By Steve "Shepard" Martin

  The campaign, however, contains some very interesting missions as well as awesome video cut sequences. The movies were all exceptionally well done and exciting.

The storyline is very interesting as well. The story and the gameplay progress in such a way as to keep you interested and excited at the same time. The only drawback is that the campaign is not dynamic. I personally think that some games work better without the dynamic campaign and Heavy Gear 2 is one of them.

Historic Missions

The Historic Missions range from easy to extremely difficult. This might not be the best place to start playing HG2, but the missions are cool in their own right. I find them a fun diversion when I only have a few minutes to play. My only complaint is that if you fail a mission, you have to go through the process of equipping your squad from scratch each time. The replay button is not present if you die or fail the mission.

This is a small oversight, but after playing the more difficult missions over and over again, the process of reassigning your squad to their Gears becomes very tedious. Other than that, you have the options to fully customize your squad as well as modify your own Gear to your specifications.

The sound and graphics are superb. I found myself stopping to admire the scenery in the middle of a mission. "Beautiful" pretty much describes the scenery. The trees are exceptional and the terrain detail gives you a rush when you use the secondary movement system (Skates).

Impressive Effects

I can only say good things about the terrain and environment graphics. My first campaign mission was in a severe thunderstorm. The lighting strikes spooked me at first until I got used to hearing the crashing thunder that accompanied the lighting. From sunshine, to rain to dusk, Heavy Gear 2 has the most impressive terrain graphics and weather effects I have ever seen in a game.

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The models of the Gears and buildings is also exceptionally done. The Gears themselves look awesome, and Gear animation and movement are very well done. Some of the more impressive movement animations include watching a Gear take enough damage to be knocked over, yet not enough for the Gear to be killed. The Gear will fall over, and then scramble to get up again. The first time I saw it, I said "WOW!"

A gear can also lose a leg and not be destroyed. Rather the gear will fall to the ground and movement will be drastically affected. You can still shoot while disabled like this, but you won't be able to shoot much.

Another cool animation is when you hit the ammo stores in another Gear and a split second before the Gear blows, the arms grasp at the torso as if in realization that the end is near. The explosion that follows destroys the Gear and provides an aurally and visually stunning explosion.

The only movement complaint I have is when the gear is lying prone, the weapons tend to be absorbed into the ground depending on how you move the mouse. Other than that, some first person shooters don't come close to the Gear animation in Heavy Gear 2. The development team did an excellent job with the Gear's motions.

More on Movement

While we are on the subject of movement. Back in the days I played Battletech board games, one of the positions you could choose was prone. I haven't seen another mech-type simulation that allows you to lie prone in the game. While it has some use in single player, there is little advantage of lying prone in multiplayer.

Kneeling is also possible in HG2. I found the addition of kneeling and going prone to be excellent additions to the game.

Go to Part III: SMS