I like big robots. Mecha, as they’re often known. I like the genre and, mostly, I like the games.
Unfortunately, the trend seems to be towards arcade-style reflex-testers, rather than games where big robots are a bit slower and more ponderous. Much as I enjoy Dynasty Warriors: Gundam, I want something a bit different. I know we’ve had Chromehounds, but the campaign was a bit rubbish.
Basically I want Mechwarrior games back. Or Front Mission games. Or both. On my 360.
I consider Mechwarrior 3 to be the best of the Battletech-canon games, and I really liked Front Mission 3 and so was gutted when Square didn’t feel like releasing Front Mission 4 in Europe. Or Front Mission 5. Or any other Front Mission games. I didn’t own or play MW4.
MW4 and FM3, though, had much of what I want out of a mecha game. There’s time for a bit of tactical thought, in MW3 because Mechs move quite slowly, and in FM3 because it’s turn-based. Both games have a huge amount of customisation for your giant mechanical toys. Both have a pretty strong plot, and FM3 had two entirely different storylines depending on a decision you make almost at the beginning of the game.
Front Mission games also call their mecha “wanzers”, leading to many pieces of unintentionally hilarious dialogue.
Unfortunately, thanks to the brutal evisceration and subsequent abandonment of the Battletech property by Microsoft Games (for this Battletech fan at least, MechAssault 2 was a hideous abomination) I’m not going to get what I want. I hope Front Mission does well on the DS but they’re not releasing that in Europe either, so even if it does, odds are I will see no new FM games here. So I am going to have to do the next best thing.
Mechwarrior 4. Four quid. It’s not exactly “next gen” but it has lasers and missiles and robots that stomp. And, in the end, isn’t that really all that counts?
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May 6th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Urgh… I do not like slow games, especially slow games featuring mechs that are almost all the same shades of grey, black and brown among other grimy colours.
Dynasty Warriors Gundam was a bit poor too… :(
May 6th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
I’m all for games with gigantic robots. Dynasty Warriors: Gundam was great! It is really a shame that there hasn’t been anything really solid for the 360 in terms of Mecha. Maybe one day companies will start releasing their gigantic mechs in good faith that they know that there are fans out in the not-quite western world who will buy their games and enjoy them to the fullest.
May 6th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Seriously, man. If you can find FM3 (it’s a PS1 game) you should try it. If only for the bit where one of the characters says “You’ll feel the business end of my wanzer!”
Good times.
May 10th, 2008 at 11:25 am
Did you try Armoured Core 4? Or is it a bit rubbish like Chromehounds? They’re the only two giant robot games I’ve played and I didn’t get too far in either of them. I might play them again…
May 11th, 2008 at 7:31 am
I do have Armoured Core 4. It’s a bit faster-paced than the kind of games I’m talking about and I didn’t get into it much. I should probably try it again, though.
There’s a windows driver for the Steel Battalion controller, too. I might dig that out and try it with MW4. It’s the only controller I know of with a screen wash button. It’s awesome.
May 11th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Ahhhh Mechs, I spendt many hours with Heavy Gear and the like. I always wanted to get Steel Battalion just for the controller alone.
Related Subject, who remembers Robot Jox?
May 12th, 2008 at 10:25 am
Robot Jox. So awful it was brilliant.