Steel Hunters Beta Playtest Impressions: A Mecha-Royale-Shooter With Strong Promise

Steel Hunters was revealed during Geoff Keighley's 2024 The Game Awards by the renowned publisher Wargaming, the creators of the World of Tanks franchise. The announcement certainly grabbed the community's attention, showcasing what looks to be an action-packed third-person mecha shooter.

Over the past few days, I’ve jumped into the game’s beta playtest and got a hands-on feel for what it brings to the table.

Drop, Defeat, Upgrade, and Extract

In Steel Hunters, six teams of two players controlling their chosen Hunter (the mechs) drop onto a map. From there, you’re free to explore, destroy drones for upgrades, and hunt down other players for XP and loot. The primary objective is to locate and activate three Starfall Towers, which reveal an extraction point. You can win by extracting, eliminating all five other teams, or simply having the most XP when the match timer ends without an extraction.

The game encourages varied playstyles as you can focus on hunting, extraction, or just outlasting opponents. A nice addition is the self-revive mechanic: as long as your teammate is alive, you can get back into the action and even pass passive buffs to your partner while you’re down.

While it borrows familiar battle royale ideas like dropping in and resource gathering, Steel Hunters also draws from extraction shooters and hero-based games, especially with its “Hunters.” These mechs, which come in both humanoid and animalistic designs, each have unique strengths, weaknesses, and abilities.

At the time of playing, there were seven Hunters to choose from each with their own strengths and weaknesses. For instance, Prophet excels at medium-to-long range with his charging plasma beam but suffers from slow wind-up times. Another Hunter, Ursa, can activate an ice shield for extra armor. Battles are tense because you have to account for cooldown-based abilities, your opponent’s strategies, and your Hunter’s limitations.

Hunters can also be upgraded in the Hangar. Using resources earned in matches, you can level up your Hunter to boost stats, upgrade weapons, and unlock new mechs. Altogether, this creates a gameplay loop that’s simple and action-packed — yet not without its flaws.

Fun Combat but Rough Around the Edges

Combat is the heart of Steel Hunters. Blasting, slicing, and nuking enemies is a lot of fun, but only once you get past the game’s rougher edges. Initially, the controls feel clunky and less refined compared to other third-person mech shooters. Movement, aiming, and pickups can feel janky, making it hard to get into a flow.

The game wants to reward players who take a methodical, low-risk approach rather than button-spamming chaos. Unlike the fast-paced mechs of Armored Core, Steel Hunters leans toward a more grounded style, which is respectable. Still, smoother movement and better mechanics for basic actions like jumping or looting would go a long way.

Another issue is that Steel Hunters feels generic in certain areas. While it mixes elements from different genres (battle royales, hero shooters, and extraction mechanics) very well, it doesn’t always feel like it’s building on those ideas. Instead, it sometimes comes across as combining familiar mechanics without adding a unique identity of its own.

To be fair, this is a personal take, and the beta version isn’t the final product. There’s a lot of potential here, especially with the weapons, Hunters, upgrades, and even a battle pass offering unique skins and items (which I couldn’t access yet). I just hope the developers can polish its rough edges and bring more originality to help Steel Hunters truly stand out.

Potential That Needs Refining

At its core (no AC pun intended), Steel Hunters is a mech-focused hybrid that delivers fun, fast-paced matches with a solid mix of strategy and action. While the game shows promise, its janky controls and somewhat generic design hold it back from being exceptional, at least for now.

That said, this is just the beta. With a 2025 release on the horizon, there’s plenty of time for Wargaming to smooth out the mechanics, refine the game’s identity, and add unique content. If they can pull it off, Steel Hunters could carve out a space of its own in the competitive shooter market. It’s a game with potential for now, and I’m excited to see where it goes from here.