MechWarrior 2

• Release Date: 1995
• Genre: Simulation
• Style: Giant Robot Sim
• Similar Games: Iron Soldier 2 (Atari Jaguar)

Game Description

Have you ever wanted to really experience the combat that you play in Battletech or MechWarrior? The best you could do before was to have a good imagination. Now, there's MechWarrior 2 from Activision.

In this game you take on the persona of a Mechwarrior soldier fighting in one of two clans, Clan Wolf or Clan Jade Falcon. You start out as a MechWarrior and try to work your way up to the powerful position of Khan by completing missions assigned to you by the Khans of the clan. Along the way, you get to fight in bigger and more powerful Mechs.

There is also a multi-player mode called "The Trials of Grievance" that can be used to fight against another player over LAN or Modem.

Review: Overall

MDK on the Mac is one of those games that really bothers me. It's an innovative game, with lots of neat elements and flavor, that fails to take full advantage of the hardware it runs on.

As Kurt, it's up to you to save humanity from nasty aliens and their toys. To aid Kurt is a glider suit and sniper scope. The glider suit allows Kurt to slow and direct his falls, reducing damage from falls, and stretching the distance he can jump. The sniper scope allows him to focus a bullet between the eyes of a far-off enemy. Both features are nice, and add a bit to the 3-D shooter genre.

In terms of levels and villains, most are well done and are fairly varied; the sky-fall scenes at the start of a mission are particularyl good as are the tunnel-sliding parts between a few levels. However, several levels seem to be little more than "run and shoot" areas, that fail to catch the eye.

What bothered me most about the game were the graphics. The animations and graphics for Kurt were top notch, but the enemies and levels seemed to be rather flat. Add to this the lack of color in the game (almost everything seemed either brown, black, or gray, with a touch of red), and the graphics really bothered me.

The Mac can handle better (look at Nanosaur for an example) graphics than this. MDK on the Playstation and PC feature more of an improvement over this version than they should.

Review: Enjoyment

Despite the drawbacks, this is still a game that will leave you rocking and on the edge of your seat. Go for it!

Review: Graphics

The opening movie is stunning, but the game isn't really up to that level. Everything appears a bit blocky and some objects don't seem quite real. However, you aren't going to notice much in the heat of battle.

Review: Sound

This is one of the best parts of the game. Some of the battle sounds are a little less than realistic, but others are right on the money and will give you nightmares... or daydreams.

Review: Replay Value

Play as one clan, then the other. Perhaps test out different strategies for winning a battle. But, once you have played it once or twice, there is no real reason to go back.

Review: Documentation

The in-game documentation is excellent but the keys can be confusing until you get used to them. I'd advise copying them on a sheet of paper as a ³Cheat sheet² until you memorize them.