I love big robots. I just bought the deluxe “Smartglass” version of mecha movie “Pacific Rim”. I was a fan of Robotech. I’ve read Battletech books, and watched that short-lived TV series. I played my share of MechAsaault, among other mech games (I even bought the original Steel Battalion on the OG Xbox, massive controller and all, on launch day). I watched a bit of Gundam, and read the entire trilogy of English-language Gundam books, and want to explore it more. I was a huge fan of Exo-Squad, an animated show that’s a hidden gem of North American animation that I strongly recommend. So I’ve been eagerly waiting for “Blocks and Big Robots” to drop off the new releases list so that I could play it, keeping to my self-appointed rule to only profile games that are not shown in a high-profile fashion on the Dashboard or the Xbox website.
Thankfully, “Blocks and Big Robots” is really great. It’s more Exo-Squad than it is Battletech or Gundam, a statement that might mean something to mecha connoisseurs, but probably not much to the average indie game consumer. What I mean by that statement is the mechs are pretty agile (unlike the lumbering hulks of Battletech), but are smaller than your typical mobile suit from the Gundam universe. So that’s a pretty good match for the exo-frames of Exo-Squad.
It comes to us from Maximinus who has released a tonne of good games on the XBLIG channel, such as
“Avatar Monster Truck”, “8 Ball Champion LIVE”, “9 Ball Champion LIVE”, “27 Ball Funky Pool”, “Red Tie Miner” (and it’s sequels “Red Tie Miner Zombie 2” and “Red Tie Miner Zombie 3”), “Dirt Track Racer”, “Missile Escape”, or “Cosmic Caverns”, “21 Ball Snooker Champion”, and “Blocks and Tanks”.
It’s that latter one that appears to have most closely influenced “Blocks and Big Robots”, as they appear to be on the same engine. Both have a Minecraft-esque blocky world look, but here the emphasis is on quickly creating a world and then destroying it in destructible-environment combat. And it’s awesome. Battletech fans may get a kick out of their avatar donning a jetpack and fighting mechs, as it may bring back memories of playing as an “Elemental” in MechAssault. There are more modes of play than in “Blocks and Tanks” too, so the variety is there for your dollar. Online play, system link, and solo play are available, to boot. I can’t recommend it more highly.
Here’s what the developer (Maximinus) has to say about the game:
“Online deathmatch with big robots, featuring huge explosions in your typical fully destructible blocky world. Also supports CPU opponents for offline training.”
Writings of Mass Deduction 