The Mech Thread

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

Welcome to the Mech Thread!

I used to love playing the good old Mech games, back in the day, such as Mechwarrior 2 and 3, Heavy Gear I and II, Shogo plus the Armoured Core games. And of course, Metal Head, on the Sega 32x.

I just got done watching Pacific Rim, while a generally bad movie, it's giant monsters Vs giant robots, so its automatically awesome.

But now I'm in the mood to go stomping around in my own Mech. Lol

Now the only recent games I can think of are Titanfall 1 and 2.
Apparently 1 is complete crap, and 2 is good.
And I can afford precisely neither.

I've been checking steam for various Mech games, and MechWarrior Online popped up.
It's free to play, so that's currently downloading (and will be for several days! 15.7GB!!).
Also Heavy Gear Assault popped up. It looks very similar to the originals. It's currently in early access, and £30, so it's in my wishlist, but I won't be buying it until it's either A) released and glorious. B) heavily discounted.

Can you suggest any other Mech games, ideally ones that run well on modern PCs.
MechWarrior 3, one of my all times favourites no longer runs, and Heavy Gear 2, my other all time favourite, isn't available anywhere.

Feel free to discuss mechs and mech games in general too.

Stomp safe!

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead

 

[Chevy66]

Mechwarrior 2 : mercenaries was my favourite. I liked trying to take down enemy mechs with minimal damage so I could salvage them.

Also Terra Nova was ace, I got it on GOG recently and it's still fun today (although the controls are a bit clunky)

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

Mechwarrior 2 : mercenaries was my favourite. I liked trying to take down enemy mechs with minimal damage so I could salvage them.

Also Terra Nova was ace, I got it on GOG recently and it's still fun today (although the controls are a bit clunky)

My first Mech game ever was MW2.

I also believe I played Terra Nova back in the day.

I also forgot, Krazy Ivan on PS1. That was actually rather good, if somewhat dated, even at release. Lol

I really fancy playing Heavy Gear 2, but I can't find it anywhere. I remember I had to upgrade my graphics card to play that game.

Lol I found it. But it's gonna take 27 hours.

 

[Jenner]

One of my favorite Mech games was Mechcommander 2. It's quite challenging to get running on modern PCs, though. If you like Mechs and RTS and tactical games you should check it out.

Also, there was a kickstarter last year or so for a similar new game in the same universe:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/webeharebrained/battletech

Worth a look.

 

[[VR] Mad Mike]

i love a good mech game.... sadly MWO is multiplayer so not my bag. totally looking forward to the new MW game later this year however.

no advice for you, unless you have access to a VR HMD in which case give the vox machine demo a blast. its bare bones and very early concept, but its enough for me to want more - i just hope its not only a MP arena shooter

 

[Neo-ST]

Hawken?

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

Hawken?

I had a look at Hawken, but it just looks like a generic multiplayer shooter.

I was hoping for some kind of offline or PvE game. Not really in to PvP.

 

[Evil_Merlin]

I'm a HUGE fan of the MechWarrior/BattleTech games.

I started way back with Crescent Hawk's Inception (1988) and Revenge (1990) on my Apple II and then PC.

I had been playing the board game for a LONG time since 1986 or so. So the jump into video games was natural for me.

Jumping into MechWarrior took me a bit longer and I didn't start playing that until 1991. But once I did, there was no looking back. I LOVED this game and played it all the time.

But when MechWarrior 2 dropped, all bets were off. It had one of the best sound tracks to date, by far. And of course, NetMech which sucked down soooo many hours of my and my friend's lives in our last years of college. All the expansion packs were a must.

MechWarrior 2: Mercs wasn't the must fun for us, but we still played the hell outta it, same with 3 and 4.

MW:OL has been very hit or miss, mostly because of Piranha's constant cash grabs. 40 bucks for four Mechs is pricey as hell. Never the less, I've been involved in it since the beta in 2012 and have dropped a LOT of hours into the game, and was buying Mechs right up until early 2015 when I just stopped buying stuff and playing with what I had.

I've touched the Tactics games, and MechCommander games, they were fun.

I'm very much looking forward to MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, but am cautious as its still Piranha.

Hawken didn't do much for me. It was too fast for a good Mech game.

TitanFall was rather cool, TitanFall 2 even more so.

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

I just watched the trailer and gameplay footage for MW5, it looks amazing!

I want.

I'm currently downloading MW4, as it's freeware now I think (I hope!).

I do need to check out Titanfall 1&2. Waiting on a huuuge sale though. Which is unlikely (EA.!).


I cancelled the download for MWO. At 15gb and looking like Pay2Win PvP, I can't be bothered. I don't like online PvP that much.

 

[Marak]

[video=youtube;rt6FatHHnzI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt6FatHHnzI&feature=youtu.be[/video]

Upcoming Battletech from Harebrained Schemes - multiplay demo.

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt6FatHHnzI&feature=youtu.be

Upcoming Battletech from Harebrained Schemes - multiplay demo.

That looks pretty cool. Kinda like XCOM, but with mechs.... well, bigger mechs. Lol

I used to love Supreme Commander (and Forged Alliance), that was a very good RTS.
The AI cheated like mad, but it was fun. I don't think I could beat the harder AIs in that game.
May need to unearth that one!

 

[DoctorDanny]

Eventhough it's a f2p thing I've really enjoyed Mechwarrior Online for quite some time.
The driving and combat mechanics feel good and the battles are allways fun.

For me the main attraction of Mech games is allways the single player campaign though.

 

[Snarfbuckle]

One of my favorite Mech games was Mechcommander 2. It's quite challenging to get running on modern PCs, though. If you like Mechs and RTS and tactical games you should check it out.

Also, there was a kickstarter last year or so for a similar new game in the same universe:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/webeharebrained/battletech

Worth a look.

I would not call it similar.

It's literally the original creators of the Battletech boardgame that wanted to make a new correct battletech game.

 

[Evil_Merlin]

I would not call it similar.

It's literally the original creators of the Battletech boardgame that wanted to make a new correct battletech game.

Yep. Exactly. They made PVP multiplayer by the skin of the teeth because if it was a single player game it would have been boring as heck.

 

[Stigbob]

Earthsiege 2 is my favorite mech game, more of a tank with legs sim than a giant robot FPS. Getting it to run on a modern system was reasonably easy last time I did it about 12 months ago IIRC.

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

Well I've got MechWarrior 4 Mercs up and running on my laptop, but it just won't run on my PC at all.
Luckily, my laptop is more than capable. Shame it's screen is permanently dimmed. Lol

Controls are a bit weird. It doesn't seem to feel the same as MW3 did. No idea why. But still, I've had a blast stomping around in my Mech.
I have no idea what I'm doing with loadouts. I was always a fan of pulse lasers, so that's what I'm using. Lol

 

[Snarfbuckle]

Yep. Exactly. They made PVP multiplayer by the skin of the teeth because if it was a single player game it would have been boring as heck.

not really. i prefer a good deep tactical single player campaign. pvp is just a bonus.

 

[Evil_Merlin]

not really. i prefer a good deep tactical single player campaign. pvp is just a bonus.

Boring. Computer AI has to "cheat". And eventually the rules they play by break down easily and the whole of single player falls on its face.

I've yet to run into any single player game that doesn't up the ante when its losing simply by "cheating".

Human players are well worth the effort in any game such as this. I could honestly not care if there was a single player campaign.

 

[TOGSolid]

Well I've got MechWarrior 4 Mercs up and running on my laptop, but it just won't run on my PC at all.
Luckily, my laptop is more than capable. Shame it's screen is permanently dimmed. Lol

Controls are a bit weird. It doesn't seem to feel the same as MW3 did. No idea why. But still, I've had a blast stomping around in my Mech.
I have no idea what I'm doing with loadouts. I was always a fan of pulse lasers, so that's what I'm using. Lol

MW4 is pretty arcadey when compared to MW3. In MW4 your mech lacks a real feeling of momentum allowing for annoyingly snappy turns that make it feel more like a generic shooter than a mech simulator. Also the guns don't recoil your mech like they do in MW3. There's a lot of little things like that that add up to MW4 feeling kinda thin compared to MW3. That said, I do enjoy MW4's loadout process a lot more since it gives each mech a much more distinct personality since you can't just put whatever you want wherever you want.

The general rules to making broken loadouts still general apply in MW4. Pinpoint alpha strikes are still the name of the game, just remember that literally every single mech you kill will explode on death causing damage if you're too close so super aggressive brawl builds aren't really that great. I remember relying a lot on Gauss/PPC setups and eventually an Annihilator that boated the absolute hell out of RACs and other small bore autocannons because yeah, moar dakka

If you haven't yet, be sure to dig around online for the MW4: Mercs Mek Tek add on to MW4: Mercs. It adds a bunch of mechs, weapons, and scenarios to the game and makes a fun game even better.

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

MW4 is pretty arcadey when compared to MW3. In MW4 your mech lacks a real feeling of momentum allowing for annoyingly snappy turns that make it feel more like a generic shooter than a mech simulator. Also the guns don't recoil your mech like they do in MW3. There's a lot of little things like that that add up to MW4 feeling kinda thin compared to MW3. That said, I do enjoy MW4's loadout process a lot more since it gives each mech a much more distinct personality since you can't just put whatever you want wherever you want.

The general rules to making broken loadouts still general apply in MW4. Pinpoint alpha strikes are still the name of the game, just remember that literally every single mech you kill will explode on death causing damage if you're too close so super aggressive brawl builds aren't really that great. I remember relying a lot on Gauss/PPC setups and eventually an Annihilator that boated the absolute hell out of RACs and other small bore autocannons because yeah, moar dakka

If you haven't yet, be sure to dig around online for the MW4: Mercs Mek Tek add on to MW4: Mercs. It adds a bunch of mechs, weapons, and scenarios to the game and makes a fun game even better.

I agree, I'm not enjoying the 'mech' feeling in MW4 (I have the mektek gubbins).
MW3 was much better. Unfortunately, I can't get it, or pirate's moon running without severe graphic issues, which is a complete shame. MW3 actually runs slightly better than pirates moon, but the graphical issues are so bad, I can barely see in front of me. Lol I'll keep looking for a fix.

MW4 does just feel like a clunky bad FPS compared to MW3 Mech SIM feeling.
Lasers also feel more "meh" in MW4. More heat and less damage. The controls in MW4 doesn't seem as good either. I liked my mouse aim for the arms from MW3.

MW5 looks like it brings back the Mech feeling though. Looking forward to that. Roll on 2018. Lol

I've watched a few minutes of videos of MWO, and it looks dull. PvP Mech fights, over and over again. MWO with PvE would be amazing.
Imagine if MWO was more like ED, but with mechs, and obviously less space flying. Lol