Custom Mech Warsis the newest title for fans of the Japanese Mecha and Mech-Assault genres. Developed by D3 Publisher, known best for its work ontheEarth Defense Forceseries, the title sees players construct a specialized war machine as part of the civilian-led Four-Seven Squadron. While the title allows players to revel in its B-movie narrative,Custom Mech Warsstruggles to deliver an experience worth investing in, as repetition, poor visuals, and a host of frustrating gameplay issues detract from the title’s core strengths. In a year that has already seen the release of mech-assault titles likeArmored Core 6 Ωthese elements and their implementation makeCustom Mech Warsfeel like a relic of the past.
Custom Mech Warsfollows a civilian pilot, referred to as Newbie, as they join the Four-Seven Squadron’s human-piloted G-Mech Unit. The squadron was developed in response to a massive comet’s effect on the sun and asteroids surrounding Earth, causing cataclysmic natural disasters to occur all over the world. This, in turn, led to the abandonment of nearly every major city. Four-Seven Squadron is tasked with protecting these cities and myriad command centers for Earth’s defenses. Soon, a new range of threats emerges, with a massive comet, codenamed Asgard, coming close to Earth.
The sudden onset and ridiculousness ofCustom Mech Wars’ “natural” disasters are among the title’s most charming attributes. Within the title’s introductory missions alone, a comet causes an earthquake, which erupts a volcano, resulting in a malfunction in AI-powered G-Mechs, leading them to go rogue. Upon defeating the rogue G-Mechs, it is discovered that the malfunction has led toa zombie virusspreading throughout the defeated G-Mechs, bringing them back to life.Custom Mech Warsshines in its embracing of ridiculousness. However, the novelty of this element quickly gives way to a host of glaring issues, especially once players take control of their custom G-Mechs.
As the title suggests, G-Mechs are the stars of the show inCustom Mech Wars, and fans are given free rein to add as many, or as few, attachments to their mechs as they progress through the story. Whether fans dream of creating a massive war machine with 10 arms and 20 rifles, or a small and agile anime-girl mech with twin katanas,Custom Mech Warsallows fans to collect, create, and combine the parts necessary to bring them to life in the title’s Hangar and Research Facility. Players can create up to four interchangeable G-Mechs, which can be swapped out during each mission at will. As has becomethe standard across the mecha genre, the only thing limiting these designs is weight, as adding parts to a G-Mech leads to changes in mobility and combat effectiveness. Additionally, players can customize the HUD of their G-Mech, adding a range of indicators and radar elements to their view while playing.
Theexploration and mobility elements inCustom Mech Warsare a reflection of players' designs, as specific combinations of G-Mech parts alter a player’s ability to adequately traverse each battlefield to varied effects. Particularly, the size and combination of a G-Mech’s legs can greatly impact the possibility of completing a mission, as the title’s level design is not capable of allowing for the full range of customization options. While a player’s G-Mech may be perfectly suited for an open battlefield, it may be completely inoperable in a cityscape, bringing to light a significant pairing of major issues inCustom Mech Wars.
Custom Mech Wars’most noticeable issues are its visuals and level designs, which are underutilized at their best, and wholly detrimental to gameplay at their worst. Despite the B-movie goodness of its narrative,Custom Mech Warsfeaturesno thematic or in-engine cutscenes, with all dialogue and narrative exposition presented only in text, accompanied by Japanese-language narration. These texts feature more than a few simple spelling and grammar mistakes. Despite being a minor inconvenience in theory, these typos provide further evidence as to the lack of overall polish that players will experience throughout the title.
Custom Mech Wars’ missions are marred bypoor visuals, with enemy G-Mechs, environments, and combat animations reflective of those found in titles from the early 2000s. Likewise, enemy variety is sparse, save for a few truly inspired, and exceptionally rare, G-Mechs in the title’s late-game missions.Custom Mech Wars’ visuals lead to its enemy encounters feeling repetitive and unnecessary. Each level sees players dropped in a sandbox-style battlefield, with waves of enemies appearing from thin air. These battlegrounds range from a flat and empty desert environment to a dense cityscape, with all level types sharing in their silent emptiness. AcrossCustom Mech Wars’ 40 story missions, the same four battlegrounds are used, with the only variation being whether the level is clear or foggy that day. However, the true breadth of the issue can only be described through analyzing the title’s combat and mission objectives.
Custom Mech Wars’ combat sees players offered little guidance in how to deal with enemy combatants, a factor which emboldens the title’s focus on customization. Each mission can be set to varying levels of difficulty, ranging from Easy to Very Hard, and players are free to approach each mission at whatever level of difficulty they wish. However, the title encourages players to complete missions onthe highest possible difficultyby rewarding them with the completion of all prior difficulty levels and access to their awarded G-Mech parts.Custom Mech Warslets players know early on that playing on Easy may lead to their becoming unable to progress later in the game, due to the lack of parts they will collect. Additionally, players earn Ranks, ranging from S to D, after completing each mission, which results in further rewards.
Combat itself is rather simple, with playersutilizing single buttons to fire each type of weapon. Whether they have one assault rifle or 20, pushing the button that fires a G-Mech’s main weapon will fire every weapon of that type. The same goes for Melee, Auto, and Lock-On armaments. While in combat, players can pick up Special Items that add a certain perk for a limited time, such as “NoDamage”, “Unlimited” ammo, “SpeedUp”, and “BoostUp”, which greatly impact combat. These items are critical to players' success, as many play a direct role in replenishing ammo, if only for a limited time.
WhileCustom Mech Wars’ story missions are plentiful, they offer little to no variety in both combat and objective. Regardless of the major plot points in the story, and the narrative purpose of the specific mission, every level ofCustom Mech Warsseesplayers fight waves of enemiesin open combat, repeatedly flashing the same completion objective three to four times per mission, “Destroy All Enemies!”. Early levels require the player to defeat dozens of opponents within a certain time limit, to get their bearings. However, each subsequent level after the tutorial simply throws more of those same enemies at the player, with each attacking the same way. Toward the end ofCustom Mech Wars’ 40 levels, players are tasked with defeating hundreds of the title’s sparse enemy G-Mech types before the timer runs out.
Defeating hundreds of enemies proves just as easy as defeating a dozen, due to the amount of parts and weapons that players’ G-Mechs can be equipped with. If the player remains in motion, and dodges oncoming projectiles, they can easily overcome the most formidable of enemies. Additionally,pilots can leave their G-Mechto activate distraction and artillery towers throughout the battleground to aid in thwarting the opposition. However,Custom Mech Wars’ myriad issues converge to make certain combat scenarios extremely frustrating. For one, any G-Mech, regardless of size or parts, can be immediately halted by making contact with elevated highways, streetlamps, trees, rocks, sidewalks, or ally G-Mechs. What’s more, being struck by a single projectile can destroy a player’s G-Mech, requiring them to flee on foot, call another G-Mech, and escape before enemies shoot the dormant replacement.
Allies are a particularly significant issue in combat, as a major element ofCustom Mech Wars’ difficulty settings pertains to friendly fire. Even on its easiest setting, the title’sfriendly fire damageis set to 10% and goes both ways. Players will often find themselves losing progress to friendly fire, whether due to the loss of a G-Mech impacting Mission Rank, or the deaths of a whole squadron due to repeated friendly fire. Players and allies take damage whether they are accidentally shot in crossfire or simply bump into each other while walking. In a title that requires constant boosting movement and dodging from the player, both happen constantly.
While unavailable at the time of review,Custom Mech Wars’ final release will includea Multiplayer mode, through which the game’s missions can be completed with other players. With ally G-Mechs present, but lacking in effectiveness, across all 40 levels of the Story mode, it stands to reason that some of the title’s biggest issues could be negated through this mode. The ability to communicate would not only provide a means through which players could avoid friendly fire and collision, but combat at higher difficulties could provide a fun challenge for teams of players hoping to S rank all levels on Very Hard. It is not yet known whether the Multiplayer mode will feature unique missions. If so, the mode could prove to be one of the most compelling factors inCustom Mech Wars' otherwise repetitious gameplay loop.
Custom Mech Warsoffers players an extensive range of customization options, allowing them to create the G-Mech of their dreams, should they invest in its lengthy story mode. With itsB-movie sensibilities, the title boasts an underlying charm and ridiculousness that proves refreshing in a genre filled with overly serious wartime elements. Unfortunately, once the novelty ofCustom Mech Wars’ early customization and wacky narrative subsides, players are left with little reason to keep creating. With the promise of a Multiplayer component upon final release, the title may offer something for a particular subset of players to enjoy. But, as a single-player experience,Custom Mech Warslacks the overall polish and gameplay elements to justify the time required by players who wish to experience the full breadth of its titular concept.
Custom Mech Wars
WHERE TO PLAY
Customize to your hearts content with the Omega Customization System and battle with one-of-a-kind combat units in this third-person shooter mecha game. You’ll be able to freely build and customize your mechs to include anything you want – multiple heads, legs, and arms in whatever positions and angles you choose. And based on what you use, the parameters will vary wildly, so you may build mechs with whatever abilities and fighting styles you wish. Not only that, you can arm your custom mechs to the teeth with every weapon imaginable and blast your way through oncoming enemies and experience the heart pounding mecha action that only your Omega Customized units can provide.
Custom Mech Warsreleases July 29, 2025 for PC and PS5. Game Rant was provided a PS5 code for this review.
