Customizable Mecha Action in MASS Builder Shows Potential

FROM MODEL MAKING TO PC GAME DESIGN

I grew up in the height of mecha invading pop-culture in America, starting my love of these mechanical titans with the combining Zords of Power Rangers. From there, I became fascinated by the detail-oriented designs of Gundam, particularly Gundam Wing and Mobile Fighter G Gundam. That interest has always stuck with me, but for the last few months, I have been diving deeper and deeper into everything mecha including picking back up my Gunpla model making, watching various Universal Century Gundam shows, and hunting for new games. While searching for the most exciting mecha games on PC, I stumbled upon a lot of attention being directed at M.A.S.S. Builder (hence referred to as simply MASS Builder) which attempts to capture the tinkering of series like Armored Core and combine that with the faster action found in franchises like Gundam.

MASS Builder is currently in Early Access on Steam and there are regular updates being shared every week or so by Vermillion Digital, a development group based out of Thailand. I was lucky enough to talk about this game’s development for an episode of our podcast, where Xsi laid out lots of minute details that gave me more appreciation for the framework being established while also providing insight to game development in Thailand.

According to Xsi, MASS Builder started from their love of mecha model making and painting. A visual program was used to test out color schemes and eventually they came to the idea of making a full game with that customization at the center, which was especially exciting for these mecha fans since a modern mecha title was hard to find. Xsi lives with the Vermillion Digital team where they all stay in one place, build models together, and work on various projects. The team had been doing contract work and much of what Thailand produces tends to stay in the mobile gaming space. They all decided to take a chance and have more creative freedom in their work by creating their own PC title.

Xsi told us that PC game design was uncommon for Thailand game developers and yet they are going further into a niche by choosing the mecha genre. Thankfully, MASS Builder was picked up by Sekai Project for publishing, which apparently happened because someone at Sekai just loves mecha and discovered the game at an event.

Context out of the way, MASS Builder is a game centered around customizing a mecha, choosing colors and decals, making a set of weapons, and then taking on missions. The game’s story is presented through visual novel dialogue and missions can vary between taking down a specific boss or surviving an onslaught of Quarks which are strange aliens that remind of the more kaiju oriented encounters of the genre. All of the enemies I’ve encountered so far have been Quarks, though I suspect there will be fights against other MASS pilots eventually or in later builds of the game.

Combat takes place in third-person where players pilot a custom M.A.S.S. (Mechanical Assault Skeleton Suit) and steadily improve it through various upgrade trees. After each mission, resources and funds are acquired that can be used on upgrades or for unlocking various parts. The core gameplay loop feels a bit like Monster Hunter in the sense that sessions always feels like progression, even if it’s only for a minor part or two. Battles are a mix of melee, third-person shooting, and managing bigger attacks on cooldown while boosting from zone to zone. The way the MASS handles hordes of Quarks reminds me of the Dynasty Warriors Musou games but zipping around makes it feel much faster by comparison. Boss battles add interesting layers such as telegraphed attacks or teleporting patterns. Based on my general knowledge of MMORPGs, MASS Builder bosses feel like a typical MMO boss encounter.  

Being that it is early access, MASS Builder is rough around the edges, but I found myself coming back to it again and again. Players have already been doing incredible custom MASS designs and sharing them online. There’s even a community-made tool to share and download MASS builds while the devs focus on higher priority areas. Of course, I attempted to make an EVA-01 from Neon Genesis Evangelion, as I do in every mecha game I play, and I came pretty close even with not having every piece unlocked. Weapon customization is something I didn’t expect to love as much as I did, so I outfitted my machines with custom-tailored loadouts. Xsi told us that they’ve gotten written stories too where writers use MASS Builder to chart out their characters’ suits; I also found myself making up scenarios and characters just like I used to do on Soul Calibur 3 on PlayStation 2.

Another huge point of enjoyment for me came in the pairing of MASS Builder with anime openings or background tracks. Playing MASS Builder while listening to the bombastic jazz soundtrack of Gundam Thunderbolt is a thing of absolute beauty. The music used in MASS Builder is pretty good too, but it has yet to captivate me as much as classic openings do. Maybe MASS Builder just needs a sweet opening video or something to drive those themes and designs.

MASS Builder is definitely something worth pursuing for mecha fans and I think that with time it could turn into something awesome. Even when I talked with Xsi a while back they were preparing to patch in new melee combat complexities. There are also plans for a PVP mode which could be fun since there are so many interesting possibilities.

For improvements, I would love to see more varied missions and enemy types. Enemies also feel spongy currently and sometimes I would find myself out of ammo and playing tag with my lance. Boosting feels great already but I would like some aerial options in the future or at least a hovering ability. More special attacks would be great since right now there’s only a missile barrage. Lastly, I think different frames would be incredible, especially when considering something more bestial like what’s in Zoids, to really change up player movement and attack styles.

MASS Builder is something I’ve enjoyed discovering, learning more about, and preparing for the future. Building mecha is so much fun and I want to see that explored more than it has been in games of this generation. We did get a few cool examples recently with games like Daemon X Machina that just hit Steam and there’s a couple more mecha games in my Steam library that need attention like Metal Unit but I want to see what MASS Builder ultimately becomes so I will be checking in often. Hopefully, we’ll see this game ported to Switch, PS4, or Xbox One once it’s complete on PC.  

Regardless, the developers at Vermillion Digital are huge fans of this genre and they seem to be having fun creating MASS Builder alongside their creative community.

Find more information about MASS Builder on Steam.