MENACE Review Summary

A polished turn-based tactics gem with stellar audiovisuals, but its shallow story, repetitive missions, and insufficient content hold it back.

Polished early access experience: Despite being in early access, the game feels remarkably polished with solid core mechanics and a satisfying gameplay loop. Players are impressed by the stability and smoothness of the experience.

Best turn-based tactics game: Players consistently rank this among the best turn-based tactical games ever played, praising its high-quality combat and strategic depth. The game is considered a must-have for fans of the genre.

Excellent sound and visuals: The game features top-notch sound design, including immersive music and satisfying gunfire effects, along with great graphics and art style. Audio-visual presentation is a standout aspect.

Tactical gameplay is rewarding: The game offers challenging and varied tactical missions that reward careful planning and strategic thinking. Players find the combat deeply engaging and satisfying.

Extensive customization options: Players have access to a wide variety of customization tools, including character loadouts, vehicle options, and difficulty settings. This allows for a highly tailored gaming experience.

Insufficient game content: A major recurring complaint is the limited amount of content, often attributed to early access status. Players feel the game is too short and lacks depth, ending abruptly.

Story is weak and shallow: Many reviewers criticize the game's narrative as barebones, weak, and practically nonexistent. The lack of a compelling story significantly detracts from the experience.

Repetitive missions reduce enjoyment: Players frequently note that missions become repetitive and lack variety, making longer sessions feel monotonous. This issue spans both mission types and enemy encounters, diminishing overall engagement.

Enemy AI runs away often: Enemy AI frequently retreats instead of engaging, dragging out fights and making them tedious. This behavior is especially problematic when enemies exploit the player's weapon range.

Game considered unfinished: Several reviewers label the game as unfinished, with incomplete story elements and rough edges typical of early access. This perception affects their overall satisfaction.

Turn-based tactical combat game: The game is primarily a turn-based tactical strategy title, featuring squad-level combat on a grid with a strategic layer. It includes multiple difficulty levels and missions, emphasizing tactical decision-making.

XCOM-like tactical experience: Players frequently compare the game to XCOM and similar titles like Jagged Alliance, noting familiar mechanics such as enemy pods and RNG-based combat. However, it is also seen as distinct and more challenging, offering additional options.

Extensive customization options: Players can customize squads, vehicles, and individual soldiers with a wide array of weapons, armor, and accessories. This high level of customization allows for tailored loadouts and strategic variety.

Squad leader system with progression: The game features a robust squad leader system where leaders can be promoted, kitted out, and upgraded with unique stats, perks, and abilities. This adds a layer of character growth and strategic management.

Customizable difficulty levels: The game offers customizable difficulty options, including expert modes and settings that affect resources, allowing players to tailor the challenge to their preference. This flexibility is appreciated by players seeking both casual and hardcore experiences.

Stable performance across systems: Multiple players report stable performance with no crashes or technical issues on various systems, including old laptops, gaming laptops, average PCs, and Steam Deck. This suggests the game is well-optimized for a wide range of hardware.

Good optimization in early access: Players note the game runs well for an early access title, with solid performance and low resource requirements. This is positive feedback for the current state of the game.

Works on low-end hardware: The game runs okay with low graphics on a work laptop and fine on a 13-year-old laptop, showing good scalability for low-end systems. This broadens the potential player base.

Linux Proton support works: One player reports the game runs great on Linux through Proton, indicating good compatibility for Linux users. This is a positive sign for the game's cross-platform support.

No crashes reported: A player explicitly mentions no crashes, reinforcing the game's stability. This aligns with other reports of smooth performance.

Recommended for XCOM fans: Many reviewers specifically recommend this game to fans of XCOM, Battle Brothers, and similar tactical titles, citing its genre fit and shared qualities. This cluster represents the most common recommendation pattern.

Great for tactics enthusiasts: A broad group of reviewers recommends the game to anyone who enjoys tactical strategy, squad-based combat, or complex decision-making. This suggests the game's core appeal is its tactical depth.

Appeals to turn-based fans: Multiple reviewers highlight the game as a strong choice for turn-based strategy and tactics lovers, indicating it fits well within that genre. The consistency of this recommendation shows a clear target audience.

Worth the purchase: Several reviewers explicitly state the game is worth buying, with some noting it is worth full price. This indicates a high perceived value relative to cost.

General purchase recommendation: Many reviewers give a straightforward recommendation to buy the game, without specific caveats. This broad endorsement suggests overall satisfaction with the product.

Community fair range: $20.00 - $35.00.

Game completion: 30.0h.

Story completion: 30.0h.

Session length: 1.0h.

The game delivers an immediately enjoyable experience that fades after the first few hours due to repetitive missions, AI flaws, and a lack of content depth, leading to a sharp drop in fun.

Veteran Tactician: Methodical, experimental with builds, careful planning and squad composition. Motivation: Deep tactical challenge and extensive customization options. Stance: buy.

Cautious Optimist: Interested but patient, may wait for more content. Motivation: Supporting developer and watching the game evolve. Stance: sale.

Frustrated Realist: Strategic, but feels limited by game systems and AI exploits. Motivation: Seeking fair and balanced tactical gameplay. Stance: no buy.

All three hardware cohorts report positive performance experiences, with smooth gameplay, stability, and few technical complaints.

Windows 12-15GB VRAM: positive. Players consistently report smooth performance, high frame rates, and stability, with no crashes or major issues.

Windows <8GB VRAM: positive. Even on lower VRAM configurations, the game runs well with no performance problems reported.

Windows 8-11GB VRAM: positive. Performance is generally fine, with only minor fps drops and audio glitches mentioned, but overall considered good.

Steam Deck: The game runs well on Steam Deck and Linux with stable performance, but suffers from critical UI scaling and readability issues, especially on small screens. Users must squint or use external keyboards to navigate, preventing a seamless experience.

Linux and Proton: User reviews consistently indicate that the game works well on Linux via Proton, with minimal or no configuration required. No crashes, performance issues, or anti-cheat blockers are reported in the Linux-related feedback.

Monetization: The game features paid randomized lootboxes (gacha) for squad leader tickets and overpriced black market items, steering monetization into an aggressive territory typical of free-to-play or hybrid models.

External guides: Primary external data dependency stems from missing in-game tooltips, stat explanations, and tutorials, compelling players to consult the wiki for basic mechanics and progression details. While a few players appreciate the community wiki, the overall experience is marred by opaque systems and insufficient onboarding.

Comparisons to XCOM and Battle Brothers: The game is frequently compared to XCOM and Battle Brothers, with many noting it offers a unique blend of both. Some reviewers consider it better than XCOM, while others highlight its distinct charm and gameplay mechanics.

Game is in early access: Many reviewers note that the game is currently in early access, with some saying it feels complete and others mentioning limited content. Despite its unfinished state, many still recommend it and praise its potential.

Frequent developer updates: Reviewers appreciate that the developers release updates every few weeks, adding new content and fixing bugs. This consistent support shows commitment to the game's ongoing improvement and evolution.

Active development team: The development team is actively working on the game, engaging with the community and delivering regular patches. This dedication is seen as a positive sign for the game's future.

Comparisons to Battle Brothers developer: Many reviewers note that the game is developed by the same team behind Battle Brothers, which sets high expectations. This connection is seen as a positive, given the developer's track record.