Menace is the strategy game that will tell you when you're terrible at it
Menace is a promising turn-based strategy title that feels a lot like a game of Warhammer 40K crossed with X-COM.
Lloyd Coombes
28th Aug 2024 14:00
Images via Overhype Studios
Last year at Gamescom, I was able to check out an early sneak peek at Menace. The strategy title, which comes from Overhype Studios and Manor Lords publisher Hooded Horse, caught my eye because it felt a lot like an expansion of an X-COM title.
Offering turn-based combat that pulls in the "combined arms" feel of a Warhammer 40K battlefield, I'm pleased to say I'm now desperate to play more having seen a behind-closed-doors hands-off demo.
A proper Menace
In Menace's campaign, you're stuck in the Wayback System - an area on the fringes of space where, you guessed it, there's no way back.
Your unit is sent to keep peace out in the far reaches where various factions are warring with one another, but with the relay to send you home damaged, you'll need to work with them to return to the core systems.
This is done through Operations, small clusters of missions that you work through in order to help or harm your reputation with certain factions, and that plays out through turn-based combat.
On the surface, Menace looks like most other turn-based strategy games, albeit played over some very nicely designed maps that feel like a Warhammer 40K table come to life. More than once I felt the urge a child has when they want to reach up and touch models in a store, thanks to things like the almost 'fluffy' grass and impressively detailed units.
Look a little closer, though, and there's more to consider. Units can be suppressed in stages, potentially laying on the floor in a blind panic, unable to respond, while your all-seeing command ship can drop orbital strikes, Helldivers style, on targets. There's also no hit percentage like you'd find in X-COM, but there is damage fall-off.
Those two things combined make sniping feel immensely satisfying as you see off a squad of enemies at a distance.
Culture War
Perhaps my favourite part of Menace so far is the inclusion of a group of named characters that can be sent into battle. It's a little Fire Emblem in the way these figureheads interact, with a particularly proud fighter likely to react poorly when he's pulled up from the ground, while others that originated in rival factions may struggle to work together cohesively.
That's all on top of a variety of customization elements that let you outfit each with new gear. Once your character is gone, they're gone - permadeath means you won't be able to bring them back, and other troops will react to your actions.
If you sent a character to their untimely demise, you can expect the others in your squad to talk smack about you at the funeral, even outright blaming you for their death. It's a shot of personality that I really appreciated, and the characters can work together nicely, too.
In my demo, the sniper character on the team used her spotting scope to ensure the Mech's otherwise unguided missile system scored a direct hit, and I'm excited to see what other synergies emerge during what Overhype Studios has suggested will be a 30 to 40-hour campaign.
And, while you'll work with or against a series of factions within the game, a new horror-themed faction (the titular Menace) will put everything you've learned to the test eventually, too.
Final Thoughts
I love turn-based strategy titles, and in lieu of finding space for a Warhammer battlefield in my house, I think Menace might just be the next best thing.
Menace is currently slated to launch in 2024, and you can wishlist it here. Hooded Horse sponsored GGRecon to attend Gamescom, but this has no bearing on coverage.
About The Author
Lloyd Coombes
Lloyd is GGRecon's Editor-in-Chief, having previously worked at Dexerto and Gfinity, and occasionally appears in The Daily Star newspaper. A big fan of loot-based games including Destiny 2 and Diablo 4, when he's not working you'll find him at the gym or trying to play Magic The Gathering.
