A review that is ten years late. Well as of 2007, mention 'mechwarrior' and a good number of people will think MechAssault. But before MechAssault there was Mechwarrior, and unlike the arcade-action style of MechAssault, the Mechwarrior titles were simulations with a short learning curve that most MechAssault kids today probably would be too disinterested to try, which is to say tad disappointing.
Regardless of the state of the series now(the last PC title in the Mechwarrior line was in 2002), Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries is one of the gems of the past that helped push the video graphics card industry forward.
A prequel rather than a sequel to Mechwarrior 2: 31st Century Combat, the player occupies the role of a mercenary mech pilot, who has recently been rendered freelance following the game's spectacular intro movie (even the later titles intro movies pale in comparison IMO).
The game introduced many new elements, such as the ability to salvage destroyed mechs and a huge range of customizable options for your mech. Even the more recent Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries has less detail for mech customization than this title did.
A wide variety of missions are available, some are randomized, short generic ones with simple Search and Destroy tasks and others are longer, multi-mission arcs that have a strong, canonical back story to them. A fairly novel mission is where the employers are actually bandits who hire mercenaries and ambush them at the drop site to steal their mechs. An even more unique arc involves assisting one of the Great Houses in capturing a Clan OmniMech intact, but when the last mission to hand the mech over to them comes, your drop ship pilot suggests keeping the mech for yourself, thus giving you the mid-mission option of breaching your contract and forfeiting your big pay in exchange for a sweet Kodiak mech.
If one is patient and takes the time to read the various news reports, then you can get a good update on the background story and info, namely reports of mysterious pirate attacks that leave no survivors. This of course takes place before the Clan invasions, so it's little mystery to fans who the attackers are.
If you choose the proper missions, then you actually get taken down one of the best arcs, where you get captured by the Clans and held as a bondsmen before escaping with the help of captured pirates. Ultimately, the game's story leads to a series of well written missions against the Clans, including the canonical Battle of Luthien.
The game's soundtrack is another solid part of the game, something which the last titles, Mechwarrior 4: Vengeance and Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries were badly lacking.
If you get tired of all that, you can hop over to Solaris 7 and take part in mech tournaments. A particular fan favourite is the match that takes place inside a giant skull big enough for mechs to fit. These tournaments were revived in Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries, which unfortunately didn't have the giant skull battlefield.
Any series mech sim fan will enjoy Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries without a doubt, as long you can get over the dated graphics. Fortunately for long time fans of the series, back in 1996, Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries's graphics WAS top notch.
Regardless of the state of the series now(the last PC title in the Mechwarrior line was in 2002), Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries is one of the gems of the past that helped push the video graphics card industry forward.
A prequel rather than a sequel to Mechwarrior 2: 31st Century Combat, the player occupies the role of a mercenary mech pilot, who has recently been rendered freelance following the game's spectacular intro movie (even the later titles intro movies pale in comparison IMO).
The game introduced many new elements, such as the ability to salvage destroyed mechs and a huge range of customizable options for your mech. Even the more recent Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries has less detail for mech customization than this title did.
A wide variety of missions are available, some are randomized, short generic ones with simple Search and Destroy tasks and others are longer, multi-mission arcs that have a strong, canonical back story to them. A fairly novel mission is where the employers are actually bandits who hire mercenaries and ambush them at the drop site to steal their mechs. An even more unique arc involves assisting one of the Great Houses in capturing a Clan OmniMech intact, but when the last mission to hand the mech over to them comes, your drop ship pilot suggests keeping the mech for yourself, thus giving you the mid-mission option of breaching your contract and forfeiting your big pay in exchange for a sweet Kodiak mech.
If one is patient and takes the time to read the various news reports, then you can get a good update on the background story and info, namely reports of mysterious pirate attacks that leave no survivors. This of course takes place before the Clan invasions, so it's little mystery to fans who the attackers are.
If you choose the proper missions, then you actually get taken down one of the best arcs, where you get captured by the Clans and held as a bondsmen before escaping with the help of captured pirates. Ultimately, the game's story leads to a series of well written missions against the Clans, including the canonical Battle of Luthien.
The game's soundtrack is another solid part of the game, something which the last titles, Mechwarrior 4: Vengeance and Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries were badly lacking.
If you get tired of all that, you can hop over to Solaris 7 and take part in mech tournaments. A particular fan favourite is the match that takes place inside a giant skull big enough for mechs to fit. These tournaments were revived in Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries, which unfortunately didn't have the giant skull battlefield.
Any series mech sim fan will enjoy Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries without a doubt, as long you can get over the dated graphics. Fortunately for long time fans of the series, back in 1996, Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries's graphics WAS top notch.
