Parents' Guide to Mech Arena

Mobile shooters have come a long way, with some even managing to do a good job of co-existing with their console brethren. On the surface, Mech Arena has the pieces to be a pretty good competitive shooter for mobile devices. The controls are accessible, the graphics run smooth, and there's plenty of content packed into its compact package. Unfortunately, once you dig a bit deeper, this futuristic robot battler seems more like its one step away from the scrapheap.

While the controls for the game are accessible and easy to use, the Mechs themselves often feel sluggish and clunky. Even the smaller and supposedly more agile Mechs move with all the grace of a car with four flat tires. Of course, since this is an issue across the board, at least everyone starts on an even playing field. Then again, the game's ridiculously expensive economy quickly turns things from a fair fight to a pay to win scenario. Players not only have to pay for new Mechs, weapons, and other upgrades, but once purchased, they have to pay in-game currency again just to equip what they have. And once players get past the beginning stages of the game, the price to improve takes a steep climb, while the currency earned through gameplay feels like a slow trickle. The game quickly becomes frustrating once players start finding themselves constantly outgunned and outmatched simply because they didn't have a big enough wallet to compete.