I guess the first thing I should say is I'm not totally new to Choice of Games titles. Before I read "Mecha Ace," I had already read the entire Heroes Rise trilogy, Fatehaven, and Choice of The Rock Star. Since Mecha Ace, I have read Choice of The Dragon, and am now reading Choice of The Deathless.
Also, that might be the nerdiest paragraph I've ever written. But we're all friends here, right?
Anyway, as my title says, I really wanted to like Mecha Ace. I read 9 episodes before I gave up on the book. I'm assuming there are 10. I try to play Choice of Games titles (and other RPG games, like on Xbox, Playstation, or PC) as if I am playing it true to how I would act in real life. I don't try to be necessarily "good" or "bad," Paragon or Renegade if you will, but I just try to be fair and decent and choose to do what makes sense at the time. I find that makes me happy, playing a role that makes me feel like I am me being thrust into extraordinary situations... as opposed to playing as a different person altogether.
Well, that approach has gotten me so far, so good. Some light spoilers are ahead.
I used that approach with Mecha Ace, and I felt punished for doing so. I tried to stay consistent throughout; I chose a particle rifle for my main weapon, so I used it whenever possible, etc. By the time I reached the end of Episode 9, I was in a situation where I had four choices ahead of me, and *every single one* of them led to Game Over. I know, because I reloaded my last checkpoint and tried again and again. Before I knew it, everyone I cared about had died, and my character [SPOILER] had been mutilated in torture because I chose to remain loyal to my faction, and I felt like my mech piloting skills were no longer good enough to turn the tide of war. It really felt like I had let everyone down and had sealed all our fates.
I could see if I was intentionally making horrible decisions. I could see if I was "throwing the fight" and the game punished me accordingly. But I was trying my hardest to do a good job, and I failed miserably, with no possibility of rectifying anything I had done. I could understand dying, and then reloading and trying again, but it was completely unwinnable. That's not fun.
I was really considering starting from scratch and trying different approaches. But I was afraid, because of the length of the story, that I would try all over again and still end up in the same dire straits situation anyway. So, I've given up and have moved on to other Choice of Games titles.
That said, the writing was solid. It felt like a Mass Effect book at times. The detailed descriptions of the mechs / combat armatures and the fleets were very cool. If it would have been just a bit more forgiving, and maybe had a bit more humor or character depth, and not been completely unwinnable after a few hours of reading, I would've given it 5 stars, easily. But the fact that I feel like I'm not a complete idiot, but this ended up being a letdown and making me feel like a fictional failure, I have to knock it down to 3 stars. I ultimately just didn't enjoy myself.
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What's new in version 1.1.9- Now you can disable touch slide controls in Settings. If you enjoy "Mecha Ace", please leave us a written review. It really helps!
Product Details
Release Date: 2014
Date first listed on Amazon: June 14, 2014
Developed By: Choice of Games
ASIN: B00KY6XAKM
Customer reviews:
16 customer ratings
16 customer ratings
Developer info
Product features
- A 230,000-word story of conflict, love, and sacrifice, set in the midst of an interstellar war between Earth and its colonies.
- Customise and pilot your Combat Armature: your very own 20 meter tall mecha.
- Defend the innocent as a valiant hero, or revel in your enemies' deaths as a violent sadist.
- Turn your comrades into friends, enemies, or even lovers.
- Discover the history, politics, and technologies of the Interstellar Era, an original sci-fi setting.
- Decide the fate of humanity: a new order? An enduring peace? Or everlasting war?
Product description
Step into the cockpit of a giant robot in an interstellar civil war! Customize your mecha to duel against enemy pilots with "monosaber" plasma swords. Find glory, disgrace, and even love.
"Mecha Ace" is a thrilling interactive sci-fi novel by Paul Wang, where your choices control the story. The game is entirely text-based--without graphics or sound effects--and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.
Who will you be, pilot? Hero, villain, or renegade? Will you lead a unit of elite pilots to victory? Defeat your enemies with skill, cunning, determination, or heavy firepower? Fight for glory, for power, or for an enduring peace?
"Mecha Ace" is a thrilling interactive sci-fi novel by Paul Wang, where your choices control the story. The game is entirely text-based--without graphics or sound effects--and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.
Who will you be, pilot? Hero, villain, or renegade? Will you lead a unit of elite pilots to victory? Defeat your enemies with skill, cunning, determination, or heavy firepower? Fight for glory, for power, or for an enduring peace?
Technical details
Size: 5.7MB
Version: 1.1.9
- Access information about networks
- Access information about Wi-Fi networks
- Open network sockets
- PowerManager WakeLocks to keep processor from sleeping or screen from dimming
- Allows sending in-app billing requests and managing in-app billing transactions
- Allows verification of Google app Entitlements
- Receive message via Amazon Device
- com.google.android.gms.permission.AD_ID
Minimum Operating System: Android 4.4
Approximate Download Time: Less than 1 minute