Menace

MENACE is a turn-based tactical RPG set in the isolated Wayback system, far from the Core Worlds and cut off from communications. You command a strike force of Republic Marines, mercenaries and criminals aboard the cruiser TCRN Impetus. What begins as a mission to bring the frontier back under Republic control becomes a fight against an unknown alien threat that endangers the entire system.

The Wayback system

Pirate warlords, questionable corporations and fractured planetary governments compete to shape a new order across the lawless frontier. You must unite its disparate locals under your leadership while responding to distress calls from planet to planet. The threat grows in the system’s recesses, where something alien has taken hold and acts unpredictably.

Campaign decisions

You decide which distress calls to answer, when to engage based on your readiness, and what resources to commit. Your choices shape relations with local factions and the favors they may offer. Criminal groups can help gather intelligence, hack enemy equipment and secure deals with local dealers; recovery and repair teams can keep vehicles operational and supply advanced technology.

Operations span multiple missions and battles across entire worlds. As you progress, you choose among available missions: for example, you can destroy air defenses before landing tanks or push into enemy territory to rescue hostages and gain local trust. Your decisions affect both the operation and the wider campaign, with consequences for the system.

Your strike cruiser

The TCRN Impetus serves as your base, transporting you between missions, providing orbital support and offering a place for rest and recovery. You can upgrade and customize the mobile headquarters to support your approach on the battlefield, and seek opportunities among local allies before each task.

Without access to the standard naval arsenal, you equip your squads through local black-market dealers and battlefield spoils. Available gear ranges from jury-rigged pirate war machines to refined weapons from local mercenaries. Limited supplies mean choosing what to bring for each mission.

Tactical battles

Fights take place across varied battlefields, biomes and weather conditions, often against enemies with superior numbers or technology. Battles involve bullets, plasma bolts and missiles, and squad leaders and their squads can be lost permanently. Human opponents are not the only threat: the alien presence is unpredictable and relentless.

Use cover, flanking maneuvers and pincer attacks to gain ground. Suppressive fire can pin enemy squads in place while you destroy their cover or flush them out with heavy ordnance. Mission briefings provide intelligence, but battlefield situations can change once combat begins.

Weapon ranges and damage over distance matter, as does whether a weapon is suited to heavily or lightly armored targets. Shots cause some suppression even beyond their accurate range, including fire that lands near a squad rather than hitting it directly, and this applies to friends and foes alike. Heavy fire is more likely than small arms to pin enemies down, so you can choose between engaging from range or closing in under suppressive fire.

You can deploy vehicles including troop carriers, multiple-launch rocket systems, jury-rigged pickup trucks, tanks, walkers and self-propelled artillery. Each has its own strengths, weaknesses and weapon options. Tanks bring heavy firepower, while nimble walkers can respond quickly to fast-moving threats and rotate freely. Designated pilots can bring vehicles into battle at a high cost, and vehicle choices compete with the equipment available to your infantry.

Before each mission, use limited supplies to equip your squads. Infantry can change armor to balance protection against utility and extra accessory slots, which can hold items such as drones, grenades and target designators. Squads can also draw from a wide range of weapons with different advantages and drawbacks, including specialist weapons such as flamethrowers, sniper rifles and EMP cannons.

Squad leaders

Every squad leader has a history and personality, and you must manage the tensions and expectations they bring. Pike is a loyal, professional Marine who stands firm under pressure. Rewa carries trauma from past scars and a violent rage, while Lim, whom Pike saved by rescuing his home colony, distrusts non-Marines and must learn to work with them.

Leaders’ accomplishments and failures affect their performance and morale. Confirmed kills can boost morale in later engagements, while losing an entire squad can leave its leader struggling to recover. You can keep an underperforming squad in service when you need the numbers or put it on leave, which may put the current operation at risk.

Squad leaders gain promotions and improve over time. You can choose perks from varied promotion trees to customize them and improve their squads, unlocking additional active and passive abilities. Each playthrough draws characters from a large pool, with backstories that connect in different combinations as their stories unfold from one engagement to the next. You must train them and contend with the pressure of the growing threat.

Procedural operations

Multi-mission operations and battle maps are procedurally generated. The selection of characters, equipment options and forms taken by the challenge also vary between playthroughs, making each run different.