Iron Brigade

Overview

A Mobile Trench.

Iron Brigade is a co-operative mech combat/tower defense game developed by Double Fine Productions that pits players in powerful, hulking bipedal tanks called "Mobile Trenches" up against machines made out of televisions called " Monovisions" (because there's only one channel). The four-player game proceeds in waves and is a split between light Trench combat and some tower-defense-like turret placement. Turrets and other objects can be placed around the map and upgraded. Players spend scrap -- broken TVs that pop out of enemies when they're defeated -- to build additional turrets. The game was developed using a version of the same technology behind Brütal Legend. and was published on Microsoft in the United Staes on June 22, 2011.

Gameplay

Gameplay in Iron Brigade consists of two primary activities. The first is building and maintaining defense structures to protect the base, as in a tower defense game. The second is actively combating enemy waves by taking direct control of a Trench and fending them off. Effective gameplay requires both elements be used in tandem, with defensive turrets placed in positions to assist the players as they fight off the encroaching enemies. A matchmaking system which supports public, friend, and party play allows for up to four players to cooperatively play the game's missions with each other online.

There are fifteen levels which are evenly distributed between Europe, Africa, and the Pacific, each composed of four missions followed by a boss fight.

As players progress, they gain levels and earn items both on the battlefield and from the store. These items can then be used to customize the player's Trenches. Players are also able to customize their player characters.

Story

Two war time codebreakers, Frank Woodruff and Vladamir Farnsworth, receive an alien transmission-- referred to as the "Broadcast." The other codebreakers who heard it had their brains fried, but Frank and Vlad gained super intelligence from it. Frank goes on to make robot legs for war time heroes so they can be mobile after the war, while Vlad invents the television years ahead of their time and becomes obsessed with networking the world. He releases robots made of said television tubes to lay cables across the world to network the entire planet.

In Europe, Frank begins to discover new species of Monovisions, and manages to gain a foothold against the tube invasion. Gaining back ground, along with new intel, the human front pushes onward until they have enough leverage to commence an attack on what seems to be the source of the Broadcast by destroying a Pylon in the northern region. Successfully neutralizing it, a greater truth is revealed upon the discovery of a much larger cable which leads underseas towards Africa.

Aware that the Pylon in Europe was a product of some greater entity, Frank's outfit follows the cable south to Africa and begins to take back land starting in the desert, beginning with a small-yet-inhabitable oasis. After reclaiming more ground, another attempt at penetrating enemy forces is made by acquiring much more powerful firepower with a ship's canon, and deploying a giant bomb underground in order to disrupt the tube infrastructure. Successfully crippling most of the opposition, Vlad's newest behemoth creation lies in wait-- a massive worm-like Monovision referred to as the Guardian. Upon taking Farnsworth's desert fortress and defeating the Guardian, a final push is initiated in order to track down Vlad once and for all.

Frank returns to the Pacific region, where he first met Farnsworth 20 years prior to the current engagement. Frank discovers that Vlad has been searching for the origin of the Broadcast as well, in his obsession of understanding and controlling the tubes. Frank subsequently gathers necessary equipment in the region (some which has been left behind by Vlad), in order to assemble and operate the technology which will help locate Vlad's location. After using the top of a volcano to generate a signal which pinpoints Farnsworth, Frank confronts him for a final showdown.

Vlad's obsession with the Monovisions and the Broadcast have helped him to assimilate a monstrous alien machine, which he attempts to destroy Frank with. Upon the destruction of this robot, Vlad is retrieved form inside it-- discovered to have his body withered away and shrunken from all the time spent exposing himself to the tubes. Frank wonders what fate awaits him, as he reflects on the consequences Vlad had incurred, and notes that while the battle was won, he is not sure the war is over.

Customization

The player has the ability to fully customize their Mobile Trench unit, from weapons to body types, all the way down to legs. Each Part has different stats that can effect how the player can effect the battle field. A player may want to go full engineer and place lots of turrets or go full force with a Trench capable of 3 weapon slots on each side. Players have many choices when it comes to taking on the Monovisions.

The weapon categories the player can choose from include machine guns, shotguns, grenade launchers, sniper cannons, artillery cannons, and broadcasters. Machine guns are ideal for close to medium range combat with many smaller enemies and ones with the flak ability are used against aerial enemies. Shotguns are primarily used in short range situations with fewer, stronger enemies. Grenade launchers are an explosive class used to disperse clustered groups and targets with additional armor. Sniper cannons deal with threats that are farther away or ones that require additional accuracy and high amounts of damage. Artillery cannons are mainly used to take the armor off of breakers but can be used on all enemies somewhat effectively. Finally, broadcasters are used to absolutely destroy enemies up close (excellent against the knobs).

The player can buy items in the shop. Or get lucky and get them as drops in the missions.

Marine Items (Hat)

Marine Items (Outfit)

Core Items (Chassis)

Core Items (Paintjob)

Core Items (Legs)

Legal Troubles and Rebranding

Upon its initial North American release, Iron Brigade was originally entitled Trenched. However, the subsequent release of the game in Europe met with a legal battle regarding trademark conflict. The trademark to the name "Trench" is currently held by the creator of a World War I-inspired board game registered in Portugal. Due to the way European law works, the trademark also covers basic variants on the title, giving the board game creator the rights to the name "Trenched" as well. Various trademark agreements in place between the European Union countries mean that the trademark ownership is extended throughout most of the European region.

Microsoft chose to avoid a legal battle by releasing Trenched under the name Iron Brigade in Europe. However, due to coding issues within Xbox Live, this change to the game made it incompatible for multiplayer games with the North American version, Trenched. On September 9, 2011, Brad Muir announced that the game would be renamed Iron Brigade across all regions. An updated version of the game was later released in North America with the Iron Brigade name.

DLC

The first DLC pack for Iron Brigade, "Rise of the Martian Bear", includes a horde mode, as well as new weapons and costumes, some of which are from Double Fine's other downloadable games, Costume Quest and Stacking.