86 replies to this topic

[Adm Awesome]

I don't think I'd like MechCommander, sounds just it's just an RTS version, and they aren't my strong suit, only because of how long a boring a game can get.

[CMDR Sunset Shimmer]

I wouldn't have had an issue with MA and MA2 if it hadn't tried to marry itself to the Battletech franchise. Simple as that.

Mech Commander makes sense, MechWarrior makes sense. Mech Assault made 0 sense to try to do. Had it been it's own thing, with it's own robots and all, I wouldn't have as big of an issue, the games are honestly 'ok' for console games, and they were fun enough, but knowing what I know about Battletech made them a chore to play.

[Caninecomet]

Agreed. I loved both Mechwarriors and still do. I was really young at the time though

[Dream Seaker]

I agree with the OP. for what it was, mechassualt was a good game for the xbox.

[Adm Awesome]

I think all the arguments against the game are the same, illogical and starting to bore me... It's explained already, the game was never meant to be made to be 100% true to the BattleTech Universe. It's a game so they could get the attention of casuals. Maybe they still tried to "Marry it" to the BattleTech because it wanted people who've enjoyed it to get into the *REAL* BattleTech so they can be playing games like MWO aside us, and learning the "true" BattleTech Universe. Thank you, have a nice day, come back with a DIFFERENT argument please.

On a side note: Holy crap not even MechWarrior is manly enough to escape My Little Pony....

On another side note: Woo I have 69 posts (silly immaturity arise) I don't think I should post anym... wait.. damnit...

[TheBossHammer]

BTone, on 07 July 2012 - 07:22 PM, said:

See, it's this kind of statement filled with blind animosity and ignorance towards Mechassault and what it was SUPPOSED to be that really ****** me off. You provide really no reason why you have such hostility towards this game, and like I said, this is NOT a Mechwarrior game and wasn't supposed to be. It was an arcade game and it was aimed at a completely different audience than Mechwarrior. So instead of just bashing this game and taking it of context, could you look at it fairly?



Now I think this a is a valid complaint, but out of curiosity, did you play Mechassault?

I'll tell you exactly what the issue was, and I played both Mechassaults a ton despite how pissed off they made me, so if you can believe anyone here, its me. I'm not even a tabletop player, I got in with MW2 (My first game, in fact!) and a few novels but when I played Mechassault, even I knew that they had blatantly disregarded the canon (Puma is not a reskinned cougar, TWolf is not a MadCat variant because they are the same mech, *** THATS NOT A RAPTOR...oh they made a new mech and gave it the same name...THAT IS NOT THE PROMETHEUS. CUT THAT CRAP OUT!) and were using Mechwarrior literally just because of the name recognition. I personally liked the gameplay for what it was (or I wouldn't have played it), it wasn't Mechwarrior and it angered me to no end that this was the replacement for Mechwarrior but the game was good in its own right. The issue was the Battletech license. If Mechassault had not been a Battletech game, the fans would have loved it, but because it stood between us and another Mechwarrior and disregarded the slow, methodical gameplay that Mechwarrior made famous at a time when literally every single other Mech sim was doing the same thing, it was rightly crucified. I'm not gonna link to Day One's current project, but you can bet that because it isn't Battletech, I'm gonna play it even as I play Mechwarrior. They aren't bumping arms any more, and it's a good thing, because Battletech should never be a twitch reaction time third person shooter like Mechassault was.

[Adm Awesome]

I need that image of the Butt Hurt application that was in some other thread...

[TheBossHammer]

Adm Awesome, on 08 July 2012 - 09:18 AM, said:

I think all the arguments against the game are the same, illogical and starting to bore me... It's explained already, the game was never meant to be made to be 100% true to the BattleTech Universe. It's a game so they could get the attention of casuals. Maybe they still tried to "Marry it" to the BattleTech because it wanted people who've enjoyed it to get into the *REAL* BattleTech so they can be playing games like MWO aside us, and learning the "true" BattleTech Universe. Thank you, have a nice day, come back with a DIFFERENT argument please.

On a side note: Holy crap not even MechWarrior is manly enough to escape My Little Pony....

On another side note: Woo I have 69 posts (silly immaturity arise) I don't think I should post anym... wait.. damnit...

"The game was never meant to be made to be 100% true to the BattleTech Universe" is exactly the issue. If they weren't gonna do it right, they shouldn't have done it at all because in doing so they changed people's perception of the license. Instead they should have created another franchise to justify their new gameplay, just like Day One is doing right now since Weisman didn't let them have the rights to Mechassault 3.

[Gremlich Johns]

Mechassault <- launched November 2002 and as of 23 January 2012, 1.13 million units sold (88% of those in N.A.)

No details for the MW games were found in the 10-15 minutes I spent looking.

Never was I a fan of MA. I watched someone else play it and decided I would not bother, feeling it did not convey the allure of TT battletech or the other mechwarrior games available. And do not say "well, you didn't play it so how can you know?" I was 44 when it came out and I can make pretty good decisions when it comes to spending money. The game's "facade" may have had BT mechs, but it seemed like playing Tron - kinda boring and not worth the asking price - even for a rental.

You can like the game or not - whatever your opinion, you will have a hard sell for others to change their's.

BTW, MA has been discussed in other threads already. Nothing has changed, few are of the middle of the road opinion about the game. It is either anathema or it is manna.

Edited by Gremlich Johns, 08 July 2012 - 09:36 AM.

[Adm Awesome]

TheBossHammer, on 08 July 2012 - 09:24 AM, said:

"The game was never meant to be made to be 100% true to the BattleTech Universe" is exactly the issue. If they weren't gonna do it right, they shouldn't have done it at all because in doing so they changed people's perception of the license. Instead they should have created another franchise to justify their new gameplay, just like Day One is doing right now since Weisman didn't let them have the rights to Mechassault 3.

That's they're bad, they shouldn't have jumped to the conclusion that their hardcore fans were intelligent enough to realize what was the real deal, and what was just a hook to attract new people to their franchise.

[TheBossHammer]

Adm Awesome, on 08 July 2012 - 09:26 AM, said:

That's they're bad, they shouldn't have jumped to the conclusion that their hardcore fans were intelligent enough to realize what was the real deal, and what was just a hook to attract new people to their franchise.

Well there's another little issue there, the vast majority of people who played Mechassault didn't get into the Battletech franchise, they got into Mechassault. I've still got friends who don't realize Mechwarrior is the same series they were playing way back when, and who literally won't play another Battletech game unless it is Mechassault 3. It's never a good thing for a franchise to have a split fanbase, hence why Microsoft basically erased Mechwarrior from existence at the time of Mechassault's launch and screwed over every long time Battletech fan. It wasn't a miscalculation on the old fans, Microsoft knew EXACTLY what they were doing, it was the fact that the new fans didn't develop any real brand loyalty, they just wanted another online-enabled twitch mech game, which became an absurdly oversaturated market right after Mechassault 2 came out-hence no immediate followup and Microsoft dumping the brand back to Weisman. Believe me, with how much hate the Mechassault crowd levied at the Battletech fans for pointing out the problems in Mechassault, that game deserves every bit of hate it gets. It's not the game itself, it's what happened to Battletech as a whole because of the game.

[Adm Awesome]

TheBossHammer, on 08 July 2012 - 09:37 AM, said:

Well there's another little issue there, the vast majority of people who played Mechassault didn't get into the Battletech franchise, they got into Mechassault. I've still got friends who don't realize Mechwarrior is the same series they were playing way back when, and who literally won't play another Battletech game unless it is Mechassault 3. It's never a good thing for a franchise to have a split fanbase, hence why Microsoft basically erased Mechwarrior from existence at the time of Mechassault's launch and screwed over every long time Battletech fan. It wasn't a miscalculation on the old fans, Microsoft knew EXACTLY what they were doing, it was the fact that the new fans didn't develop any real brand loyalty, they just wanted another online-enabled twitch mech game, which became an absurdly oversaturated market right after Mechassault 2 came out-hence no immediate followup and Microsoft dumping the brand back to Weisman. Believe me, with how much hate the Mechassault crowd levied at the Battletech fans for pointing out the problems in Mechassault, that game deserves every bit of hate it gets. It's not the game itself, it's what happened to Battletech as a whole because of the game.

Whelp can't argue about that because I have no idea on any of those facts. Then again I've never even heard of MechAssault and never had a friend whom has owned it and only know about it because of this here thread. I mean if people keep waiting for MechAssault 3 and never looked into the BattleTech Universe, that's their problem, but I'm sure there's plenty of people who were curious about more, and took 5 seconds out of their lives to actually google it and find out there is much more to it than MechAssault.

[Gremlich Johns]

Adm Awesome, on 08 July 2012 - 09:26 AM, said:

That's they're bad, they shouldn't have jumped to the conclusion that their hardcore fans were intelligent enough to realize what was the real deal, and what was just a hook to attract new people to their franchise.

It was never a hook for the MW franchise, it was to get people to buy the XBox, plain and simple.

MS had decided to forego MW5 development for an easier, more accessible game for the XBox, believing they could get the players of the MW PC video games to buy a console, where they wanted future game development and growth (read "profits") to occur.

[BTone]

Fair enough, but believe it or not, Mechassault introduced some people into the Battletech world and motivated them to research it further. I for one knew about Mechwarrior for a long time, but if not for Mechassault, I wouldn't have gotten inspired to see what else that franchise had to offer. Think about it: In some odd way, I would have never spent $120 on my Founders Pack if not for Mechassault

[Adm Awesome]

BTone, on 08 July 2012 - 09:42 AM, said:

Fair enough, but believe it or not, Mechassault introduced some people into the Battletech world and motivated them to research it further. I for one knew about Mechwarrior for a long time, but if not for Mechassault, I wouldn't have gotten inspired to see what else that franchise had to offer. Think about it: In some odd way, I would have never spent $120 on my Founders Pack if not for Mechassault

Oh god, cleanse him with holy water, cleanse the unclean!

[BTone]

I would of found it again someday, but MA expedited the process.

[ownka]

Adm Awesome, on 08 July 2012 - 09:18 AM, said:

I think all the arguments against the game are the same, illogical and starting to bore me... It's explained already, the game was never meant to be made to be 100% true to the BattleTech Universe. It's a game so they could get the attention of casuals. Maybe they still tried to "Marry it" to the BattleTech because it wanted people who've enjoyed it to get into the *REAL* BattleTech so they can be playing games like MWO aside us, and learning the "true" BattleTech Universe. Thank you, have a nice day, come back with a DIFFERENT argument please.

On a side note: Holy crap not even MechWarrior is manly enough to escape My Little Pony....

On another side note: Woo I have 69 posts (silly immaturity arise) I don't think I should post anym... wait.. damnit...

Actually, I'm somewhat afraid to admit you're right. Guys, don't kill me, but the only reason I'm here is because I played the **** out of mech assault. Back in the day, I think my brother played mech warrior 2 some, so I'd been exposed to them, but I never really played until mech assault got my interest. Once I got bored of it, I decided to give my bro's old mech games a much delayed chance, and I quickly got addicted to them, especially MW4. That being said, mechassault 2 was a somewhat disappointing sequel.

[Glythe]

BTone, on 07 July 2012 - 06:45 PM, said:

It seems A LOT of people dislike Mechassault 1 & 2 very very very VERY much. Now that is understood. It really is not a "true" Battletech or Mechwarrior title and strays away from what most people would of expected. With that said, however, remember that this game was developed for the xbox and was catered towards casual gamers and was definitely focused on arcade gameplay. I really dont think a full fledged mech simulator would have been possible given the limited functionality of the xbox (and it's controller) and that the general hardcore simulator aspect of Mechwarrior would not cater to newcomers. I mean lets face it, Mechwarrior isn't as easy to get into as popular games such as WoW, CoD, or Halo. You must have a love for mech sc-fi because otherwise the hard controls and relatively steep learning curve involved in Mechwarrior games (and sims in general) is just too steep for casual gamers. Mechassault is really one of the games that helped with the success of the Xbox, and honestly I liked it. It wasnt mechwarrior, but it was fun. I could play with my brother and friends on the couch and have a good fun time. Sure, my "Ragnarok" was total BS, but it was fun to shoot sh** with it. (Plus I could sit on the couch comfortably with my girlfriend.)

All in all, I just feel the general hate towards Mechassault is unwarranted. It wasnt trying to be a MechWARRIOR title, it was MechASSAULT. It was bound to disappoint sim fans, but honestly I prefer a new, creative approach to a stagnant franchise than a failed Xbox sim that would get lost in time and bad reviews.

I too enjoyed Mechassault as an excellent Xbox game and nothing more. It had good team play although it had some bad elements (no weapon changing and the whole powerup chain thing was dumb). The only reason to play a little mech was to steal the powerups from the enemy team.

Karyudo ds, on 07 July 2012 - 07:28 PM, said:

It was simple and in some ways stupid maybe but it was one of the first LIVE titles and I believe the first one where you could shoot things. It did show a bit of what the system could do. Honestly I liked the second one more as the teams were not allowed to take just anything and the VTOL dropping supplies made for a nice logistics mechanic. The maps were arcady gun-line friendly in some cases though the most damage generally went to the team with the better supply line.

I don't really look as Mechassault being related to Battletech anymore than I look at Super Mario as being related to Plumbing. Mario was still fun.

Ok since we ARE talking about mechassault II here I have to mention that the whole alpha strike thing ruined the game. The VTOL powerup idea was cool but it was stupid in the fact that you could fire 1 shot (which admittedly used all your powerups) to completely destroy an enemy mech. They also unbalanced all the mech healths so that the slower mechs had the same health as a MUCH faster madcat and that made no sense.

I loved the idea of MA II but the implementation of a few key details ruined the game. The mechjacking thing was a gimmick that didn't help and the camera missiles ruined any attempt to make a push on the enemy base (because the missile could shoot way to far and fire repeatedly).


Now then with that out of the way I think people who played MechAssault are going to have a leg up on purists. I've yet to see a game that looked closer to what MWO looks like in terms of piloting an Atlas.

Gremlich Johns, on 08 July 2012 - 09:26 AM, said:

The game's "facade" may have had BT mechs, but it seemed like playing Tron - kinda boring and not worth the asking price - even for a rental.

Did you ever play Tron on XBOX live? There was a point where the game was less than $5 and I have to say the light cycle game alone was worth it just for that price. The rest of the game was less than abysmal (that would almost be a praise to call it that).


I have a friend who refuses to play MWO becuase you can't boat. He was about to buy a legendary pack too.... What no boating?! That's not the spirit of mech warrior so I'm out.

Edited by Glythe, 08 July 2012 - 10:55 AM.

[Will9761]

The Mechassault games are not that bad, but the only things I hate about the game are the mech variants and the unlimited ammo. It was mentioned that the game designers thought that variants were two mechs, but they are clearly IS/Clan designations. To even make it worse they did the same exact thing to the Inner Sphere Mechs by naming their mechs after other canon mechs. Now I can forgive them for mistaking IS/Clan names as different mechs, but when you intentionally do that to IS Mechs that shows stupidity. They even made the Timber Wolf a 100-ton Assault Mech, how can you do that to a Timber Wolf, a 75-ton Heavy Mech!? They could have served as individual mechs rather than variants.

Inner Sphere Mechs:
Atlas
Uziel
Raven
Raptor
Owens
Catapult

Clan Mechs:
Mad Dog(Vulture)
Summoner(Thor)
Kit Fox(Uller)
Hellbringer(Loki)
Cougar
Blood Asp
Nova Cat
Timber Wolf(Mad Cat)


Stupid Mech Name Variants:
Star Adder-The name of the clan that created the Blood Asp as an insult to Clan Blood Spirit.
Corvis-The mech that was the inception of the Stormcrow
Puma
Hackman-Variant of the Owens
Belial-Variant of the Uziel
Stiletto
Prometheus
Windigo-Dark Age Era Mech of Clan Nova Cat
Bowman-Clan Hell's Horses artillery mech.

As for the weapons, they never run out, the is ammunition may not be depleted unless if they are upgrades .For energy weapons I understand, but it is mostly the ballistics, and missiles. The weapons you get acts as power-ups, and the unlimited weapons doesn't make the game feel like a challenge.

So those are the only gripes I have about the game; otherwise, the game not that bad and it is still fun to play.

Edited by Will9761, 08 July 2012 - 09:13 PM.

[WarDog420]

I enjoyed the MechAssult and MechCommander games. Easy to play and fun. Though i am hoping MWO will be true to the sim style of gameplay like the first couple mechwarrior PC games.