Mechs & Mercs: Black Talons is a real-time strategy (RTS) game where the player takes command of the Black Talons company. After a successful military campaign, the mercenary was abandoned on a hostile planet. The only means of escape is to help repel the invading army and recapture the planet.

While RTS games are nothing new (see Company of Heroes), nor are mech games (for example, Override: Mech City Brawl), an RTS game that puts mech at the core of what the game does is less common.

Enter the warzone

The story of Mechs & Merchs: Black Talons takes place against the backdrop of a war-torn galaxy. Many planets have declared independence, and chaos and corruption are everywhere. The player controls the Black Talons company, a mercenary army, who finds themselves abandoned on a planet that is being invaded. Their only hope of escape is to repel the invaders.

Standard RTS gameplay

The gameplay of Mechs & Merchs: Black Talons is relatively standard for real-time strategy games, particularly those based around modern combat. The player will have access to a number of environments, powerful mech units — as well as a range of other units — and a faction relations system that can impact the player’s progress through the game.

A game with a lot of problems

Mechs & Mercs: Black Talons is a game with a lot of promise that, unfortunately, seems to fall short of its potential, according to many of the gamers who have played it.

For example, complaints can be found about clunky controls, as well as general bugginess, such as the game feeling unbalanced. It seems the developers are no longer working on the game, so fixes are unlikely.