STEEL HUNTERS
Last updated: 2025-04-07
- Unique mech designs, fast-paced tactical gameplay.
- Generous free-to-play model, no pay-to-win.
- Teamwork is key, active developers.
- Poor optimization and uninspired graphics.
- Lacking content, repetitive gameplay.
- Frequent crashes, freezes, server instability.
Verdict
Mixed
Summary
Positive 56% · Negative 44%. Score: 44 / 100
Positives:
- The game features well-designed mechs with unique aesthetics, abilities, and weighty feel. Players enjoy customizing and battling with these robots, finding the combat engaging and the scale impressive. The designs evoke a sense of power and are often compared favorably to other mech games or franchises like Transformers and Titanfall.
- The game offers fast-paced, engaging matches suitable for both casual and strategic play. Reviewers appreciate the balance between quick action and tactical depth, making it easy to pick up and play while still rewarding skillful positioning and teamwork. Matches are neither too long nor too short.
- The game is free-to-play and offers a generous progression system, including a free battle pass during early access. Players can earn premium currency through gameplay, allowing them to unlock content without spending real money. This approach is seen as a positive aspect, especially for an early access title.
- Teamwork and coordination are crucial for success, especially when playing with friends. The game emphasizes strategic positioning and combined abilities, making cooperative play rewarding. Communication and synergy between teammates can significantly improve the chances of winning.
- The game currently avoids aggressive monetization and pay-to-win mechanics, which is appreciated by reviewers. The developers seem focused on creating a balanced and enjoyable experience without pushing microtransactions. This approach fosters a positive impression, especially compared to other games with predatory monetization strategies.
Negatives:
- The game suffers from poor optimization, resulting in low FPS, stuttering, and performance issues even on recommended settings. Reviewers also criticize the graphics as being uninspired and outdated, especially considering the high system requirements.
- Reviewers consistently mention a lack of content, variety, and depth in the game. This includes limited maps, game modes, and activities, leading to a repetitive and monotonous gameplay loop. The game feels bare-bones and unfinished.
- The gameplay becomes repetitive quickly due to the limited number of activities and the uninspired game loop. Reviewers describe the experience as boring and monotonous, with little to keep players engaged long-term.
- The game suffers from frequent crashes, freezes, and severe lag spikes, often leading to lost progress and an unplayable experience. Many reviewers reported these issues occurring consistently, even on high-end systems, making it difficult to complete matches.
- Many reviewers reported server instability, login issues, and high ping, resulting in rubberbanding, disconnections, and unplayable lag. Some reviewers noted the lack of regional servers exacerbates these problems.
Gameplay:
- The game is a mech-based, team-focused PvPvE extraction shooter with battle royale elements. Matches consist of six teams of two players competing to be the last team standing or successfully extracting.
- Players level up their mechs and unlock skills through a skill tree, using resources farmed in-match. Account leveling unlocks additional hunters, but progression feels underdeveloped with minimal stat differences.
- The objective is to eliminate all other teams or successfully extract from a designated point. Matches often culminate in large-scale fights.
- Matches are short and fast-paced, potentially ending too quickly for some players. The small maps contribute to frequent early encounters.
- The game features a standard battle pass system with weekly gated levels.
Performance:
- The game's frame rate drops significantly when the player looks towards the sun. This suggests an optimization issue related to lighting or rendering of the sun's rays, which can negatively impact gameplay in certain situations.
- Reviewers have noted the presence of long loading screens, with loading times exceeding 90 seconds in some cases. This can disrupt the flow of gameplay and lead to frustration, especially for players with lower-end PCs.
- The game's login screen consumes a disproportionate amount of PC resources, with GPU usage spiking to nearly 50% even when displaying a static image. This indicates an optimization issue with the login screen's rendering or background processes.
Recommendations:
- Many reviewers recommend trying the game, especially since it is free-to-play, to form your own opinion. Some reviewers are enjoying the game despite its flaws, while others suggest waiting for further development. Overall sentiment is mixed, with many reviewers expressing hope for future improvements.
- The game is recommended for fans of mechs and robot combat. Some reviewers suggest that the game should lean more heavily into the mecha theme, even if it means sacrificing some balance. Some reviewers recommend other mech games instead.
- Reviewers are looking forward to future updates, content additions, and overall development of the game. There is a general sense of anticipation and hope that the game will improve over time. Many reviewers plan to revisit the game in the future to assess its progress.
- Some reviewers recommend the game to fans of extraction shooters, while others suggest that there are better options available. Some reviewers specifically recommend against playing this game, citing alternatives like Mecha Break and Titanfall 2 as superior choices.
- Reviewers suggest adding larger maps, increasing match timers, and introducing new game modes like TDM or a competitive arena mode. These changes are aimed at enhancing the gameplay experience and providing more variety. This point has fewer mentions than other points.
Miscellaneous:
- The game is in early access, so players should expect bugs and incomplete content. The developers are actively addressing feedback and plan to add more content and features as development progresses. Player progress will be retained when the game officially launches.
- The game features mechs and destructible environments, with gameplay similar to other mech games. The mech designs lean towards a Western style, which differentiates it from other mecha games. Some reviewers appreciate the detailed mech designs and animations.
- Some reviews contain complaints about crashes, AFK players, and long loading screens. There are also isolated complaints about language barriers and graphical settings. Some negative reviews may be overly harsh due to expectations based on paid games.
- The game currently lacks a story. This may be a drawback for players who enjoy narrative-driven experiences.
- The game features a progression system that gives higher-level players an advantage. Reviewers suggest providing feedback on the progression system to improve it.
