Tear through a dilapidated city in mech-based combat, and wreak havoc with custom-made weapons with this week’s “Free Stuff Sundays” games, Hawken and Loadout.

Hawken:

Released in 2012 as an open Beta, Hawken is a free-to-play (“F2P”) mech-based FPS. Where traditional mecha-combat games have gameplay that moves at a much slower pace than other multiplayer combat titles, Hawken moves surprisingly fast- almost at chaotic speeds during heated skirmishes. Players are placed right in the cockpit of their chosen class of mech: More are unlocked as he/she increases his/her skill-level, ranging from heavy brute force machines, to lighter and faster scouting mechs. With all of the HUD information scattered out across different gadgets and screens within the cockpit; it can easily be considered overwhelming at first, but HUD placement becomes second-nature after a few matches.

Hawken is a PC-exclusive; the game-client can be downloaded through the Hawken website.

Loadout:

The drunk, vulgar, crude uncle of Team Fortress 2, Loadout is officially available through Steam. Another F2P title, Loadout is a third-person “over-the-shoulder” multiplayer shooter, with a massive emphasis on character-customization. As the namesake suggests, players create and customize a personal weapon cache- often called the “loadout”- before engaging in balls-to-the-wall combat. Apart from weapons, characters also have a large amount of customization options with their outfits, taunts and behavior. Unlike its “tame” nephew Team Fortress 2, Loadout features a laughably morbid amount of gore, as characters can- and will- die in several, unexpectedly graphic, yet humorous ways.

While Loadout itself is F2P, a “Steam Launch Starter Pack” can be purchased for $19.99.

Images courtesy of Meteor Entertainment, Edge of Reality