The real-time strategy genre has long been at home in the PC ecosystem; a keyboard and mouse allow you to easily position units and issue commands in a way that is significantly more difficult on a gamepad. This isn’t to say a few brave developers haven’t tried to make RTS work on console, such as Milky Tea Studios with their alt-history project Grit and Valor – 1949.
Similar to the Wolfenstein series, the game presents a different version of the Second World War in which technology has progressed far beyond where it was in real life; battles are now fought with pilots in mechs as opposed to standard infantry soldiers. It’s not the most original concept (there’s plenty of WWII media that tries to put its own spin on the conflict) but the steampunk aesthetic presents as charming nonetheless.
Grit and Valor is a roguelite, asking players to progress through multiple boards with randomized nodes, culminating in a boss fight. Nodes will offer combat encounters, text-based decisions, and shops where you can purchase upgrades. The ability to choose your route is appreciated; you’ll be able to evaluate whether your team can realistically clear the area, or if a run should be dedicated strictly to gathering resources.
When you’re inevitably forced into combat, the skirmishes take place on square-shaped maps, often littered with cover, high ground, and additional objectives. Despite having a grid-based layout, all units still move in real-time, so you’ll need to make decisions quickly. Thankfully, the developers implemented the ability to pause the entire battle, letting you breathe and issue orders with a bit more comfort. It’s a shrewd balancing choice, almost certainly made to accommodate the console audience.
Effectiveness in the field is governed by the rock-paper-scissors of Grit and Valor’s mech types: ballistics trump flamethrowers, fire beats explosives, and grenades dominate bullets. It’s immediately easy to wrap your head around, and units will actually autoattack when enemies enter their range. Gameplay is largely relegated to just deciding where mechs should move, though the real depth comes from your unit customization.
Pilots selection proves to be rather disappointing. Each possesses a unique ability, but they fail to make an impact. None of them present any interesting ideas (AOE attacks, deployable mines, etc) so I often forgot about them. The only abilities that I routinely used were for healing, but that was more out of necessity than a genuine desire to interact with the game’s mechanics.
Modules are both more mentally stimulating and effective in battle. As you clear missions, you’ll acquire scrap. You can use this currency to craft modules within the Mech Yard, which will provide boosts to stats like damage, health, and armor among others. Eventually you’ll unlock the ability to fuse lower-level modules and replace them with better options. Furthermore, if your mech surpasses certain power thresholds, you can overclock it, fitting it with additional perks.
Each run you embark on will also shower you with randomized enhancements following an enemy wave. It’s a great way to experiment building your mechs in different ways, or double down on stats already buffed by your modules. Seeing your units excel in specific areas can make you feel like a tactical genius, and enemy scaling is appropriate such that the game never feels too easy nor excessively punishing. Of course, enhancements leave you as soon as the run ends, so you’re going to need a bit of luck to grab your favorites consistently.
Grit and Valor is an admirable effort for the underserved, if incredibly niche, console RTS market. Unit customization and teambuilding grabbed my attention more than the moment-to-moment action itself, though some diehards may chalk that up to traditional genre conventions. If you’re a fan of the roguelite formula and willing to dabble in alternate gameplay types, this is certainly worth a look.
