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Platform: Xbox Genre: Action Number of Players: 1 + Online Peripherals: System Link A few years ago, when Microsoft gobbled up the rights to the Battletech games, I groaned inwardly. Not because I hate Microsoft, necessarily, but because they made clear their intention to take the games from a simulation gearing, to more of an action kinda thing. Now, I love my Battletech. I’ve been all about this universe since I was a kid. The reason I fell in love with the previous B’Tech games was because of the fact that they were mech sims. I wanted to experience piloting one of these lumbering war machines, just as the characters in the books did. I wanted to live the game, baby, and title like Mechwarrior 2 on the PC and Mechwarrior on the SNES allowed me to do this pretty convincingly. So when MechAssault was announced for the Xbox, I was interested, to be sure, but apprehensive. I saw the straight up action gameplay, complete with random power ups lying around, and I just knew I was going to hate the game. They ruined my Mechwarrior game, I thought. They utterly destroyed my Mechwarrior fantasies. Well, being the Battletech sucker I am, I bought the game anyway. After playing it for a while, I discovered that hey, this ain’t so bad, after all. And, I must admit- after a few hours into the game I was hooked. Yes, my friends, I had my own personal Damascus Road experience. I saw the light. I played an action oriented console based Mechwarrior game, and I was that it was good. To better tell you about the game’s story, let me clue those of you not entrenched in B’Tech lore into a little bit of history. In the Battletech universe, you have regular ole human types, who have moved out and infested the stars around earth. The major powers are known as the Great Houses. They are modeled on old earth forms of government, such as feudal Japan and medieval Europe. In addition to their own armies, they often utilize the services of mercenaries to help further their goals of galactic domination. Now, apart from the humans, there is another of group known as the Clans. The Clans are genetically bred super warriors, who used to be human, but who followed their leader, General Kerenski, away from the inhabited worlds (known as the Inner Sphere) when he could no longer stomach the constant warfare of the Great Houses. Over hundreds of years, these people developed techniques to genetically enhance themselves to become the greatest warriors ever seen, and their technology continued to advance long after the humans they left behind had lost all ability to create, or in many cases, even repair, the technology built by previous generations. In the year 3050, the Clans returned to their ancient homelands, intending to retake Earth, and usher in a new golden age of peace among humans, whether they liked it or not. On the human worlds, all interstellar communication is controlled by a quasi-religious order called ComStar. A splinter faction of ComStar, known as Word of Blake, has, through terrorism and politics, taken hold of many key worlds, and this is where you come. As a member of the mercenary force Wolf’s Dragoons, it is your task to take the fight to the Blakeists, and kick them into cold space. Wolf’s Dragoons are among the best funded, most professional, and most respected mercenary units in the entire Inner Sphere. No real surprise, considering that they were originally a unit of Clan Wolf, sent to the Inner Sphere to spy on the humans. Now, though, they have broken their ties with the Clans, and fight for the freedom of the Inner Sphere. You are among the very best, and in this game, you’re gonna get your chance to prove it. MechAssault is your standard mission base games, taking you from place to place to battle with various enemies and passing various objectives. As you go from mission to mission, you wont be able to help but stop and take in the scenery every now and again. The graphics are just beautiful in MechAssault. Mechs are rich in detail and color, and move in a very realistic fashion. The level design, ranging from cities to mountains to water filled areas, all look just like you’ve imagined they would look on hostile, far flung worlds. The sound effects don’t really stand out, being mostly standard sci-fi fare, but they suit the game and get the job done respectably. The games controls work very well, too. You move with the left thumbstick, while looking/rotating your mechs torso is handled with the right. PC first person shooter players might need a bit of time to comes to grip with the control scheme, but once you do, it works quite well. Pushing the left and right thumbsticks activates jump jets and defensive weapons. The left and right triggers take care of weapon firing and cycling, while the X and B buttons allow you to choose between ballistic or energy weapons. The Y and A buttons are redundant fire buttons, and the black and white buttons are reserved for multiplayer options. I don’t care what anyone says- I like the Xbox controller S. It fits my hands well, much more comfortably than the PS2 controller, and it is perfectly suited to this kind of game. The placement of the black and white buttons is a problem, but, they are not used much in this game, so its not really a problem here. MechAssault features several different mechs and variants, ranging from small scout mechs to the 100 ton Atlas Assault Mech. Always a fan favorite, the Mad Cat heavy mech is here as well, but experienced mechwarriors will notice a change- the Mad Cat, historically, has always been classified as a 75 ton heavy mech. In this game, however, its been upped to a 100 ton assault mech. It may be a small thing, but, for a purist like me, it grates mightily. Its another example of the license being tweaked to appeal to the masses, at the expense of the respect of the hard core fans who have been with battletech through the years. I hope this particular tweak is an aberration that will not be followed in future games. Destructive environments abound in MechAssault, and this is great not only for the sheer fun of destroying everything you see for the hell of it, but because all your powerups are hidden in buildings and vehicles. Gives you a real reason for all that destruction. Powerups, called salvage, include better weapons, upgrades to existing weapons, and armor replenishment. This is good for keeping the game pace up, but speaking again as a purist, I miss the realism of the refit vehicles. There is a special thrill of coming out of a heavy battle and limping to your refit vehicle just in time as you are pursued by your enemies that just walking over a colored blob on the ground can never touch. Still, this is an action game, so these kind of powerups just have to be tolerated. For the most part, enemies in the game fight hard, and the AI is decent. Other than the small niggles I mentioned above, my only real problem with the game is wildly varied difficulty level. One mission can be easy to beat, while the next is insanely hard. I do not like this at all, and it seems a problem with more and more games lately. A nice, even challenge is what I like best, and I find the varied difficulty from level to level annoying. Having said that, none of the missions are impossible, and when you’re done, you do have a feeling of accomplishment. All in all, I found MechAssault to be a very enjoyable gaming experience, and considering that I had thought I would hate it, I’m even more impressed. The richly detailed visuals combined with great control and heavy shooting action make this one a must buy, and its gonna stay on my shelf for a long time. I’m looking forward to my next replay of the game, and that’s something I don’t do very often. - Ed - |
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