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MechWarrior 4: Vengeance
by Bob "Groucho" MarksGame Title: MechWarrior 4: Vengeance
Version: v1.00
Category: Mech Combat
Developer: Microsoft
Release Date: Released
Files: Playable Demo
Required Spec: Windows 9.x/Me/2000, 64MB RAM, DirectX 8.0 (included), D3D compatible video card, 775MB HD Space, Sound card and speakers.
Reviewers Spec: AMD Athlon TBird 1GHz, WinMe, 384MB VCRAM, Hercules GeForce2 GTS 64MB Video card, Saitek X36 USB HOTAS
Article Type: Review
Article Date: January 29th, 2001
Sometimes a guy needs to take a break from the complexities of hardcore flight simulation. There’s a point where TWS modes, convergence patterns, and performance envelopes take their toll, and this virtual fighter jock yearns for something simpler. Something almost pastoral in its quaint simplicity. And when it comes to going back to basics, the thought of stomping around in a sixty-five ton, nuclear powered, pulse-laser armed, walking tank springs immediately to mind.
OK, so maybe it’s not exactly Myst. But if it’s something a little different that you are looking for, Microsoft’s MechWarrior 4: Vengeance (MW4) may be just be the refreshing pool of variety you crave.
Just don’t dive in headfirst. This thing doesn’t have a deep end.
Resistance is Futile
The really weird thing about MW4 is its incredibly wide appeal. Even while shrouded in a pretentious BattleTech mythos that stretches back to board games, this is definitely not a deep game. It’s more a FPS action game than a simulation, as many of the more technical aspects concerning salvage of other mechs for getting more options and heat control have been relaxed considerably over the direction that the old MW2 and Mercenaries seemed to be going. While simheads like myself are still intrigued by the weapons management and tactical aspects of the long-running MechWarrior series, even non-gamers get sucked into it. Without a doubt, there’s something about MW4 that’s nearly impossible to shrug off.
Melody's 'mech approaches from a distance
Case in point: My wife, Melody, and I had a couple of friends over the other night for dinner. My buddies and I were having a blast with X-Plane and Flanker 2.03. Just for the pure heck of it (OK, actually to show them how bitchen my rig could push graphics), I fired up MW4. The ladies, who were bored with airplane stuff, suddenly were drawn to the office as thunderous footfalls and explosions boomed from the surround-sound Klipsch speakers. Watching the gorgeous graphics depicting smoking mechs and brilliant bolts of energy weapons on the monitor for a couple of minutes, our better halves (neither of which are gamers by any stretch) spoke up.
“We’re next.” And they were good. All this time, and neither one of us knew we were married to such merciless killing machines.
My wife makes a kill. I guess I'm doing the dishes tonight.
That’s all she wrote. Now my buddy has clearance to upgrade his home LAN to MW4 multiplayer-worthiness. My wife runs a few random missions each night to keep her skills sharp for our twice-weekly LAN mech battles. [Editor's Note: what ever happened to playing bridge and eating coffee cakes?]
As an aside, I asked my wife how is it that giant sci-fi robots can get her attention and yet my beloved real-world simulations of wing-ed kerosene-burning death machines don't even warrant more than a passing nod of interest. Her response, "Because they aren't boring airplanes." Go figure. If Microsoft’s aim was to reach that elusive “wider audience”, and if my wife's response is any indication of the newbie gamer, they’ve just knocked one out of the park.
In your face!
The Tie-In That Binds
Of course, this is a BattleTech universe product, and therefore comes with more background story baggage than all flight sims combined. The entire soap opera is explained during the load up sequence---some idiotic crap about your character’s father being killed by a traitorous leader, blah, blah, blah. This becomes all the more annoying during the yardstick-straight linear campaign. While I’m one of the biggest proponents of a mission / campaign structure needing a purpose, the overlong video fill-ins between missions grate on you after a very short period of time. It’s not just the awful acting, though I have seen more capable thespians on infomercials for microwave cookware. To me, it’s the overabundance of irrelevant information that is supposed to pass for palace intrigue. Someone needs to remind these guys that this isn’t Shakespeare; this is a game in which people inside giant, powered metal suits try to blow each other up. Luckily, the producers are smart enough to know fluff when they see it, and leave most of the important stuff---you know, like what’s my objective---for a radio briefing upon launching the mission.
Which leads to an IMHO moment. The intro movie, while chock full of cool action sequences, and exploding robots, isn’t exactly going to rate high at Cannes. But my comment is this: an awful lot of time, money and effort obviously go into intro movies. Why? It’s watched once, maybe, when the game is run for the first time. After that, it’s just another nuisance to slap the “enter” key at. What’s the point?
The vistas in MechWarrior are stunning
Pretty Pictures & Going Boom
Behind the steaming piles of pretence, however, is a well-designed and highly enjoyable game. Microsoft was wise to make this installment in the series as user-friendly as they did. Much of the tedious historical lore that is MechWarrior, can be skipped in favour of getting you into your Mech and killing things . . . and besides, if you are a hardened veteran of the MechWarrior series everyone KNOWS that Duke Valain was killed in the battle of The Inner Sphere in 3024 (say that last bit doing your best impression of the comic book store owner in the Simpsons and give yourself fiteen extra geek points).
To make things even easier, most game and peripheral settings are self-configuring during the install. After the required DirectX 8 is loaded up (don’t be afraid—it’s a system improvement that actually improves things) MW4 asks to configure your video settings automatically. To my amazement, it does a damn fine job of analyzing your CPU and video card. No further tweaking was required on my part. This is actually a bit of a breakthrough as such technology will greatly assist newbies in getting the most out of this and many other games.
Upon jumping into MW4 for the first time, one thing becomes immediately obvious: This thing is gorgeous. Stunning, even. The feeling of depth and distance is exceedingly well done. Dynamic lighting abounds, and explosions look oh-so cool. While the old MW2 took place almost exclusively in a sterile desert environment, the action of MW4 takes place in a varied number of environments. These different arenas---including cities, alpine forests, and swamps---are populated with dynamic scenery elements. Trees are splintered and burn upon being run over or shot, deer-like critters and people scatter (can’t shoot ‘em though . . . and I’ve wasted a lot of ammo trying to confirm that), footprints are left in the snow, and shattered hulks litter the battleground. All of this eye-candy comes at a cheap processor price, as decidedly lower-to-mid range rigs such as my wife’s PIII 500 / 194MB / GeForce2 32MB machine runs MW4 with nary a stutter.
The damage modeling is very well executed. Note the dragging left leg..
The visual attention to detail plays a large role in the game play also. The weather is very well done, with rain, fog, and ominous clouds often messing with your visual acuity much more effectively than in Microsoft’s so-called hardcore combat flight sims. Damaged mechs gout flame and smoke like a nervous Rastafarian, a particular nuisance when you are the one on fire and the smoke obscures your shot during that desperate last stand. Mechs with damage to their legs drag them along, highlighting an obvious weak spot to focus fire on.
The sound environment is also a supreme triumph. Full positional surround-sound aids in locating where shots are coming from. Radio chatter, while canned for the most part, aid in immersion and help remind you of what your priorities should be.
Another example of the gorgeous scenery in MechWarrior 4
The Game’s The Thing
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the finer points of piloting a walking tank, MW4 sports an excellent training module. One of the truly beautiful things about MW4, however, is how unnecessary most of this training stuff is. Once you’ve mastered simple movement, the “whys” of weapons groups, and have a general idea of what the HUD symbology is trying to tell you, you’re ready to rock. In my hours of playing MW4, I believe that victory is assured by sticking to the following four rules:
- Keep moving
- Learn to group your weapons
- Concentrate fire on the same point on your opponent’s mech
- See rule #1
That makes for one short strategy guide, but hey—this simplicity is what makes MW4 fun, and ultimately accessible to people who are intimidated by sims. Don’t knock it. Today MechWarrior 4, tomorrow IL-2!
The varied mech chassis can be configured and painted in the Mechlab. In the Campaign mode, the available weaponry depends on what was salvaged off of your kills, therefore giving you a reason to kill as many bad guys as possible. I think. The salvage rules appear to be fairly arbitrary. In all other single and multiplay environments, the player has to make the weight vs. armament & armor tradeoffs that make the Mechlab a fun place to mess around in. Your chosen paint scheme and insignia will be visible to all in a multiplay environment---a very trick feature.
Excuse me, I must tinker. The Mechlab is where the mods take place.
You’ve already heard my whining over the rigid structure and silly storyline of the campaign. One of the coolest things about MW4, however, is that the game designers realize that 99% of the people playing MW4 don’t give a rat’s patoot about the background story. Therefore, the single-player can choose from a large variety of mission types. One has the option of Mission Play, in which you can pick & choose from any of the canned campaign missions, the previously mentioned Training, a Wave format in which you fend off user-specified waves of attackers, and the randomly generated environment & bad-guy battles of Master Trials. The AI Lancemates, or wingmen, are actually pretty useful. There is a short list of wingman commands to help use them to the best efficacy.
Where MW4 really shines is in multiplayer. Hookup over a LAN is a cinch. Though I have not tried over a TCP/IP connection, the process seems straightforward enough. There are a variety of multiplayer games, both individual and team related. Death match play, Attrition (inflicting maximum damage in a set amount of time), King of The Hill, and Capture the Flag are all scenarios in which you and your loved ones can reach out and fry someone. One disappointment is the lack of human team vs. AI play. This would be a blast for small multiplayer groups. Despite this small oversight, multiplayer in MW4 is proving to be a great way of ironing out domestic conflicts in the Marks household.
Shut Down
There you have it, my take on Microsoft’s latest. MechWarrior 4: Vengeance is a great way to add some welcome variety into your regular diet of hardcore combat simming, without the need to bone-up on another phone-book-sized manual. So, grab a non-simming buddy, hook up, and lob some radar guided missiles and charged particles beams at each other. After all, what are friends for? And hey, if you are really crafty, you'll get your significant other involved and who knows how much he/she will let you spend on that next computer upgrade.
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