12 replies to this topic

[Burned_Follower]

When it comes to MechWarrior sims, I've only played MW4 Vengeance, Mercs and the expansions for them and MWLL. I tried to play MW3 a long time ago but i kept going back to MW4.

I have been told repeatedly by many MW/BT fans that the MW4 series is a "watered down" version of MW compaird to the earlier ones. Since i'll probably never get to play the older ones, i am just curious on what i was missing out on cuz i loved the MW4 games. If anything was watered down it was MechAssault in my opinion, but even that was fun for it's time. So why are the MW4 games considered watered down? just wanted some opinions of MW fans that have been hooked on this stuff a lot longer than i have.

[Dillpickl55]

oh if you havent played MW1, 2, or 3 your missing out big time!!! personally in my opinion (and many others) MechWarrior 2 is the best game in the franchise so far with the original MechWarrior being all old style 1989, and MechWarrior 3 being the bugiest of them all. So i suggest sometime checking them out on youtube and stuff :3 but since youve played #4 and i havent (im actually downloading it right now ) wanna tell me what i missed?
Thanks

[Mechteric]

You might not want to try the original Mechwarrior, as I've found it to be very cumbersome to play despite the fact it may have been pretty awesome when it was first released.

However each of the Mechwarrior 2, its expansion Ghost Bear's Legacy, and Mechwarrior 2 Mercenaries really are phenominal games and they play well in modern systems by using DosBox or that other program that lets you play it in WinXP(http://www.warp13.co.uk/mech2).

You should be able to find it for purchase on Amazon like I did some time ago, not that expensive. Just a word of advice, do NOT buy the Titanium Edition. It is utter crap. Same goes for the Playstation1 version. I would suggest just getting the MSDOS compatible versions since they run best under DosBox.

Edited by CapperDeluxe, 07 January 2012 - 10:52 AM.

[Jaroth Corbett]

MW3 was the best of the games for me. The only negative comment I have about it was that I was forced to play as the dezgra Inner Sphere.

[Skwisgaar Skwigelf]

MW2 Mercs is by far the best of the older games. The financial system is great plus it's set in the same general time frame as MWO is going to be so that should help you get used to the technology and mechs available.

[kaziem]

You're missing a bunch of stuff.

The mechs felt more like mechs. In mechwarrior 3 there were people you could squish, you had to deal with salvaging weapons and ammo (and armor, I think?). Your heat level was more dangerous. If you liked the criticals system (ie, the system used in Battletech the board game) that was what you used. Mechwarrior 3 also had elementals. I can't speak to mechwarrior 2, since I only played it a bit and that was when I was little.

[Volume]

Ghost Bear's Legacy as far as I recall allows you to only play as Clan Ghost Bear (makes sense.) In instant action or multiplayer you can pick the insignia on your mech though.

Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries lets you create your own Mercenary unit if you like (the only way to play it IMO) or join a mercenary unit (which I found unplayable). If you join a unit, your Commander chooses what missions you go on, what mechs you have available, what weaponry you have available, etc. This is nice if you like to sort of view the game as a set of levels to go through, like Mechwarrior 2. I like that, but I didn't like being restricted on my choice of equipment.

If you choose to be a commander, I think you will find the game to be much more enjoyable and have more depth. I'll admit it can be slightly overwhelming at first, picking and choosing what contracts to do (what "set of levels" you want), what mechs to purchase or sell, salvage to sell or keep, maintaining mechs with repairs, hiring other pilots, assigning/outfitting mechs for them, etc... At times it felt like I was playing Lance Manager instead of Mechwarrior, but trust me - it's worth it to be able to salvage, equip and outfit your own mech, buy weapons you want, and have more control over what levels you get to play. Nothing feels better than salvaging that Atlas or loading up a Mauler with 16 medium lasers! Having the option for customizable mechs definitely offsets any of the "negatives" that this might have. Personally, I grew to love the micromanagement of my lance, but I can understand how it's not for everyone.

Mechwarrior 3 has a sequential level list, more like Mechwarrior 2, but instead of having every mech up to a certain tonnage available to you as dictated by your clan, you play as the Eridani Light Horse Merc unit assaulting the Smoke Jaguar homeworld. You salvage enemy weaponry and equipment, but unlike Mechwarrior 2 Mercs or 4 Mercs, you cannot buy equipment, or, say, Mechwarrior 2, cannot simply outfit mechs with whatever you want.

Mechwarrior 3: Pirate's Moon allows you to play as the original lance leader from Mechwarrior 3, after being reassigned to defend Federated Suns assets on a moon I forgot the name of. It's something like Hell's Porch or something, lol. This works the same as Mechwarrior 3 - Limited equipment, but you can salvage and keep equipment between missions. Or you can play as the Pirates, trying to take out the guys from Mechwarrior 3. However, they have a pre-allocated equipment pool before a level begins. So one level they might let you have a choice of 5 mechs and these 30 weapons, and the next level it might be totally different equipment - no salvage.

Mechwarrior 4 Vengeance and Black Knight I know salvage was involved like MW:3, but as you may or may not know, the whole hardpoint system totally changes (in some people's opinions, RUINS) the game. Heat sinks, ammunition, ECM/BAP/Optics equipment, endo-steel/ferro-fibrous, none of this things take up critical space in MW4, and some weapons like the AC20 come with 4 tons of ammunition for some ungodly reason, and some 'Mechs like the Dire Wolf (Daishi) you can load 3LBX20 and 2LBX10 on them (Wat) or 4 Cgauss on them like the Executioner (Gladiator) (wat). Anyway, it's like MW3 - they're level-by-level sequential campaigns. More story-based like the original Mech 2 and Mech 3, and then Mech 4 Mercs lets you be a leader of a mercenary unit much like Mech 2 Mercs - you control salvage, mechs, what missions you take, etc... More choices for you, and Mechwarrior 4 Mercs lets you field two lances instead of just one, but no aerospace support like Mech 2 Mercs. hehe. Either way, definitely all worth playing.

Personal favorite is MW2/MW2:Mercs because no other games have done clan vs. clan or covered such a long timeframe with tons of "epic" missions and getting to work for several different factions in the Inner Sphere, and both MW2:Mercs and MW4:Mercs have Solaris, and I was a big fan of those levels

[TKDelta]

While my judgement may be clouded with years of nostalgia and adult-style beverages, I'd say that MW2: Mercs was probably the best of the bunch. It also has the added benefit of being set in (roughly) the same timeline as MWO will be set, so you'll get a flavour for the kind of mechs/equipment that will be available (ie, no x-pulse lasers).

[Frantic Pryde]

Mw4 had the best multiplayer features by the far. But other than that I feel like they where way better than mw4.

[Kodiak Jorgensson]

XxDRxDEATHxX, on 07 January 2012 - 10:39 AM, said:

When it comes to MechWarrior sims, I've only played MW4 Vengeance, Mercs and the expansions for them and MWLL. I tried to play MW3 a long time ago but i kept going back to MW4.

I have been told repeatedly by many MW/BT fans that the MW4 series is a "watered down" version of MW compaird to the earlier ones. Since i'll probably never get to play the older ones, i am just curious on what i was missing out on cuz i loved the MW4 games. If anything was watered down it was MechAssault in my opinion, but even that was fun for it's time. So why are the MW4 games considered watered down? just wanted some opinions of MW fans that have been hooked on this stuff a lot longer than i have.

Mw2 isa great game its more diverse then MW4 imo, there more enviroments they all had diffrent statistics. the game really pulled you into the setting too, the game had detail even though it was limited to the technoloy of the 90s like in 31st centuary combar the computer would readout loud the planet name local time and temprature little details liked this got me hooked into the game. also imo damage in MW2 was more realistic damamge to legs or engines usualy caused a reduction in speed, destroying a leg would cripple the mech, but the pilot was stil active. unfortunalty, MW2 lacked psyhics so crippled mech tend to stand up on one leg lol but that was fixed in MW2 mercs and later windows version of the MW2 series.

dillpickl55, on 07 January 2012 - 10:48 AM, said:

oh if you havent played MW1, 2, or 3 your missing out big time!!! personally in my opinion (and many others) MechWarrior 2 is the best game in the franchise so far with the original MechWarrior being all old style 1989, and MechWarrior 3 being the bugiest of them all. So i suggest sometime checking them out on youtube and stuff :3 but since youve played #4 and i havent (im actually downloading it right now ) wanna tell me what i missed?
Thanks

not much really. Vengance and black knight where ok storywise, mercs wasnt that great but its something to pass the time... mercs online was fun when people actualy used heat tracking and limited ammo and not the silly black knight config carrying 4ERPPC 1ERLL JJ +full amrour & engine. didnt really play mekteks "expanssions" i didnt like half the crap they added, nothing more annoying then an annihilator/cyclops/highlander boating 2 continous beam laser and full up with mini gauss rifles.

its a shame NetMech4 died really, i really enjoyed the mod for MW4 mercs made the game more in line with battletech.

also ill agree, Timberwolf ftw to an extent more of a warhawk fan my self

[Belial]

CapperDeluxe, on 07 January 2012 - 10:51 AM, said:

Just a word of advice, do NOT buy the Titanium Edition. It is utter crap. Same goes for the Playstation1 version. I would suggest just getting the MSDOS compatible versions since they run best under DosBox.

Strange, Titanium is the only edition I've ever had and it has run just fine for years now. I bought the PSOne version when I despaired that MW2 wouldn't run on my new laptop and liked it well enough, but was overjoyed when I figured out how to resurrect MW2 on the laptop.

Now if only MW3 could be configured to run well. My favorite campaign, by far.

[Thorqemada]

Imho MW2 is the most best game of the series.
I had it on several Driver/Game-CDs that were packed to the first 3D accelerator cards and i remember the one i had first was instead a 3D decelerator card (S3 Virge) with a buggy graphic even in the MW2 game that came with the card.
The first working version i had was indeed the Titanium Edition which i never had any trouble with and i believe afair that i played it on a Voodoo Banshee card and later even on the first Radeons from the 256 up to the 9700.
I like the Mercenarys Game, the management, the Mechlab, the market, the missions, the different maps (never had such a blindness again as in the sandstorm), the fighting, its really a good game - even from the art, the Mechs i like it much more than MW4 - try it out!

MW3 i would probably like more if it was only bugfree but it isnt and i that overshadows all.

Mechwarrior 1 is a game that was great in its day but aged badly - only try it if you can stand EGA-graphic and clumsy controls and beep beep sound (oh it has AdLib music = fm synth music but no ingame sound beside pc speaker beeps).
The RP part is not small, its tiny and has at a few times a few texts sometimes with a few choices so if you ever play it save between any mission bcs you can kill yourself doing wrong in this few occasions.
Even the rudimentary Crescent Hawks Inception was a much better (but turnbased) Battletech RPG.

PS: Apropos turnbased - Microproses X-Com: UFO Defense makes a hopefully triumphant return in the not so far future - all hail to Firaxis!

Edited by Thorqemada, 07 January 2012 - 10:11 PM.

[Yeach]

You missed all the fun lag shooting fest that was multiplayer online MW2 and MW3.

Edited by Yeach, 09 January 2012 - 10:40 PM.