MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf – Review

Oh lovely mech, I loved the first MechAssault (or as some prefer Mech Assault) title, sadly I rarely got to play it online what with my lack of Xbox Live and all, but that aside I was still looking forward to the release of the much anticipated sequel. So with that in mind…. here’s what I thought…

Ahh take a trip back with me if you will … When Xbox Live had just been born and people were new to the world of TV multiplayer, MechAssault had the masses glued to their TV’s of a weekend blasting the crap out of their friends, ahh those were the days. The game has changed quite a bit from those days because let’s face it, gamers want and expect more. I’ll start at the beginning however… The intro sequence to MechAssault 2 Lone Wolf had me cringing slightly from the getgo because of the corny voiceover of ‘Foster’, your voice to the world outside. Visually it was great but the un-panicked and overtly polite dude who’s helping you and essentially giving you hints and instruction just seemed a little too calm for this grrls liking. The mechanics of the game differ from the original in that they have added some really sweet in game opportunities. You can now step out of the mech you’re in once you’ve disabled a better mech and hop inside the other one. You can also scale buildings by a combination of jump jet and wall spike style. This addition is so funky that I found myself playing with it just to see it work again. To cap this off you’re no longer restricted to Mechs either!! This gives you an amazing sense of scale because your tiny little human pales into insignificance next to a Mech.

Well it’s just sitting there get in!…. The commandeering aspects of MechAssault 2 are what make this game fun, it takes away from the monotony of only being able to play one mech. You’re not only going to be piloting a mech in mech assault 2. It’s difficult to know what to say and what not to given finding out these things for yourself is usually far more fun than having some chump in a review ruin it for you, so with that in mind let me just say, it’s good… it’s real good and there’s about 35 different vehicles for you to control. There is as much fun to be had in the game being inside another type of vehicle and for quite some time my weapon and machine of choice was a tank. There is nothing like running your tank over the baddies and watching them squelch out the other side of the tracks. Class.

Now, don’t make the mistake I did and explain this game as a human getting inside robots and shooting things. They’re not robots dumbass they’re mechs and the graphics have clearly been painstakingly crafted to highlight this. I was expecting the graphics in MechAssault 2 Lone Wolf to be such a huge leap from the first title that I’d be sitting with this huge grin on my face, eyes wide as I say thinking ‘whoa how’d they do that’, sadly although the graphics are better they’re not the jaw dropping style that I’d expected given the pre release hype machine. Sure, the mechs are cooler and things seem sharper but buildings still remain fairly flat and uninteresting for the most part although damage graphics appeared better, with fires burning more realistically, holes looking like they’ve been done by scorching hot lazers and so on. The mech models look like they’ve had a lot more detail added to them and the whole thing does seems slightly more fleshed out and polished but at times there seemed to be a frame rate slow down and it always seemed to be at the most inopportune moments.

All Hail good sound ….. the audio in MechAssault 2 Lone Wolf is really well done, though not the best I’ve heard on the Xbox. There’s a music soundtrack that compliments the action with a sort of new metal or new grunge feel to it, slightly cinematic in atmosphere and it adds to the game. It can become a little irritating throughout the game though in single player mode but you have the option of turning it down so its not all bad. The deaf gamer is at a slight but not huge disadvantage because although instruction is both spoken and written on screen the spoken instruction is a LOT more indepth than the concise move only style of hint that appears written on screen.

Grrl! You got it goin on… or err.. not actually. The ‘female gamer angle’ on this title essentially comes down to this, I for one had been misled into thinking that in the campaign mode I’d have the opportunity to play a male or female mech warrior, sure I know it makes little difference once you’re in the suit, it’s not like you can tell but it would have been nice to just have the choice, so that on some sad psychological level I knew inside that steel carcass lay the heart of a woman. Instead you play the obligatory male one man savior with the bossy female commander, though she is pretty cool. Some of the other Mech Warriors are female though but I don’t want to ruin the storyline so the less said about that the better.

Multiples are ooh soo good…. so you’ve got MechAssault 2 and you’ve got Xbox Live, well then you’re in for some friend blasting fun. Although I don’t have Live myself, just for you little chickens I’ve traveled far and wide until I landed at the doorstep of a friend who not only has Live but let’s me use it from time to time and here’s what I’ve found. Playing MechAssault 2 on Live is as much fun as the glory days of MechAssault 1. If you’re in good company you’re in for a total riot on Live. This is where this game really comes into its own. Sure it’s fun enough in single player mode but on Xbox Live it can be hilarious or serious, whatever takes your fancy. There is enough depth here in the various gameplay modes on Live to keep you playing this title for months and make up for the relatively short single player campaign mode.

So what’s the summation girlfriend?…. MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf is better than it’s predecessor in almost every way, though it isn’t the huge leap forward I was personally expecting, it does however do the job it’s meant to and does it well. There are some sweet little additions, both graphically and mechanically that do add to the overall playability of the title. It really is in this idea of ‘gameplay’ where the title stays strong. It is fun to play, it’s cool blowing things up and it’s always sweet running in and stealing your enemies life force right after you’ve blown them sky high. I get a great sense of glee in doing this, like a hawk stalking its prey and swooping in for the kill. Lovely. You can’t go wrong having this title in your collection because you’ll want to play it on Live with friends, note that i said friends. It might not be much fun with a group of strangers who take it all too seriously. So go buy it, step into your mech and kill things.

Review by Eden