MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf

Added September 27th, 2004 by Colin

Every year or two, a great game slips through the media buzz cracks. Whether through bad marketing, a particularly competitive launch time (Christmas), or just not getting the attention it deserves it goes largely unrecognized. The specifics don’t matter, as the result is always the same. It’s happened time and time again, and will continue to happen time and time again, until publishers decide to spread out the release schedule. And, unfortunately, one upcoming game looks to continue the tradition. That game is the MechAssault 2, sequel to last year’s MechAssault, and no, this isn’t your average sequel. This is your full on, nothing held back, full speed ahead, ramming speed, and then since we’re going at ramming speed, let’s double that ramming speed, make the boat fly, and add laser cannons while we’re at it. This is MechAssault 2, and it’s going to blow you away.

MechAssault 2 is utterly revamped from MechAssault 1 (hereafter called MA1), and by “revamped” I mean to say that any problem you might have had with MechAssault 1 is now fixed, and better then in your wildest dreams; assuming, of course, that you dream about Mechs on a regular basis. MechAssault 2 manages to surpass the original in every conceivable way, but three key ideas stand out in pushing the Gameplay to new levels. The first is the amount of vehicles, the second is the amount of teamwork required, and the last is the sheer amount of choices. The biggest problem most people had with the original was the one dimensional Gameplay, which was saved only by being one of the first Xbox Live compatible games. Many, myself included, had a blast with it, but it didn’t stand the test of time well, quickly being replaced by the likes of Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six. MechAssault 2 looks to fix all that through it’s innovative multiplayer gameplay, and fantastic production quality.

Before I dive into the new Gameplay mechanics, it’s necessary to talk about the new vehicles available for your driving and flying pleasure. There are four vehicle types, three new to multiplayer, one new to the series. These vehicles include the Mech, Tank, Power Armor (Known in MA1 as the Elemental), and VTOL (short for Vertical Take-Off and Landing). And, without further adu, onto the vehicles:

Mechs: Largely the same as in MechAssault 1 (and every BattleTech game before it), the Mech is a massive, lumbering, bipedal machine of war outfitted with a varied assortment of missiles, energy weapons (lasers), and projectiles (Such as the Machine Gun and Guass Rifle). These form the backbone of any well organized team, providing the firepower to level buildings, enemy defenses, and anything else that gets in one’s way. There are many different types of Mechs, ranging from Missile Support to Assault to Flag Running, and there is sure to be a Mech matching anyone’s playing style, even if that playing style is spawn camping.

Elemental/Power Armor: The Power Armor is greatly improved from MA1, thanks to a variety of new abilities, first and foremost among which is the Power Claw, which can be activated with a simple press of the B button. This claw enables one to hitch a ride on the back of allied Mechs and VTOLs, climb buildings (allowing you to get the drop on your enemy), and hijack opposing Mechs. Hijacking is fairly simple in concept, but like anything worth doing, it takes some practice to be consistently successful. To steal an opponent’s Mech, you first must maneuver yourself close behind said enemy and hit B, causing the Power Armor’s claw to clamp onto the back of your opponent, who is now undoubtedly cursing your name. At this point you both enter into a Dance Dance Revolution-esque button pressing contest. To win, you must press the correct buttons displayed at the bottom of the screen before your enemy can. If you are successful, your efforts will be rewarded by the opposing Mech crashing to the ground, the former pilot ejecting out, and the general satisfaction of forcing that pilot to respawn from his base and run back to the battle. After a successful hijacking, one is faced with the decision to leave your Power Armor and take the now neutral Mech, or stay put in the Power Armor and take down another unsuspecting Mech pilot. However, should the Power Armor fail in it’s hijacking, it will explode, leaving the hijacker to die. These Mech stealing duels tend to be slanted towards the hijacker, since the hijackee is busy piloting their Mech, while still having to try and hit the correct buttons.

The other main new Power Armor feature is the mortar weapon, which is effective against other Power Armors and Tanks. Though it may seem silly, any good preview of MechAssault 2 has to make mention of the ridiculously cool animation displayed when one steps into a Power Armor. It truly must be seen to be believed, but suffice to say, once the player step into the boots of the Armor, the armor will then wrap up and around them. It is truly one of the best animations in any game, ever, period. Massive kudos are due to the animation team at FASA for creating something that just oozes coolness as much as this animation. If you took coolness, put it in a bottle, left it there for a week, and took it out, then that would be the Power Armor animation. Yes, it’s that cool. From the hijacking to the claw, from the mortar to the ability to hitch rides off allies, the Power Armor has been undergone a complete makeover into what most likely be a popular new favorite vehicle, as well as a much bigger force than in MA1.

VTOL: The VTOL, short for Vertical Take-Off and Landing is a completely new vehicle in the MechAssault universe, and very positive one at that. The VTOL plays the part of the ultimate team support vehicle through it’s ability to pickup powerups, health, and bombs and dispense them down to allies below, adding a whole new layer of strategy and teamwork to the game. To pickup powerups, you simply guide your VTOL over to the depot pad, and use the left and right D-Pad buttons to select your cargo, and hit A. To drop your (highlighted in the lower corner) cargo, you press B. By filling up on bombs, you can essentially carpet bomb an area, which is effective at doing mass damage to your rivals. Flying controls are extremely easy and intuitive, with all vertical travel mapped to the thumbsticks. To fly down, you press in the left thumbstick. To fly up, press in the right thumbstick. This quickly becomes second nature, and is by one of the best control implementations for a hovering vehicle on a console, ever. you just press in the right thumbstick, and to fly down you press in the left thumbstick. All this comes at a price, however, as the VTOL had but one weapon, an average missile attack, but its ability to carpet bomb and supply teammates more than makes up for its inherent offensive weakness.

Tank: The last vehicle available at PAX was the Tank, which is generally the same as the enemy tanks in MechAssault 1; except with more weapons, more health, and the ability to cloak. On a second thought, the only thing MA2’s Tank really shares with the MA1 tank is the name. The Tank takes far more damage than in MA1, placing it one step down from the Mech health-wise. Tanks excel at taking down Power Armors, due to their unhijackability, which gives them a very important job in any good team. However, they don’t have the weaponry to go toe to toe with most Mechs, and if you are fighting a VTOL, you’ll be better off in a Mech anyways, so the Tank is probably due to fulfill a very specific role in the game, used by those preferring to have decent weapons and stealth.

All of these vehicles are very different from each other, and it all boils down to one question: Are they balanced?
Short Answer: Yes.
Long Answer: Yes, but.
It’s hard to get a good feel for a game while playing with seven other people who have never played it before, but almost every player seemed to gravitate towards the Power Armor when given the choice. It’s great that the Power Armor is so much more fun then in MA1, as it really improves the game, but, on the other hand, Mechs just aren’t as much fun to play. They are the same as in MA1, and the underlying gameplay mechanics for them hasn’t evolved much, whereas the Power Armor is entirely new. The Power Armor is just plain fun dodging fire, climbing buildings, and sneaking up behind an Atlas and proceeding to jack their vehicle. It’s fun being able to hitch a ride on allied Mechs, and jump off as soon as an enemy is nearby, allowing you to sneak up behind them unnoticed. Everything about it is just plain fun. So much fun infact, that most opt for the Power Armor. But there is hope, since when I asked the FASA Studios employee at PAX about the balance between the different vehicles and Mechs he told me that they are still balancing that very aspect as much as possible, will continue to balance it around the clock for the next (then) 4 months, so time will tell; hopefully there will be more incentives for using Mechs in the final version.

If you haven’t been able to tell by now, multiplayer has gone through some massive changes since MA1, which is evident when starting a multiplayer game for the first time. The most striking thing by far is the sheer scaling of everything, and since players start off on foot, everything, and I mean everything towers above them, especially the Mechs, which dwarf everything but skyscrapers. The second thing that most people notice is that you don’t have an attack on foot. All you can do is crouch (Click the) Left Thumbstick, move, look around and, as luck (or great game developers) would have it, enter a vehicle of your choice. This is the point that most people realize that this game is going to rule. And that it’s time to blow stuff up.

The map that I played is set up so that there are two bases, Red and Blue, each with a mass of vehicles for you to wreak destruction with, along with a bunch of automated turrets and a few manual ones. Much like a good sushi sampler, there were Mechs’ to fill possible niche, from long rang bombardment (Catapult) to flag runner (Any given small Mech) to the assault Mech (Atlas), every major class of Mech was included, about six in all. Along with the Mechs there were a small amount of VTOLs and Tanks (about two each), and a couple of Power Armors. The maps are much larger this time around, but you are never at a lack for enemies, as you can almost always see one in the distance, or right next to you. Graphics were significantly improved from MechAssault 1, particularly in the particle effects, lighting, textures, and models. In fact, everything was improved, and to top it off there was no noticeable framerate issues at all, and surprisingly few bugs for game months from launch that had just went into the Gameplay Balancing/Bug Fixing stage of it’s development. The gametype that most of the rounds were was Capture the Flag, but no one was focusing on flag captures, and it mostly was a team deathmatch as everyone just flat out played and learned the game.

It’s hard to describe a game as deep and new as MA2, as so much of it is the refined design and flow of the game. It’s the small things that set it apart, like the entering a Power Armor for the first time and watching the infantryman step into the boots and having the suit flow onto his body. It’s seeing someone board a Mech for the first time. It’s boarding a Mech for the first time yourself. It’s starting the game up and discovering an incredible game that hasn’t gotten nearly enough press coverage and hype. This game is so incredible, it deserves far more press then it’s been getting. This game deserves AAA buzz, yet it doesn’t seem to be getting it. Hopefully its launch date a month after Halo 2 will mean that it will be competitive sales wise. Usually when a major release is gearing up for launch, forums across the internet ablaze with discussion and hype for them, yet there’s none of that for MA2, which truly deserves to be one of the biggest releases this year. Regardless of the marketing position, however, MechAssault 2 is shaping up to be an incredible multiplayer experience, on par with even that of Halo 2’s, and deserves to be at the top of every Xbox gamer’s Christmas list this year.