. The basic rules simplify the kind of ultra-crunchy stuff you find in dense wargames into a faster-playing game without sacrificing any cool simulation—so you still have individual to-hit rolls for every bullet and five different assault rifles to choose from, it's just elegantly automated or combined into more accessible systems.
You can go into this game with a basic understanding of combat infantry tactics and pretty much start winning missions using the core military theories of fire-and-maneuver or fix-and-flank.
One of the most basic concepts in Menace is suppression and morale. Soldiers panic when shot at, even to the point of paralysis if enough lead (or lasers, or plasma) is flying at them. They'll also decide to retreat and regroup if they don't like their odds, or if something especially scary happens. You know, like an orbital laser cannon cutting a building and some soldiers and their tanks in half. (Shout out to the o...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
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Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.
Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
Menace has the bones to become one of the best strategy and tactics games released in years. The new early access game from the creators of Battle Brothers, years in the making, blends campaign strategy and platoon tactics—think the quicker-playing fun of Jagged Alliance or X-Com with the best bits of tabletop and board wargames.
In Menace, you're in charge of a shipful of volunteer space marines sent on a politically unpopular mission through a malfunctioning faster-than-light travel gate to a remote planetary system ruled by criminals, megacorporations, and military juntas. Naturally, this goes disastrously wrong and your ship half-explodes due to that busted warp gate and lots of people on board die. You're in charge because everyone above you in the chain of command is dead.
I can't stress enough how much fun Menace's core strategy play is.
So now you're spearheading a peacekeeping mission that's low on manpower, supplies, and weapons… but you're going to do it anyway, because that's just what a TCR marine team does. That means you'll be recruiting new soldiers not just from your own ship, but from the scum and mercenaries and villains of the Wayback system. You'll take them into different strategic operations, each a series of tactical battle missions against giant alien bugs, space pirate raiders, renegade local army units, and the eponymous Menace.
I can't stress enough how much fun Menace's core strategy play is, even with a few early access quibbles and only something like a third of its full content implemented. The basic rules simplify the kind of ultra-crunchy stuff you find in dense wargames into a faster-playing game without sacrificing any cool simulation—so you still have individual to-hit rolls for every bullet and five different assault rifles to choose from, it's just elegantly automated or combined into more accessible systems.
You can go into this game with a basic understanding of combat infantry tactics and pretty much start winning missions using the core military theories of fire-and-maneuver or fix-and-flank.
One of the most basic concepts in Menace is suppression and morale. Soldiers panic when shot at, even to the point of paralysis if enough lead (or lasers, or plasma) is flying at them. They'll also decide to retreat and regroup if they don't like their odds, or if something especially scary happens. You know, like an orbital laser cannon cutting a building and some soldiers and their tanks in half. (Shout out to the o...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?