For all those not willing to shell out 200 bucks to play the role of a giant robot, MechAssault is the next best thing.
A mix between the sim aspects of MechWarrior and the arcade destruction of Virtual On, MechAssault requires enough strategy to keep mech fans happy, yet it's easy enough to pick up and play that casual gamers can learn to tear buildings, mechs, and tanks apart within minutes. The controls are deceivingly simple, and if you didn't know any better, you'd call it a shallow game: the face buttons control your weapon selection, the left trigger fires it, the sticks move, press the left stick/right stick for your special weapons. That's it.
But if you run right in, you'll get shot up, sometimes within seconds. Many times in the single player campaign, the enemy mechs are just as, if not more powerful than your own. You'll often have to lure them out to an open area, away from enclosed urban areas where you an easy shot. You'll also have to take into consideration the number of troops and tanks backing up your foes, as well as your heat level: if your machine overheats, you'll be rendered helpless temporarily, and you'll be a very easy shot with no defenses or jump jets to help you escape. Indeed, it's easier to overheat than you'd think. (two or three shots from the PPC gun can do it.) The point is, there's much more depth and strategy to MechAssault than you may first think, and you'll find this out quickly if you try to play the game like Zone of the Enders.
However, the soul of the game is in its multiplayer mode, particularly its 100% lag free online options. MechAssault is the killer app for X-Box Live, no doubt about it. Attempting to destroy other mechs of every shape and size over Microsoft's gaming service is fun defined, and a benchmark example for every online console title from here on out. How will you, the nimble but lightly armored Uziel, take down the slow, armed-to-the-teeth Atlas? Will you team up with another light mech to take him down, only to turn on him once you've accomplished your goal? Or will you choose to be a lone renegade, and opt instead for a three-way firefight to the death? It's these kinds of choices, made on-the-fly in the heat of battle, that make MechAssault the premier online title on any console. Microsoft has promised downloadable content as well, though none has yet been released.
The graphics must be mentioned, as they are quite the work of beauty: exquisitely modeled buildings fall to their doom with even more detail in destruction than they had in their prime: shoot the top of a building with a rocket launcher, and it'll cause a much different effect than if you had lobbed a few PPC grenades at the bottom foundation. The attention to detail in the building modeling is second to none. The mechs themselves also feature individual moving parts, similar to Twisted Metal Black's weaponry. If you select a weapon such as a rocket launcher while using a machine gun, depending on your mech's design, you'll actually see the weapon extend before firing. It's these sort of minor details that really make MechAssault feel like a polished product in the visual department.
Overall, you can't go wrong with MechAssault. While most of its value is found online, its single player campaign will be a godsend for those who have ever been the slightest bit interested in tearing it up in a heavily populated area via a 40 foot instrument of destruction.
-George
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