A New Direction for Brigador
Brigador is turning ten years old, which feels wild if you remember its early days as a rough but promising isometric mech shooter. The original release from Stellar Jockeys was a cool idea with some flaws, but the team stuck with it. Over the following year they rebuilt large parts of the game, added a new campaign and other improvements, and relaunched it as the Up Armored Edition. That overhaul helped Brigador earn a much stronger reputation on Steam as a stylish, crunchy mech sim for PC players.
Now the sequel, Brigador Killers, is finally starting to come into focus after a long time in development. It is not just a bigger Brigador. The new footage and details from the developers show something that feels closer to a hybrid of Syndicate, the original Grand Theft Auto games and a splash of Hitman. It keeps the dark, grimy sci fi world and top down perspective but changes how you actually play moment to moment.
From Mech Cockpit to Street Level
The biggest shift is that Brigador Killers is no longer a pure mech shooter. In the first game you were always piloting heavy war machines and wrecking everything in sight. In the sequel you play a down and out nobody looking to claw their way up by taking revenge on the rich elites who ruined everything. The twist is those rich targets are the characters you played in the original Brigador, which gives the sequel a neat narrative hook for returning players.
This time you operate from a home base called the Garage. From there you choose different mission types out in the city. Instead of just charging in guns blazing, the structure leans more into tactical and stealth focused runs. You can sneak through levels, quietly take down guards and then loot their gear. Snagging better weapons and gadgets from enemies becomes part of your progression, which encourages more careful play than the open destruction of the first game.
Brigador Killers makes moving on foot a core part of the experience. That alone changes the feel of the game compared to being safely sealed inside a heavily armored mech. You are more vulnerable, line of sight matters more and urban layouts become important. The comparisons the developers make to Hitman Contracts and GTA2 start to make sense once you imagine planning quiet infiltrations in a gritty top down city and then watching things explode into chaos when your plan falls apart.
At the same time vehicles are still a big part of the sandbox. You can hop into almost any vehicle you find out in the world. The footage shows everything from tiny tuktuks to dune buggies that give you more speed and firepower than going on foot. Stealing and improvising with whatever you can grab in the moment looks like it will be a big part of the fun, especially once combat kicks off and you have to adapt fast.
One interesting wrinkle is what we have not seen yet. Mechs themselves are mostly absent from the current footage. The studio has not clearly stated they are gone, so the safe assumption is that piloting heavy machines will show up later in the game as something you earn. That would fit the story of starting as a nobody and slowly building up to the kind of overwhelming power players had right from the start in the original Brigador.
How and Where You Can Play It
Although Brigador Killers does not yet have a confirmed release date on Steam, PC players do not have to wait to try it. An in development version is already available to buy on Itch for around twenty five dollars. That build lets you get hands on with the evolving design while the developers continue to refine and expand the game.
Given the studio’s history with the first Brigador there is a good reason to expect long term support and iterative improvement. The Up Armored Edition completely transformed the original game for the better after launch, and the team seems willing to take their time to get things right again here. For PC gamers this usually translates to better balance, more polished missions and more options for how you approach each run.
Brigador Killers also fits nicely into the growing list of PC friendly, top down action games that feel great on a wide range of hardware. If the original Brigador and its recommended specs are anything to go by, there is a good chance this sequel will be a comfortable option for gaming laptops, handhelds like the Steam Deck and mid range rigs. It sits in the same space as other low to mid spec friendly games that still deliver intense action, sharp art and deep systems.
If you enjoy isometric shooters, older GTA style open missions or the methodical planning of Hitman but want it all wrapped in a grimy sci fi world, Brigador Killers is shaping up to be one to watch on PC. It builds on the core appeal of its predecessor while making bolder choices about how you move, fight and survive on the streets of its hostile future city.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/the-sequel-to-isometric-mech-sim-brigador-gives-off-serious-syndicate-vibes-in-its-latest-footage-and-you-can-play-its-alpha-version-right-now/
