MechWarrior2 
Software Review by Forrest P. Stivers II
The Windows95/Pentium edition, 32-bit speed and power, $29.95,
by Activision

 I always stop at the software sections when I am in stores that sell software, just looking for stuff I really need. If I buy software it’s rare that I need it. But one game I have looked at for some time is MECHWARIOR 2 so when I saw it out for review at the Alamo PC meeting I had to go for it. I installed my SoundBlaster AWE 32, booted to WIN95 and I was ready to install MECHWARIOR 2. 

 I put the CD in my 8X CD drive and the installation dialog appeared along with really cool music. (I do want to mention that it was empirically determined that MECHWARIOR 2 does not run under NT4.0, just like the book said it would not. You can run it in DOS but I am really staying away from that ) Sort of a mix of Mad Max or Doom type music and a haunted house theme. The base was strong, I knew I was going to like this game. 

The installation progressed: Looking for DirectX drivers. I remember something about that being state of the art from Microsoft. I went ahead and installed the drivers and it asked me if I wanted to install the 8 player network version (MODEM capability also). Heck yea, that’s just what I’ve been working on and maybe I could convince my 10 old daughter to play. Very importantly one of the options on the install menu is the option to uninstall the program. Well the installation went flawlessly and there were no areas where I was not sure what was wanted. 

Now to start the game. Right away it comes up with “You must install the CD” I thought I had installed the whole program to my hard drive. I check with Explorer and I see that the installation took 21megs of space. Sure is a lot of data for a “run from CD installation” ! I put in the CD and it runs fine. 

 WOW! What a cool video sequence! Two MECHWARRIORS (big walking machines like you saw in Star Wars) are being attacked. You are listening in on the communication between them both and with their headquarters. You can see the one taking incoming hits until it’s blown up. Then you see the incoming rockets fired at the one you are in, until ….the screen goes blank and all you hear is the command post, “come in, come in”. I want to play immediately. I find the configuration section. It has the usual sound controls, keyboard configuration and such. In fact the book shows that you can hook up all kinds of joysticks, pedal controls and even some goggle apparatus. There it is, “altered reality”, where I can give myself unlimited firepower and I never die. It tells me I am dishonorable. Hey, I need to live long enough to write about it. 

 I am running the game while I have Word 7.0 running and it’s doing just fine. You are presented with three scenarios: two of them are for choosing sides and going into battle, the third is called “Trials of Grievance”. The latter takes you immediately in to a selection screen to pick and configure your MECHWARRIOR. You have several different types for your choice. The specifications of each type are given in the book. You can also choose the planet and corresponding terrain for the battlefield: ice desert, cratered vacuum, rocky highland, enclosed arena, enclosed trial area, mesa desert, sparse urban, canyon, ice hills. 

I checked all of them out and they are very different. It looks like the authors have put together a game with the intention of keeping your interest over a long period of time. I least with me, they may have succeeded. Each terrain, with different MECHWARRIORS, almost makes you feel like it’s a different game. 

 As I try my hand at battling it’s quite fun. It’s like a good arcade game. The sounds and visuals both working synchronously and smoothly. You are inside a MECH, you are walking around looking (using the radar display) for enemies. They are coming to you. You can walk with a speed from 0 to about 168 kph which you control by the keyboard numbers. You have jets (depending on what MECH model you chose) to make short hops. You steer with the arrow keys or other means depending on what you set up. 

Fire the weapons with the space bar. (The book says that pressing the ENTER keys selects the weapon, but I see that each time I fire with the spacebar the weapon type changes. A bug or something I am doing wrong!? I don’t know. But I do know that some of the controls, like this one, are not too intuitive in their execution. I don’t want to have to study the book to play the game. I want to have fun immediately and then, as I get into the game, if I want to, I will read the book at my leisure. But so far, most things I have figured out without too much effort.) 

There are options to chose your view perspective ( I think there are, I have not been able to invoke that option yet) and your Heads Up Display parameters. There are indicators of the health of you machine. In fact if you push the MECH too far in will shut down momentarily at which time you are vulnerable to incoming enemy attack. 

The other two options at the beginning of the game allow you to pick your Clan affiliation (which side you are on). From there you set up your fleet of MECHs, three at most, you will be fighting in one as the others assist you. You pick your attack configuration. Also in this area is where you train to be a MECHWARRIOR. In training you are guided through handling, navigation, weapon usage etc. 

(Now I have lost control of MECHWARRIOR 2. In Alt-tabbing between Word 7.0 and the game many times and accidentally invoking a second instance of MECHWARRIOR. I have crashed the game. I had to end the task. It will not start again. But my computer has not crashed and I am still using Word. BTW I am using a 120MHz Pentium, with 32meg of RAM. Now rebooting. Well MECHWARRIOR 2 will not run even after a cold boot! I will have to reinstall the program. But I can do the remainder of the review by memory.) 

I made it through the first two training sessions fairly easily. They involved walking around pylons and firing at targets while walking slowly. But the third one is giving me trouble. It has to do with shooting targets while walking and twisting the torso. Your view is from inside the cockpit. I think you have to pass each training session to go into actual battle. The training is fun and teaches you how to use the Mech. I look forward to completing the training. 

The real battle scenario is like the “Trials of Grievance” with MECHs at you side. You have enemy MECHs attacking you on the ground and flying overhead. You can shoot them in the air. There are areas I have not discussed or even discovered yet. I will have to reload the program and read the book! 

 The book is 5” by 6 “ by 76 pages and comes with a fold out guide. It talks about the story of the warring Clans and has side notes that look like they were written in by someone getting ready to go to battle. The side notes actually explain what all of the keys control. Overall it doesn’t look like it would take too much effort to thoroughly study the manual. 

My overall evaluation of the game is a 8.5 out of 10. It has great sound and graphics but some items are just not intuitive. Maybe that is the way it has to be since the game is complex. (Also it has totally crashed.) Although it is complex it still allows a new user to jump right in and have some good clean shoot ‘em up fun. 

For the players who will get into it more (I am one who will) the game has many options and scenarios. The level of difficulty you can tailor to your liking as you get more proficient at controlling the MECHWARRIOR.