Home Page / xbox / M / MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf - Limited Edition / Review Listing / Review

Looking back on things, the first Mechassault was without a doubt in my mind the stand-out title for the launch of Xbox Live. The game offered pretty much every gamer exactly what they wanted: the ability to hop in a gigantic machine armed to the teeth, and blow up everything in sight. Not only that, but you could do it with your friends online. Instant classic. A couple years have passed since Day 1 Studios bestowed on us Mechassault, and now they’re back with the next installment: Mechassault 2: Lone Wolf. There’s a lot riding on the latest MA game, so how did Day 1 do the second time around?

Firstly, I have to say that the differences between MA and MA2 are so large and so significant, that they almost seem like completely different games. Not to say that they’re totally different, but there’s just so much new in MA2 that the original can only pale in comparison to the amazing experience you’re bound to have with MA2, especially once you take the mayhem online.

Like the first MA, the latest boasts both a single player campaign and online multiplayer. The single player campaign pits you in the role of the same one man army that you controlled in the first game, only this time around you feel more like a man than a giant robot. This is thanks to the many instances where you will take direct control of the pilot, and not just the Mech itself. You’ll be able to run around in Battle Armor, steal tanks from the enemy, and hijack a pilot right out of his Mech during a heated battle. This ain’t your daddy’s Mechassault.

The single player campaign centers around another encounter against the Word of Blake, and your teams valiant efforts to lay their commie asses out. As you progress through the campaign, the game eases you into each of the new wrinkles in the gameplay. New additions include 6 new Mechs, driving a tank, the VTOL, and running around in Battle Armor. None of these additions are overly hard to figure out on their own, but having yourself eased into it all without being talked down to is always a great way to kick things off. You’ll play through various missions in the campaign, each with their own purpose in moving the story forward, and each with their own objective(s) for you to complete in order to move on. Early on in the game, you’ll find yourself helping another team of Mech Warriors who are under attack by the Word of Blake troops, and you’ll have to ensure their safety. There’s a mission or two that involve you saving the Icharis, just like the first game. Thankfully though, these missions don’t seem as annoying as the original ones, for some reason.

The campaign is pretty short (7 hours or so), and doesn’t really offer much more than a training ground for online play: Mechassault 2’s meat and potatoes. As important as it is to have a single player mode, MA2, much like the original shines brightest during Xbox Live multiplayer. All the games new features, like Mech-jacking, the VTOL, driving the tank, etc. are all still included in multiplayer, and not only add tons to the game that the original was lacking, they serve to add a new level of depth and strategy that completes the package very nicely.

A major addition to the gameplay, and one that becomes even more so apparent once you jump online, is the VTOL. Basically, the VTOL is an aircraft that acts as a support utility to Mechs, as well as doubling as an alternate means of transportation for tanks and Battle Armor-clad warriors. The VTOL is armed with rockets, and moves very quickly, but is by no means built for heavy combat. In fact, a couple good shots from an enemy Mech will drop the VTOL out of the sky, no problem. That doesn’t mean the VTOL is useless, far from it, in fact. The VTOL, being so quick and agile, can act as a scout for your team, as well as drop upgrades or health pickups in the field, which the VTOL can stock up on at the helipad in-base. It won’t take long for you to realize how important the VTOL actually becomes in team-based situations.

Battle Armor is an important addition to your arsenal as well, allowing you to run around in a small, mobile armored suit, with the ability to hijack enemy Mechs, and claim them for their own. When in Battle Armor, you show up only as a small, nearly unnoticeable dot on enemy radar, making you that much harder to spot in midst a blazing firefight with another Mech. The Battle Armor has little health, and can be destroyed with relative ease if you’re spotted too soon on your approach to jack the enemy, but in the right hands, the Battle Armor can become as deadly a force as any of the strongest Mechs in the game.

All of these additions serve to create a very strategic, extremely rewarding online experience through several different gameplay types, ranging from your standard destruction (deathmatch) modes, to CTF, Base War (protect your generator while trying to destroy the enemies),  and Last Man Standing (everyone has one life, so you better make it count). All the gameplay types are very well balanced, and all lend themselves very well to one another, meaning that they all feel unique enough to hold their own and allow for a different experience with each type. Naturally, you’ll come to find you enjoy some types more than others, but that is simply a matter of personal preference.

From a visual perspective, I have no complaints with MA2 at all. Everything is very well detailed, from the Mechs themselves to the buildings, and the beautiful explosions that are sure to riddle every match you play. Mechs are infinitely cooler looking this time around, sporting a sleek, polished look that’s sure to please the eyes of even the most critical gamers. The games framerate proves stable in even the most heated firefights, which I found very impressive, especially considering the number of effects and explosions that can be onscreen at any given time.

The games audio, while not as immediately impressive as the visual, is awesome. Mechs will clank, bang, shoot, fire, blast, pound and explode with excellent, crisp output, and ear pulsing destruction-goodness. Voice acting during the campaign is good, but not awesome, and all the other menial sound effects, from giant Mech foot stomping, to the sounds of lasers coming out of turrets all help aid the feel of mass destruction littered through the entire game. All in all, the audio serves the other components of the game very well, and help add to the atmosphere the game tries very well to convey.

When put side by side with the original Mechassault, MA2: Lone Wolf serves as not only as a worthy, but excellent follow up to a classic Xbox Live title, with the promise of many days of Mech jacking and explosions-galore ahead. Fans of the original need not hesitate to pick this one up, while skeptics can put their fears aside. Even if you weren’t overly fond of the first Mechassault, MA2 demands to be played.