New early access mech extraction shooter and battle royale looks like Transformers Beast Wars, and the child in me is very excited for it

two bipedal and bestial mechs stand on a sand dune

(Image credit: Wargaming Group Limited)

Steel Hunters is a new early access extraction shooter-cum-battle royale with a mech twist fom the World of Tanks devs. Instead of burly soldiers competing for loot over the course of an hour long match, mechs battle it out for 10-15 minutes before you call it a day. Some of them look like they're straight out of Transformers Beast Wars, and I can't wait to get stuck in myself.

Two-person teams of mechs gather loot and more powerful gear while battling other groups of players to make it to the extraction points on a post-apocalyptic Earth. It's the kind of battle royale and extraction loop you'll be used to if you're a fan of these genres. It's the mechs that really make it stand out.

STEEL HUNTERS - Early Access Teaser Trailer - YouTube

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"It does feel like I'm controlling a big, kinda clunky, heavy tank on two (or four) legs," writes one player on Steam. "Moving around isn't a completely seamless thing, it's something you have to carefully consider. Knowing how good your position is, what your escape routes are, and how you can maneuver around cover better than your enemy."

You've got your standard bipedal and tanky mechs, but what really stands out to me are the animal ones. These are much more agile than the other varieties, so there are multiple ways for you to play.

Unfortunately, players have noted a fair few issues. As a free-to-play game, people aren't too happy with how slowly things unlock if you're not spending any money. Also, battle pass progression is gained purely through completing weekly challenges, so regular gameplay doesn't level it up like in Fortnite.

A lot of the other complaints sound like standard early access teething issues such as login difficulties and server problems, but one review notes that these are already being addressed by developer Wargaming, so hopefully more improvements are on the way.

If big mechs aren't your thing, check out some of the best free games you can play right now.

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I'm Issy, a freelancer who you'll now occasionally see over here covering news on GamesRadar. I've always had a passion for playing games, but I learned how to write about them while doing my Film and TV degrees at the University of Warwick and contributing to the student paper, The Boar. After university I worked at TheGamer before heading up the news section at Dot Esports. Now you'll find me freelancing for Rolling Stone, NME, Inverse, and many more places. I love all things horror, narrative-driven, and indie, and I mainly play on my PS5. I'm currently clearing my backlog and loving Dishonored 2.

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