45 replies to this topic

[destiny valkyrie]

why does everybody have a problem with mechassault. i can understand if u dont consider them part of the universe but they were still pretty fun and mechassault 2 had pretty awesome gameplay and online multiplayer.

[OnLashoc]

Wrong forum area *whistles for forum moderator*

[CeeKay Boques]

I won't hate if you don't troll! Deal? *Finger guns*

[Mason Grimm]

Moving to Off Topic...

and PLAY NICE KIDS!!!

[destiny valkyrie]

im not trolling

[Chuckie]

I agree.. it wasnt a perfect simulator.. but I found it a fun game..

I schooled all my kids in it..

Heck I even have spent time to get a controller like I used in MA to work for MWO

[WithSilentWings]

destiny valkyrie, on 27 March 2012 - 06:49 AM, said:

why does everybody have a problem with mechassault. i can understand if u dont consider them part of the universe but they were still pretty fun and mechassault 2 had pretty awesome gameplay and online multiplayer.

The reason we hate on MechAssault is because:

We all had these wonderful amazing Battletech universe games such as Mechwarrior/MW2/MW3.

MW4 came along and was a little disappointing to fans of the originals--it lacked the scope, lacked a good chunk of the "simulation" aspects, lacked customizability and whatnot, and so you find few people who were fans of MW2/MW3 who also like MW4.

Then, 3 years after we had our last "good" Mechwarrior game, we are teased with MechAssault only to find that despite being loosely based off of the Battletech universe it is an arcade action title where you pick up powerups and health boxes. There is no customization, the story line is basically a bastardized version of the original story arch, there are weird boss fights etc.

There is then MechAssault 2, which was just a much worse version of the original (in my opinion, maybe those who are better fans of the series liked it better) which came out 5 years after the last "good" Mechwarrior game. At this point, the combination of this along with the disappointing MW4, anyone with a love for the original deep and challenging games had realized that the series was pulling what I like to call a "Tom Clancy".

Here's an analogy. The first Splinter Cell was a pretty awesome game that had a great reception. It was fairly unique and a breath of fresh air. Then 2 came out, it was OK. 3 came out, it was pretty fantastic. I can almost guarantee if you took someone who bought that first and 3rd Splinter Cell game, you could throw them in front of the last two parts of the series and they'd basically say "...this clearly isn't a splinter cell game by anything but name" and likely be disappointed.

It's like if the next Gran Turismo came out and you could drop oil slicks and smoke bombs and had speed powerups on the track.


If you like the series, great, but you asked why and here is my answer.

Thanks!

[John Wolf]

Purists. We like what we like, and when someone messes with it.. we tend to resist that.

Mechassault took MechWarrior / Battletech, which was a Simulation style game, and dumbed it down. It turned that sim we all love and made it an arcade game, with unrealistic power-ups, and immediate repairs because I walked over a glowing box? Oh, I'm out of ammo.. no need to run back to a base for reloads.. there's another glowing box that I can just step on to collect and somehow magically loads into my weapons! Wonderful! </sarcasm>

It could be fun, and mindless.. but that's not why I enjoy Battletech, quite the opposite. There is nothing wrong with being a fan of mechassault, its just not something that most people who are fans of the core games are into.

[guardian wolf]

For a TPS, Mechassault was "fine", but as a piece of battletech fiction, it sucked. You had a bad storyline, with "boss" battles, and not to mention, EXTREMELY overused "I will sacrifice myself for the rest, then miraculously survive. You had "power ups", "health boxes", it was an extremely poor iteration of battletech in my book.

[CeeKay Boques]

The question is, why should you worry Destiny? Can't we hate it? There's people that hate video games! All of them! Can't stop them either.

I guess it hurts because you want MechAssault to be part of the BT/Mechwarrior family... but we had a DNA test, and its just not. Different eyes, different hair... sorry man, but the Milkman is MechAssaults daddy and he can't come to the family picnic.

Sorry.

[Harlequin4457]

Never played it myself, so don't have an opinion. You can find a game not to your taste, or even dislike a game, but "hating" is usually a sign of a twelve year old! There are far more important things to hate in life: poverty, injustice, racism, sexism, and so on. Ignore the haters of something as trivial as a computer game, and just enjoy it for yourself.

[Lorcan Lladd]

And take a Kuritan seriously on these forums, while you're at it.

Look, I don't hate on it, I simply have never touched the stuff, mostly because it has never been released on the PC, which is, at the moment, the only gaming platform I own.

[Harlequin4457]

Lorcan Lladd, on 27 March 2012 - 09:12 AM, said:

And take a Kuritan seriously on these forums, while you're at it.

Look, I don't hate on it, I simply have never touched the stuff, mostly because it has never been released on the PC, which is, at the moment, the only gaming platform I own.

Oh, you!

[geck0 icaza]

WithSilentWings, on 27 March 2012 - 08:28 AM, said:

The reason we hate on MechAssault is because:

We all had these wonderful amazing Battletech universe games such as Mechwarrior/MW2/MW3.

MW4 came along and was a little disappointing to fans of the originals--it lacked the scope, lacked a good chunk of the "simulation" aspects, lacked customizability and whatnot, and so you find few people who were fans of MW2/MW3 who also like MW4.

Then, 3 years after we had our last "good" Mechwarrior game, we are teased with MechAssault only to find that despite being loosely based off of the Battletech universe it is an arcade action title where you pick up powerups and health boxes. There is no customization, the story line is basically a bastardized version of the original story arch, there are weird boss fights etc.

There is then MechAssault 2, which was just a much worse version of the original (in my opinion, maybe those who are better fans of the series liked it better) which came out 5 years after the last "good" Mechwarrior game. At this point, the combination of this along with the disappointing MW4, anyone with a love for the original deep and challenging games had realized that the series was pulling what I like to call a "Tom Clancy".

Here's an analogy. The first Splinter Cell was a pretty awesome game that had a great reception. It was fairly unique and a breath of fresh air. Then 2 came out, it was OK. 3 came out, it was pretty fantastic. I can almost guarantee if you took someone who bought that first and 3rd Splinter Cell game, you could throw them in front of the last two parts of the series and they'd basically say "...this clearly isn't a splinter cell game by anything but name" and likely be disappointed.

It's like if the next Gran Turismo came out and you could drop oil slicks and smoke bombs and had speed powerups on the track.


If you like the series, great, but you asked why and here is my answer.

Thanks!

Another example would have been ghost recon and rainbow six.

But this pretty much sums up why. Battletech has survived (imo) because it cuts against the grain. It makes the game sim instead of arcade. It rewards tactical play, has customization at every level, very careful balancing mechanics, has a very grey and thus easier to relate to story line and at its core is less than forgiving.

Mech assault had none of these. IMO it was a slap to the face to battletech fans.

[H2SO4marauder]

Add in that since MW4 you have people who go on about being clanners when they cannot even bother to speak like trueborn warriors or learn the real names of the onmimechs they pilot. This seemed to reach its peak with the Mechassault games.

I do not hate Mechassult, I do dislike it for being such an extreme deviation from battletech though.

[Adridos]

H2SO4marauder, on 27 March 2012 - 10:16 AM, said:

Add in that since MW4 you have people who go on about being clanners when they cannot even bother to speak like trueborn warriors or learn the real names of the onmimechs they pilot. This seemed to reach its peak with the Mechassault games.

I can't even count the number of people asking what is better: "Timber Wolf, or Mad Cat".
Worst of all, someone even answered in a MA fashion.

Edited by Adridos, 27 March 2012 - 10:23 AM.

[Stormwolf]

Adridos, on 27 March 2012 - 10:22 AM, said:

I can't even count the number of people asking what is better: "Timber Wolf, or Mad Cat".
Worst of all, someone even answered in a MA fashion.

It's pretty funny when you think about it, but not everybody is going to get this one.

So here's the rundown for everyone:

- The Clans created the Timber Wolf and invaded the Inner Sphere with it.
- A leader within Comstar named the mech Mad Cat since it shared design aspects with the Marauder and Catapult. They didn't know the Clan name at the time since the Clans weren't exactly handing out any information during the early invasion.
- Mechassault has the Mad Cat as a singular mech with a variant named Timber Wolf

[WithSilentWings]

geck0 icaza, on 27 March 2012 - 09:27 AM, said:

Another example would have been ghost recon and rainbow six.

This is why I call it "pulling a Tom Clancy"--both Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six started out great and went nowhere but down over time.

Aegis Kleais™, on 27 March 2012 - 10:01 AM, said:

Off topic, but you'll be sad to know that Ubisoft has stated that they plan on focusing more on action like in SC4/5 (the Abominations of the series) rather than going back to it's unique roots of stealth action.

Ubisoft is about as dumb as they come; they systematically ruin their flagship products and turn them into mediocre run of the mill and forgettable experiences.

It's not that they're dumb--it's that the goal is to maximize short term profits and these decisions open up the game's market and often get more sales. Eventually I am hoping this won't pan out so well but as of today the best sellers are still Call of Duty clones. They don't care about games or gamers in the least. It is only by proxy because we're the ones with the wallets.

Publishers used to say "we can make this niche game because we like to be creative, people will buy it and we'll make money" but now they say "we won't make that niche game because we could spend the money on a pop game instead and sell 10 times as much". There has been a major exodus of talent from the major publishers in a very short time. Look at all the news about Kickstarter being used by HUGE names in the games industry to put together a sub-million dollar budget for their new adventure games etc. Look at the guy who made Minecraft offering to shell out the money to have Psychonauts 2 developed... Devs are realizing with systems like Steam (my fav, but there are other digital distribution systems) they no longer need a publisher to cover the costs of the production and retail world. That leaves one final thing: advertising--but with the internet and viral videos, you no longer NEED tv commercials on the superbowl to sell your game.

I think Free to Play is a huge thing on this front. I hate that a game like this can't get publisher support, but I love that many other games in the indie world etc. will now be able to succeed because of this model. I know that the first thing I will do when I'm allowed to spend money on this game is put down $50 as if it were a brand new PC title. Even if the game isn't perfect, I want to support this because it is and EXTREMELY FAIR system to the consumers, and allows the developers to hire staff and add more content in-line with the consumer's wants/needs.

Every last one of us can call out the list of games they pre-ordered or bought at launch that TOTALLY SUCKED--and yet, there is no way to get a refund (at least in Canada). MechAssault 2 actually stands out on my list--being a big fan of the universe I pre-ordered the limited edition. Turned out to be the MOST EXPENSIVE XBOX GAME I HAD EVER BOUGHT, coming in at $85 or so. Played it once, shed a tear, and when attempting to return it they told me they'd buy it back for $13. If it were Free to Play, I wouldn't have even needed to leave the house to know it wasn't a game for me.

[destiny valkyrie]

im not trying to get u too accept mechassault as part of the universe im just saying dont hate it because its a spinoff from mechwarrior. while i agree that most the time spinoff games are generally sucky and are rejected there are some that were amazing games. its people like u that would hate luigis mansion and super mario galaxy just because they arent platfomers and there only loosely based on the mario series.
p.s. i loved those 2 games.

[Lorcan Lladd]

That's like saying I wouldn't like apples because I don't like tomatoes.