Giant hulking mechs with an unreasonable amount of weapons and insane jumping abilities. If that got your attention, then I should probably tell you a bit about DUAL GEAR. It’s a tactical action game with turn-based combat partially inspired by JRPGs, currently in development.
The game’s been residing on Indiegogo for the past few months. It has manged to double its original funding goal of $5,000. With a campaign page that provides abundant videos, insane amounts of gameplay information, and a Steam page offering a pre-alpha demo, I’m surprised DUAL GEAR hasn’t received more support.
DUAL GEAR presents a rather interesting twist on turn-based combat. That’s not only because mechs are involved, but also due to the fact that battles allow for a certain dose of free movement. While you control a squad, each turn allows you to navigate a specific mech freely, within certain boundaries. All while unleashing all manner of deadly attacks and abilities on your opponents. It’s almost like a weird combination between Worms‘ squad mechanics and Transistor’s movement-based stamina system.
Getting into the Game
After getting my hands on the pre-alpha demo, I noticed that DUAL GEAR operates a bit slower than I initially expected. Movement and positioning are key during each turn, with things like line of sight and proximity serving as suggestive mechanisms for optimal mech placement. The tactical element certainly shines, despite the initial impression of huge explosions and unlimited firepower.
Mech customization is also a vital part of DUAL GEAR. You can see a full overview of the details in this video. It shows how you can upgrade parts, choose camouflages, and browse through a selection of this fall’s most fashionable color palettes.
Judging by how polished the game looks, I was surprised to learn that it’s being developed by a team of five people. The developers are based in Bangkok and most of them are industry veterans. Some have even done work on titles such as Deadly Premonition and Aeternoblade. This seems to be the team’s second attempt at crowdfunding DUAL GEAR. There was a failed Indiegogo campaign which took place in the beginning of the year.
DUAL GEAR is currently being developed for release on PC, Mac, PS4, and Xbox One.
I’m surprised the game is still alive, it looked like a good step forward from Front Mission but no one seemed to care.