For those of you who need a little mecha shoot ’em up action for your PC, Playism has just the thing for you. They have recently released the English translated version of Astebreed, a doujin PC SHMUP created by Edelweiss. You take control of the titular Astebreed mecha and shoot and slash your way through waves of of alien hordes, known as the Filune. What separates this game from other SHMUPs is the larger focus on melee which is not only used to slice up your enemies, but is also used to tactically defend yourself against certain types of attacks. Of course, this is also used in conjunction with your typical long range attacks to deal massive damage while building up your score multipliers. It’s a very pretty game visually and the gameplay really intense and satisfying when slicing away at enemy hordes and giant bosses. It took me about 2 hours to play through the first time, constantly dying while trying to figure out boss patterns and whatnot, but in the grand scheme of SHMUPs in general, it isn’t too hard. It also carries several achievements and unlockables such as character art and mechanical models. If you’re interested, the game is currently on sale at the Playism store for $15.99 and Steam keys will be available for the game when it is later released on Steam. Until then, check out the gameplay trailer below!

We’re happy to know that the excellent Gunhound EX will be receiving a Western PC release on Steam and Playism. This looks like a PC version of the PSP game, fully localised into English. As the original Gunhound and EX already had PC releases, this is welcome news. Apparently the Playism release will also be DRM free and also come with a corresponding Steam key, which is nice of them. For those unaware, the Gunhoud games are very inspired by the Assault Suits games from the 90s and they also have kickass music. In any case, what with the recent news of a Steam release for Gigantic Army having another great little mecha shooter added to that is rather brilliant really.

For those that have been a reader on this site for a while, you’ll remember we talked about Gigantic Army a good while back. Well, due to Nyu Media we now have the game on Steam. Thankfully the developer Astro Port are still involved and it seems to be more of a new means of distributing the game rather than anything else untoward. In any case the game only costs $5.99, so what the hell are you waiting for? Buy this now it’s just fucking great!

If you enjoyed Chrome Hounds, then you might be interested to know that there is a new PC game called Modular Assault Vehicle on the way. With both Kickstarter and Greenlight campaigns in the works, it all seems to be the work of one Chad Mauldin. Now we wish the guy luck and all but this is basically a full on remake of a recent 360 game. SEGA could quite easily kick up a fuss about this, as Chrome Hounds was a considerable investment for them. Will be interesting to see how this pans out though.

For those that have hankered for more in the way Gungriffon gaming, then look no further. We now have a very competent homemade PC version called the HIGH-MACS Simulator that’s very much in-line with the original Saturn games. Both the controls and handling are also refreshingly fluid too. What with the series’ creator passing away a few years ago it’s nice to see the fans keeping Gungriffon alive. We’ve also linked the simulator’s promo video below.

A nice new indie PC game has been revealed by the name of Reset. Helmed by two former Futuremark employees, Alpo Oksaharju and Mikko Kallinen, (who worked on Shattered Horizon) it features a mecha as it solves puzzles co-operatively with itself across time. It’s nice to have a mecha game that doesn’t shoot things in the face and the puzzling premise sounds fantastic too. There’s a teaser trailer going the rounds as well (shown below) and it’s wonderfully atmospheric, with an almost Silent Running vibe to it. No word on a release date or price as yet but apparently there will be crowdfunding set up for this pretty soon.

Indie developer 17bit is very much hitting the nostalgia buttons with their upcoming game 2D sidescrolling shoot-em-up, Galak-Z: The Dimensional. Coming to the PS4 and PC in 2014, the Macross/Gundam/Space Battleship Yamato-inspired game has the player controlling a lone spaceship (which reminds me a bit of Hikaru Ichijo’s FanJet) against a horde of enemies, including some large mecha and aliens, through asteroid riddled areas. While it doesn’t seem as if you can transform into a mecha and vice versa, your missile attacks are very reminiscent of the well loved “Itano Circus,” on top of performing rather appealing dodging maneuvers hearkening stylistic anime action. Check out the recently released PAX 2013 trailer and Kotaku developer interview below!

Amongst many other games, the very interesting Strike Vector was also present at this year’s Gamescom. Below is a video of the team playing deathmatch together and it looks rather bloody good. In addition, the game was recently added to Steam Greenlight. No words on when the game will be released, except “early 2104”, nor how much it will cost or even the platforms (though we’re guessing it will be PC for the time being). In any case, the game is coming along very nicely and we wish the team behind this all the best of luck.

There’s a new mecha themed action RTS needing support, called Decimal it has just started its own Kickstarter to get development funds (specifically that of half a million dollars, which is ambitious to say the least!). The art style and concept art are very fresh, we also seriously approve of their approach to the game’s mecha design. The studio, Orb Interactive, is a recently formed entity and its staff have a pretty textured background. We’ve linked the promotional video below and this looks like something we could happily support.

Those nice people at Plum have announced a new kits of the Power Loader X-4 from Power Dolls. Whilst there was an anime OVA for this series, it actually started out as a successful series of turn based strategy games for various platforms in Japan. At 1/35 scale, the kit will cost around 8,000 yen and be released this November. Thus far, Plum have been making truly excellent mecha kits and this looks like to be no exception. You can pre-order the kits here.