When I
was a kid I had a real Battletech obsession. I got my hands on virtually
every FASA spin off. I even had a copy of their Last Starfighter game
because it worked on the same principles as the Battletech universe. I
read the novels, collected the little figures, and I wondered what it
would be like to pilot one of these things for real. My dream wasnt
realized until Activision came out with Mechwarrior (the franchise has
since moved to Microsoft) for the PC about eight years ago. I was aghast
at what the game was able to accomplish, but the limitations of my
Pentium 75 and hearty 16 MB of RAM were made all too apparent. The
graphics were choppy and the landscapes incredibly sparse. For as good
as it was, it couldnt touch my imagination when playing the board
games.
Since
that time, my gaming has migrated from the PC to console. I found that
as my leisure time dwindled, my gaming would be better served by the
episodic nature of the console rather than the prolonged narratives of
the PC. Unfortunately, there hasnt exactly been a dearth of Mechwarrior
games assaulting the consoles. The only one that I can think of is a
Mechwarrior port for the original PlayStation.
Sure
thereve been a good number of big robot games on all of the consoles,
and this fall will see a ton of them like Gun Metal and Robotech:
Battlecry, but its just not the same as an honest to goodness 'Mech
game. Ive enjoyed games like Armored Core and even Zone of the Enders
was a lot of good fun, but it just wasnt the same.
Microsoft
is going to rectify the absence of true Mech games this fall with
MechAssault for the X-Box. I only had a little time with the game at E3,
but what little time I had was enough to make me salivate. Playing this
game was what I always thought it would be like to really pilot one of
these things. Not only were the effects impressive, but the interaction
with the surrounding environments did a phenomenal job of actually
placing you in the midst of the battle. We finally have a system that
can do justice to our imaginations. From what I saw, Microsoft isnt
going to squander the opportunity.
Microsoft
promises an intricate single player storyline featuring missions that
change as they progress. They are also keen to deliver a Battletech
experience, so expect a lot of the pen and paper game universe to make
it into MechAssault. There will be a dozen 'Mechs to choose from, not at
all the full roster of Battletech offerings, but not a bad slate. We
know favorites like the Catapult and Atlas are among the 'Mechs you can
pilot. Perhaps the most exciting detail about MechAssault, however, is
its online multiplayer. You can play with a friend in local splitscreen,
or you and a friend can take on competitors via the Xbox LIVE network.
MechAssault promises to bring the success of their PC MechWarrior
games to the console experience in the best possible way. The super-easy
arcade style controls mixed with a load of variety and online
multiplayer could make MechAssault one of the biggest games of the
season.