Fast paced Worms-like
There’s been a lot of games that try to copy the success of titles like Worms or Tanks, but often come off feeling too derivative. “Yeah, it’s like Worms, but not quite as good” has definitely left my lips a handful of times. Needless to say, I was a little cautious heading in to Mayan Death Robots after hearing such comparisons.
Thankfully, Mayan Death Robots is a unique twist on something that definitely owes its roots to Worms but truly feels like its own experience with innovations. It’s exciting to play and exciting to watch, plus you can be a giant robo-monkey and throw banana bombs.
Each player chooses one god, each with their own special attacks. The design of these gods is absolutely fantastic, and I found it hard to choose one to stick with based on design alone. Eventually I chose the Sun God, who was basically a nuke with a face who could also launch nukes and regular missiles. In retrospect, I guess that was the only answer. A nuke with a face! My opponent chose the Lightning God, who could also reign down attacks from the heavens.
The object of the game isn’t to kill each other — though that certainly helps — but to destroy the opponent’s power source. Each god has four options: two unique attacks, jump, or build. The two attacks vary by god; the Sun God could either launch a Flare, which fired a tracer and then a rocket that came in at an angle. His other attack launched a different tracer, and then the next turn reigned down a massive nuke on top of wherever the tracer landed.
Firing these takes some calculations. Aiming uses a power and angle line, similar to the classic Tanks game but without a meter for power. Jumping works in the same way, and is used to maneuver the god into a better position, whether it be to get a better shot or to get out of the way of the opponent’s shot.
Building allows the player to create terrain within a certain radius of the controlled god. These terrain pieces are placed in Tetris-esque shapes and help to protect the power source or possibly even imprison the enemy god! There’s only a certain amount of terrain that can be placed, so it’s not like you could just cover the screen in terrain.
The most interesting part is the fact that turns happen simultaneously. Each player has a few seconds to choose which option they will perform, and then has a few more seconds to either move the angle and power of the attacks/jump, or to build the terrain. This not only keeps things moving, but also keeps things intense as you watch both sides’ actions happen at once.
Every so often, a giant wheel comes up that grants each god a new single-use attack. Though it may seem pertinent to use it immediately, the situation may not call for a Cluster Grenade at that particular moment. Plus, it can be a little predictable to always use the new attack after acquiring it. Never be predictable!
There are also Mayan statues and civilians running around and worshiping each god. Killing the opponent’s statues and Mayans will grant buffs and can help give the player more options as to what kind of battle plan they execute. Should you go straight for the power source? Or will you go for a slower burn and start to aim for the statues?
The whole match moves at a steady pace and there were event times where I was too busy watching the action unfold and totally missed choosing an action (it defaults to the last used action). Players need to be attentive, think quickly, and be unpredictable to be victorious. Mayan Death Robots is a fantastic strategy game that doesn’t drag on and keeps up the intensity. The game has already been Greenlit and it is just a matter of time until we see it on Steam.
