Originally released in 2016, Brigador is a criminally overlooked mech game that combines cyberpunk style with great gameplay to create a challenging mech game that is exhilarating and a pleasure to look at. In it, the Great Leader is dead, and Solo Nobre is at war -- so it is time to blow everything up.
Brigador takes place in the city of Solo Nobre, the biggest city on the planet of Novo Solo. Originally a corporate mining colony, the planet was overtaken in a revolution by The Great Leader, a mysterious Big Brother-like dictator. Many years later, on the night of the enigmatic Great Leader's death, the original corporate rulers assign the various warrior pilots inhabiting the planet with high-value target missions.
These pilots are tasked with taking down the government in a coup that will allow the corporation to retake power over the planet through assassination, guerilla warfare and an all-out scorched earth campaign of total destruction. Brigador is packed full of lore, and the game's grounded narrative lets players play as morally questionable mercenaries taking down a totalitarian regime, a concept it absolutely delivers in spades.
Brigador's gameplay is a blend of strategy and twitch-style shooting combined with absolute destruction. Despite the top-down isometric perspective, the sense of pure mayhem and carnage is palpable. Players can level entire cities, with every building, wall and vehicle able to be exploded into nothing by powerful cannons, rockets, lasers, missiles and heavy machine guns.
Players must stay alert and cognizant of positioning and flanking maneuvers, as enemies can end the mission with a well-placed missile or shell to a player's exposed flank. Brigador also has a sound detection mechanic that brings in armed response once players start blasting, and often a well-timed cloaking maneuver or a strategic retreat can mean the difference between victory and a pile of ash that once was the player's fighting machine.
The game offers a satisfying combination of arcade shooting and mech simulation to create a game that is easy to pick up but hard to master. Players have to pay attention to how each mech's top half is positioned in relation to the orientation of its legs, and always face any opposition with the front of the mech where it is most armored. Brigador's controls allow for weapons to be fired on a horizontal plane and also lobbed over walls and obstacles to rain down destruction on unsuspecting enemy forces. Movement and careful positioning are key because battles can end in mere seconds if the player gets surrounded or exposed from the rear.
Despite the strategic bend, Brigador lets players have fun within its setting and gameplay. Players can choose to pilot a mech or turn up to the mission in a mobile howitzer -- or even a limousine, bristling with machine guns and rocket launchers. This freedom to choose what vehicle will best fit the mission, combined with the aforementioned destructibility, creates an exhilarating experience full of freedom to experiment. Brigador boasts a massive lineup of 56 vehicles and 40 weapons to choose from, allowing for a ton of player choice in how missions are completed.
Along with the exciting gameplay, Brigador offers a visual treat as well. The cyberpunk aesthetic of this punishing totalitarian world is full of neon-accented skyscrapers, giant political propaganda posters and ever-present corporate logos. Each level is highly detailed, with tiny cars filling up a parking lot and grimy (but ordered) city layouts just waiting to be exploded into rubble by players' bipedal war machines. Brigador leans into its aesthetic, and fans of Blade Runner and Cyberpunk 2077's worlds will feel at home in this dystopia. Even the music, created by synth-wave group Makeup and Vanity Set, brilliantly combines the aesthetic with the high energy gameplay.
Despite flying under the radar when it originally released, Brigador is a must-play for any fan of both realistic mech combat and cyberpunk settings. By combining satisfying destructibility with a gorgeous setting and great strategic gameplay, it succeeds as an easy-to-pick-up, difficult-to-master action game. Furthermore, players can purchase the Brigador: Up-Armored Edition, which improves upon the original's campaign, tutorial, lighting and much more.
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