Left Alive's new trailer features lots of boring humans and only two mechs

Square Enix has released a new trailer for Left Alive, the survival shooter set in the Front Mission universe, ahead of TGS. There’s a war, there are mechs, and the rest of the trailer is... well, it’s largely incomprehensible. Slap your eyes on it above.

Unfortunately it’s incomprehensible in a very plain way. Random snippets from cutscenes, vague lines of contextless dialogue and occasional respite provided by explosions. The few details are things we already know: there’s a war kicking off in Novo Slava, and you can experience it as three different protagonists.

David O'Keefe’s Left Alive preview from PAX West doesn’t paint a prettier picture.

“I watched 20 minutes of scenarios mere hours ago, but the details are already growing hazy. I haven’t been bleaching my brain with an overload of new games on the packed convention center floor in those hours, Left Alive just failed to leave a lasting impression.”

The mechs, at least, sound nifty. Called wanzers, they’re customisable behemoths that can fill enemies with holes from a distance or charge in and tackle them. They can also equip weapons that have been severed from enemy mechs. Practical!

Left Alive still has a 2018 release date on Steam, but the trailer says 2019.

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.