While I’ve never been much into mecha myself, I recognize that a huge part of the population love their massive fighting robots. Judging by the campaign for their new 2D platform shooter, the developers at Rocket Punch may be the biggest mecha fans of all. Code: HARDCORE features innovative 2D animation that delivers vivid details and immersive backgrounds. Oh, and it also looks really fun.

Rocket Punch uses skeleton animation and sprite switching techniques to create highly detailed mechas with smooth, life-like movements, all of which required hundreds of hand-drawn elements for each mecha. When combined with rotating 2D animation and rendering techniques these elements create the illusion of high quality 3D graphics without the added strain on the players CPU.

Instead of relying on pre-rendered battle sequences, Code: HARDCORE gives the player complete control over their fighting style and combination attacks. Mechas can fly and dash at any time through the level in addition to equipping a variety of weapons, items, and perks. The mecha pilots are also playable as they can eject and fight outside of their mechas. This allows them to complete additional missions that require stealth and hacking abilities.

codehardcoregif1Code: HARDCORE has a basic story mode that features cinematic cut-scenes and allows players to learn more about the game’s background story. It has something to do with rebel space colonies attempting to take over Earth from their outpost on Mars. It’s a nice addition that risks being completely overshadowed by the game’s mulitplayer and co-op modes.

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The campaign is already gaining traction on its $65,536 Kickstarter funding goal and still has over a month to go. At the end of the campaign, qualified backers will receive access to the Alpha demo.  The demo features 4 of the 15 planned mechas from the final game in a 1-4 player Versus mode. Code: HARDCORE will be available for Mac, Linux, and PC and is estimated for release in 2017. Definitely worth looking into if you need your giant robot fix.

(Ed. We’ve added the promising Code: HARDCORE to our Kickstarter Curator page, check it out at Kickstarter.com/cliqist.)

About the Author

Joanna Mueller

Joanna Mueller is a lifelong gamer who used to insist on having the Super Mario Bros manual read to her as a bedtime story. Now she's reading Fortnite books to her own kiddo while finally making use of her degree to write about games as Cliqist's EIC.

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