49 replies to this topic

[Lord Cole]

The VERY best, how about Dynamix's "Mechwarrior" for PC DOS? It was so great to pilot in a sim, for the first time, after playing tabletop for a few years.

[xxx WreckinBallRaj xxx]

MW 2 Mercs was the best game in the series. It had a lot more freedom and different paths open ended paths than MW 4 Mercs. MW 4 was dumbed down, simple by comparison, and much shorter. The upside is much better graphics and effects. I'd still suggest 4 if you want to go back, because it looks nice on maxed settings. MW 2 titles are hard to get running now(Hope you're good with Dosbox, if not, then GL). They were designed for Dos or Windows 95, none of which will even attempt to install on a 64 bit system. Also the 1990s 3D graphics are very painfully obsolete. My point is that for their time, MW 2 titles were MUCH better than the later titles under MW 3 and 4 games. But as I said, if you want to go back, go with a MW 4 title; much less trouble to get working and the early 2000 graphics are tolerable. They're still a lot of trouble as I had countless problems with my MekTek MW 4 Mercs but it is NOTHING compared to getting a MW 2 or any Windows 95 game to function on 64 bit vista.(The OS I use) It was pure luck for me to find a hacked version of Dune 2,000, hacked to work specifically on 64 bit systems. Otherwise I'd never have gotten it running.

[Coolant]

The original DOS Mechwarrior got me involved in the series. I member finding the floppy disk in a desk drawer in our shop on board while out to sea on a West Pac. But, I'd have to say that MW4:Mercs with Mektek Free Release is awesome. I think there is over 100 mechs and over 100 weapons in the Free Release. Also, some may not know that they added many more screen resolutions including several widescreen and increased the visibility from 1000m to 1300m. Together they offered a kind of graphic boost from the original, the increased resolution for obvious reasons and the extended visibility filled out background horizons more. All of a sudden maps looked cooler and "fresh" after playing them over and over for years.

[Monolith]

I loved them all for different reasons...

MW2 had some great background reading tied in with the missions and helped with immersion. Also, it was an incredibly well done game for it's time. The graphics and music were great and the game-play was fantastic.

MW3 was fan-freakin-tastic for it's gritty feel and the excellence of it's immersion. You felt like you really were in an earthshaking engine of pure destruction and the bigger the mech, the more visceral that feeling. I can still remember thinking (or at least feeling) "oh, ****!" when a pair of Annihilators were pounding in my direction. Deformable terrain (for the most part) along with arms and legs convincingly peeling off mechs. You FELT it when you got hit with enemy fire, and you felt it differently depending on whether you were hit with a laser, a PPC bolt, or a guass slug. (I loved the fact that I could equip 4 anti-missile systems and have entire flights of enemy LRMs disappear.)

MW4 changed everything for me as it was the first title that I was able to play online with relatively large groups of people. I had played limited Netmech in MW2 and had never been able to get MW3 to work online at all. Playing against live pilots was a refreshing change. I also thought that the hardpoint system made sense and while it was not a perfect system it worked. I liked the sense of speed in the light mechs and the sense of power in the big boys. I liked the relative maneuverability of the mechs. I learned how to reverse turn in an assault to knock a light or medium harasser on it's face. I would usually wait until the enemy mech stumbled to it's feet to blow it to smithereens. (Like my enemies to die standing up.) I also learned when piloting a light mech to anticipate that turn from a heavier opponent and get out of the way. I saw some truly epic engagements playing MW4 on the internet. I also had some amazing duels. When I worked nights I would sometimes come home at 4AM only to play with the same group of guys (whoever was up at that insane hour) until 6 or 7. I played in 5 or 6 MW4 player organized leagues: VL, BZ, MWL, and a few others. I fought with one clan for 3-4 years and when they finally died off I wound up floating between 2 or 3 other units before finally quitting the game. The Mektek mekpaks really helped keep the game breathing after MS abandoned the franchise. I was thrilled when I recently was able to successfully install the mektek MW4 free release. The biggest strength of MW4 for me was the thriving community that somehow kept the game going for 6-7 years. And while many of those years were admittedly spent watching more and more players fizzle out until I finally threw in the towel myself, it was a wild ride while it lasted.

MWO looks to have taken many of the things that worked in previous titles and used them to good effect. It looks to have the gritty feel that permeated MW3. It looks to have the action and relative ease of use that was there in MW4. But most importantly, I think, is they look to build upon the COMMUNITY which has been growing since MW2. Long live Mechwarrior, Mechwarriors, and everything in between!

[Bloodweaver]

Bluten, on 06 July 2012 - 08:09 PM, said:

But as I said, if you want to go back, go with a MW 4 title; much less trouble to get working and the early 2000 graphics are tolerable.

I have to disagree with you regarding the graphics being more tolerable. I've always thought MW3 looked about a thousand times better than MW4 or MW4: Mercenaries. Sure, it's an older game - and thus uses less polygons. But object complexity isn't everything - MW3 had great textures, making everything look much more realistic than it did in MW4, where all the textures kind of blurred into each other. Everything looked so much more detailed than it did in MW4. Even environment colors were more realistic, very earthy and subdued; MW4's colors were bright and gaudy, making it look like a cartoon. And the smaller details too; lasers and PPC's put out a visible glow onto anything they passed over/into, the few humans and birds (and Elementals too!) you'd find flitting around would explode into a bloody mess when shot, explosions made sense and left husks of disabled Mechs on the field, Mechs actually had different strides for "walking" and "running" speeds(which allowed the game to avoid the goofy UBERFASTSTEP of the light Mechs in MW4), etc...

Edited by Bloodweaver, 06 July 2012 - 08:45 PM.

[Zakatak]

MW2 31st Century Combat for gameplay.
MW3 for immersion. < personal fav
MW4 Mercs for variety.

Top 3 so far, my opinion.

Edited by Zakatak, 06 July 2012 - 08:59 PM.

[Bloodweaver]

Zakatak, on 06 July 2012 - 08:59 PM, said:

MW2 31st Century Combat for gameplay.
MW3 for immersion. < personal fav
MW4 Mercs for variety.

Top 3 so far, my opinion.

Now that you mention it, this is a pretty damn spot-on summary.

[FACEman Peck]

trycksh0t, on 06 July 2012 - 07:08 PM, said:

MW3, although MW2: Mercs ranks right up there as well.

Although, if some company wanted to do a remake of MW2: Mercs in CryEngine 3 or Unreal 3 (4 when it releases), they would become my new best friend for life.

How about Frostbite 2?

[R0AHN]

RudeDogX, on 06 July 2012 - 06:34 PM, said:

Did anyone ever play at Virtual World -- Battle Tech were u actually got in the pods ?

Well I know there's a gaming center in town that has something that sounds like that, but I don't remember the name and to be honest it wasn't worth the money. The pods were basically just large plastic eggs, missiles locked on instantly, the game was a modified MW4 that was completely off its rocker (an Uziel rocking PPC, Large Laser, Gauss Rifle, LRM20, and an AC/20? And full armor? Erm...), and it had no torso twist. Strange as it may seem, without the torso twist gameplay just went straight to derp. It was pretty dull...

I'd have to go with MW4:Mercs just for Duncan, the Solaris announcer. Those matches were made all the better for his running narration.

[Pacoua]

The control ability of MW3 was phenomenal. I loved that the targeting was free to move anywhere on the screen than being stuck in the center. It allowed you more freedom...you could move the whole mech, the torso and the target reticule separately.
MW3 indeed

[Wolfclaw]

MECHASSAULT 1 AND 2 WERE THE BEST EVAR!

Wow, I cant even say that with a straight face....

[Stahlseele]

All in all, MW4 Mercs with MekTek Stuff was best.
Closest to the original was MW3 especially with PiratesMoon AddOn.
Best for me was MW2 Mercenaries . . if they simply made that one again with better graphics, they'd be swimming on Monies right now.

The most fun?
MWLL. Hands down.

[Kilroy]

Mechwarrior 2 was my personal favorite followed closely by MW2 Mercs.

MW3 was a lot of fun too though I always had trouble getting it to run.
MW4 was decent but not very immersive or particularly fun.
MWLL was awesome until people started taking it too seriously. Completely killed it for me.
MC-MC2 were interesting but not good enough for me to want to play through them again.
MA-MA2 were both fun and are still fun to play but simply don't compare to the more Canon games.

Edited by Kilroy, 07 July 2012 - 08:15 AM.

[PropWash]

Not quite correct.

Virtual World BattleTech has ALWAYS has torso twisting (since 1990). In the pods there are several piloting modes. In basic mode (for rookies) your torso is locked to the stick. If you select any advanced piloting, the stick turns torso and feet turn mech.

Also, most of the other 90 some odd control systems in a Tesla cockpit (and 7 monitors with infinity optics system) do something when playing in full expert with heat mode.

Not all operators have staff that have the experince to know all of this.

R0AHN, on 07 July 2012 - 07:43 AM, said:

Well I know there's a gaming center in town that has something that sounds like that, but I don't remember the name and to be honest it wasn't worth the money. The pods were basically just large plastic eggs, missiles locked on instantly, the game was a modified MW4 that was completely off its rocker (an Uziel rocking PPC, Large Laser, Gauss Rifle, LRM20, and an AC/20? And full armor? Erm...), and it had no torso twist. Strange as it may seem, without the torso twist gameplay just went straight to derp. It was pretty dull...

I'd have to go with MW4:Mercs just for Duncan, the Solaris announcer. Those matches were made all the better for his running narration.

R0AHN, on 07 July 2012 - 07:43 AM, said:

Well I know there's a gaming center in town that has something that sounds like that, but I don't remember the name and to be honest it wasn't worth the money. The pods were basically just large plastic eggs, missiles locked on instantly, the game was a modified MW4 that was completely off its rocker (an Uziel rocking PPC, Large Laser, Gauss Rifle, LRM20, and an AC/20? And full armor? Erm...), and it had no torso twist. Strange as it may seem, without the torso twist gameplay just went straight to derp. It was pretty dull...

I'd have to go with MW4:Mercs just for Duncan, the Solaris announcer. Those matches were made all the better for his running narration.

[Exilyth]

Haven't got a chance to play MW2 yet, so I'll go with MW3.

[Bloodweaver]

Propwash: I'm pretty sure he's not talking about the Tesla pods at all. There was some sort of arcade implementation based specifically on MW4. Same models, graphics, etc. I saw it once or twice at Dave & Busters-type places. Everything he said was true... you just stomped around in a Summoner (I believe) which was loaded to the brim with machine guns and lasers, and just shot at a walking field of enemy Argus'(again, I believe). Which took one or two hits to kill. It was terrible.

[PropWash]

Aah, you may be correct. If it was the Tsumo "Bubble" by Tsunami, that was crap.

(In the D&B Utica they placed that right next to our Tesla cockpits, that was the first time we learned that MS licensed the IP to Tsunami!)

Bloodweaver, on 16 July 2012 - 03:21 PM, said:

Propwash: I'm pretty sure he's not talking about the Tesla pods at all. There was some sort of arcade implementation based specifically on MW4. Same models, graphics, etc. I saw it once or twice at Dave & Busters-type places. Everything he said was true... you just stomped around in a Summoner (I believe) which was loaded to the brim with machine guns and lasers, and just shot at a walking field of enemy Argus'(again, I believe). Which took one or two hits to kill. It was terrible.

Bloodweaver, on 16 July 2012 - 03:21 PM, said:

Propwash: I'm pretty sure he's not talking about the Tesla pods at all. There was some sort of arcade implementation based specifically on MW4. Same models, graphics, etc. I saw it once or twice at Dave & Busters-type places. Everything he said was true... you just stomped around in a Summoner (I believe) which was loaded to the brim with machine guns and lasers, and just shot at a walking field of enemy Argus'(again, I believe). Which took one or two hits to kill. It was terrible.

[Eskorakas]

Mechwarrior 2... NetMech lag shooting was awesome!

[Derek Icelord]

My personal favorite of all the MechWarrior games to date is MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries.

[Isingdeath]

It was not the best but Crescent Hawk Inception opened up Battletech to me more than the table top had done up until that time. The original Mechwarrior did the same. They fueled my imagination and the reason I am a BT fan today. Crescent Hawks Revenge not so much was rather disapointed in that one. The later games had more flash and were better graphically but none of them could match the wonder of the first games.