During the 23rd century man has discovered faster-than-light travel and finally reached the stars. Galactic exploration has confirmed man’s worst two fears. First, an alien warlike race with vastly superior technology does exist. On planet after planet, an exploration fleet of ships discover the ruins of sentient cultures which all appear to have been annihilated eons ago. Analysis of these worlds and the vast remains of decaying war machines suggested that a single race, dubbed "Hedoth", had systematically swept through the galaxy and pulverized every sentient civilization.
The exploration fleet was comprised of vessels from three large Earth CorpoNations (Rimtech, Mil-Agro, Neuropa). It began as an industrial alliance, and the opportunity to plunder alien technology spurred them onwards towards the apparent homeworld of the Hedoth. As survey ships finally reached the Hedoth sector, the three CorpoNations massed their war fleets nearby. They were prepared for the ultimate conflict. When the scout ships reported their findings, man’s second worst fear was realized: we are alone. The Hedoth home worlds were vacant.
The Hedoth left no clue of where they went, but their departure was remarkably tidy. Scattered installations and miscellaneous war machines were all they left behind. This discovery set off a frenzied "gold rush" among the three CorpoNations, only better. Being the first to plunder pristine and operational Hedoth technology meant more than currency, it meant power.
Game Story
The game plot is designed to be a personal story told against the backdrop of a brutal war. In keeping with the giant robot concept, the story is inspired by classic anime themes: loyalty and betrayal, bravery and cowardice, and the heirachial pressure to serve the needs of the individual versus the family versus the State. It opens with cinematics telling the story of three brothers: Diego, Jonus and Stefan Angelus. They are initially part of the Rimtech CorpoNation force sent to Hedoth Prime. While on a recon mission, their squad encounters an ancient complex guarded by a drone robot. During the ensuing battle, Jonus acquires a new Hedoth weapon which he uses to defeat the drone robot. The brothers argue over what to do with the new weapon, and tragedy follows. Stefan is accidentally hurt and is mistakenly presumed dead; Jonus defects from Rimtech and takes the new technology to Neuropa, and the oldest brother, Diego, returns to Rimtech. Stefan is eventually rescued by the cruel Mil-Agro CorpoNation, and is pressed into their service.
As the player plays each of the three single player campaigns (Rimtech, Mil-Agro, Neuropa), they follow the story of each brother. Unlike other RTS games, the storyline of the three campaigns is conceptually occurring simultaneously, and in some missions, the brothers do meet on the battlefield. The concluding cinematic for each campaign is also consistent with the storyline and conclusions of the other campaigns.
Features
* Energy
Vs. Mechanical Weapons
In Metal Fatigue, players will manage their units and resources
across three levels of play simultaneously. In addition to the
planet surface, action takes place in
underground catacombs and caves, and on orbiting asteroids. The
player can configure the toolbar to show the current layer's
minimap, or toggle to a mode which displays minimaps for all
three layers at the same time.
Below are examples and descriptions of the three layers
 Most of the fiercest battles take place on the surface layer since it is the layer that contains most CorpoNation bases and alien relics. Every unit is available to build and deploy from this layer. |
 The underground layer is an excellent source of lava and great for sneak attacks. A player can drill underneath an enemy base, build an elevator and launch an assault force! Combots are too large to fit down here, only smaller units can maneuver the caverns. |
 The orbit layer provides an excellent place for rallying air assaults, placing long-range weapons and collecting solar energy. Flying Combots, jets and bombers are great offensive and defensive units in orbit. Careful, anything shot down in the orbit layer may crash land on the surface! The orbit layer is visible to all players at all times, making it a little like a face card in poker or blackjack. Your opponents can always see what your doing in the orbit layer, but can't see what else you're doing without sending units scouting around the map. |
Standing over four stories high, and configured with a deadly
arsenal of advanced weaponry, the Combot is the ultimate weapon
of war in the 23rd century. Each
Combot
has five parts: two legs, two arms, and a torso. When playing
Metal Fatigue, you will be able to re-configure your Combots to
suit the impending battle
scenario. For instance, a heavy attack Combot might consist of a
rotary blade arm, plasma cannon arm, a missile-launching torso,
and armored legs. Once a
body
part is manufactured, it can be exchanged with other Combots or
replaced with newly manufactured body parts. In addition, you
will even be able to amputate
the
limbs of your enemy Combots and re-use their parts against them.
It's as fun to watch as it is to play!
The Three CorpoNations
The
three CorpoNations have different strengths and weaknesses that
call for unique strategies. The three CorpoNations are from Earth
(Backstory) which
conceptually explains why some of the structures and units are
common to all three CorpoNations.
 |
Rimtech: Royal, proper Navy-type corp. Units geared towards strong defense: Tough bases and highly armored vehicles. Favor long-range strikes with missiles/airpower. Weakness is speed and offensive capabilities (particularly close combat). Slight energy weapon focus. |
 |
Mil-Agro: The aggressive raiders. Units geared towards offensive strength and manpower and they’re able to unleash a horde of combatants. They also love to wade their combots into close combat. Weakness is poor recon and repair ablities. Combat units tend to be well-armed with good health but weak shields. Slight mechanical weapon focus. |
 |
Neuropa Ltd.: The quiet but smart, deadly group. Units geared for stealth/speed. They have the best recon technology and they’re great at developing new technologies. Their combots are the best copies of the alien technology, so they look the most alien. They favor hit-and-run tactics and are strategically patient enough to slowly grind the enemy down. Weakness is base defense and low manpower resources. |
All weapons in Metal Fatigue have two values associated with how
much damage they do, and all objects have two values associated
with how good
their defenses are. These values are divided into Mechanical and
Energy based. An example of a Mechanical attack would be a simple
bullet, whereas an
Energy attack could simply be a laser blast. Many weapons and
defenses are pretty even in both categories, but there are some,
such as the Electrogrip
or
HammerHand which do significantly more in one area than the
other. Because of the nature of this system, many different
attack and defense
strategies can be planned and carried out.
Here's the rule of thumb: Attack with weapons that are opposite
the enemy's defense, defend with parts similar to the enemy's
offense. For example, a good energy
weapon is best used against a mechanical defense enemy.
Truth be told, this energy/mechanical distinction is for experts.
You don't really need to apply it to win a game. You'll just win
sooner if you do. The main
point is that the enemy combot parts are often good to use
against them.
