Mech Assult Hands On:

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/news/news_story.php?id=77082

\'Mech games are a pleasure Europeans are often denied, as is proven by Sega\'s decision to deny the West any versions of the seminal Virtual On series.
But strangely, since Konami\'s Zone Of Enders showed face and sold successfully - despite cynics basing it\'s success on the convenient packaging with the first gameplay of MGS2 - many more \'Mech \'em ups have surfaced. Capcom feels confident enough to release a 40+ button controller and \'Mech-game package, and Day 1 Studios has decided to release an Online arcade style \'MechRobot game on Xbox... and that\'s the whole reason for this piece.

MechAssualt is thankfully very easy to understand. After the usual title screen/options malarky, you prepare for play by filling one of three vacant weapon slots, with a selection of weapons.

Slot one is reserved for the \'Mech alternative to pistol weaponry. That would be things like pulse lasers, machine guns and semi-automatic pulse rifles. These weapons are weak, but you can fire dozens of shots before they overheat and the ammo almost never runs out. They\'re great for taking out small targets and defenseless objects.

Slot Two is the heavy weapons slot. Warhammer missiles, Crossbow missiles and Heat Seakers. They work great against small and large targets, although require a little more skill to use. They are also highly limited and should be used sparingly to maximise your chances for survival.

Slot Three is for a charged pulse laser that you need to home in slightly - and you have to charge it to fire - by holding down the fire button. It\'s effective against machinery and humans, but doesn\'t do much to buildings.

Once your weapons are selected, you choose your mission and get stuck in.

We had the pleasure of playing two levels which are simple in design, easy to get into and have an arcade game-like feel. The first, Ice level, was a basic locate and protect mission, where you had to break through the enemy\'s defenses, locate the dropship and guard it from the incoming \'Mechs that wish to destroy it. It\'s not all that exciting, but passes the time nicely.

The second level, City, is dead simple, requiring you to first take out some \'Mech robots, a helicopter, a vehicle base and then a security \'Mech. The level is very simple in design, being based in a large square made to feel bigger by the amount of buildings - which you can completely destroy.

In fact, we felt naturally compelled to walk around and destroy every single building possible before completing the mission, something that we found highly satisfying. Even more satisfying was the fact that each shot left a unique mark on buildings, sometimes setting pieces alight or chipping corners off to reveal scafolding. Nicely detailed touches, I\'m sure you\'ll agree.

You can also burn trees with lasers, take down bridges, run in water and step on humans to vanquish them. One thing that disappointed however, was the fact that there were some buildings that just wouldn\'t crumble, which is similar to that feeling when someone coughs midway through a film, taking you out of any immersive state you might have been in.

Another niggle is that the radar is not entirely reliable nor powerful, meaning frustration as you get hit in the head by a helicopter or a human standing on top of a building behind you. Also the \'Mech is quite stiff to control, which is understandable considerring it\'s huge and made of metal. But it\'s not much fun, and you feel more like an elderly man with arthuritis trying to swat flies than a powerful destructive \'Mech robot on a mission.

That aside, the missions are enjoyable, if shallow, and the arcade game feel does make it very accessable, once you\'re use to the controls.

MechAssault will probably satisfy fans of games like Twisted Metal, Carmageddon and other such titles where mindless destruction is applauded. In short, we like it. It\'s scheduled for release around November, and by then we should have a full-blown review including impressions on the online features which will involve heavy use of the Xbox Live! Voice Communicator.

Besides Unreal, this is my most anticipated game for xbox.

*yawn*

is there a PC version?

This game would be great...if it weren\'t on XBox!!!

:rolleyes: was that a terrible attempt at humor or would you seriously only buy it on PC? But of course, you remain unbaised, because, hell, you still knock on Sony more. (?)


Eric Jacob

no, this game WOULD be great if it was on PC, seriously

no attempt at humor

although yer attempt on sarcasm was pathetic



i knock on anything that doesnt meet my standards

mm translator:

i knock on anything that doesnt meet my standards

=

i knock on anything that is on xbox

Wow, look how well that works, now there\'ll be no more misunderstandings.

And no, there will not be a PC version.

no PC version?  im not interested then

lol watch, nevermind yer auto-insult-PS2 reflex

u forget me saying i liked halo (except for the eyesore, repeditive levels and ....)
and munch\'s odysee (main reason i was FORCED to buy an xbox)

only reason i havent pissed it out entirely is Shenmue 2

Dear God hasn\'t this Series Gone on long Enough ?

FFS how much more are they going to Milk the BattleTech series ?


After all it Still Don\'t beat the Original BT* RPG Game that was released on the Commadore Amiga and Earily PC.

*But not the Cresents Hawks revenge because it sucked monkey NUTS....

[Bobs_Hardware]

Originally posted by Watchdog
Besides Unreal, this is my most anticipated game for xbox.

Hey Watchdog, perhaps you could direct me to other previews that make the game sound really interesting.  I am genuinly interested why this is your 2nd most anticipated XBox game.  That hands-on impression doesnt seem to say anything that would get me as excited for the game as you obviously are.  The only thing remotely suggesting it would be a great game would be the vague comparison to Twisted Metal: Black (one of my personal favorite games).

And I thought OT was bad... :rolleyes:

Is this really an Xbox game? It looked like a PS2 game to me when I first looked at the pics (no shit either). But I guess coming from pstwo it had to be for Xbox.

Is this that one game that had nice looking non-ingame screens?

There are previews on the major sites.  There are movies there too.  I love mechwarrior, and this\'ll be great.

And ooseven, perhaps you should be all over the metal gear series, the mario series, the FF series, the sonic series, instead of trying to find a way to say something negative about the xbox.

You\'re not interested because it\'s not on PC.  So you\'re not interested in any game for any console?  You haven\'t played it.  This is one preview.  It\'s not out for several months yet; yet you have already denounced it.  That\'s your typical xbox game responce.

Those screens are really bad.  The movies and other media make this game look much better.

ohh wait, yes it is




Reality rears its ugly head.. again
When will microsoft ever release real screenshots of a game?

Mmm... giant mechs... wait a minute.

Why aren\'t these mechs giant?  The PC versions had HUGE mechs, these things look all tiny.  Maybe the things in the environments are just insanely huge.

Part of the draw for me on the PC games was the ability to go to a nearby to town and stomp all the buildings.  I can\'t stop these buildings with the tiny mechs, only shoot them.  That\'s not as fun.

But still, it looks good.  I might buy it if I had an Xbox, heh.

Watching - I\'m not bashing the game, it looks nice.  I love mech games, and Mechwarrior games were always fun to me.  Just trying to cover my ass so you don\'t jump down my throat.

^
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| im with this guy
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watch, why should i blow the dust off my xbox when i can play the FAR superior mechwarrior on my PC?