MechWarrior 4: Vengeance

"Piloting 100-ton robots and blowing things up .. what could be more fun?"

I've always only been a casual fan of MechWarrior and of the whole Battletech universe, but I found the concept of driving around a giant robot stock full of weapons to be very intriguing. I'd played MechWarrior 2 and the Battletech card game by Wizards of the Coast before trying out Vengeance, so I had an idea of what to expect.

Graphics
Stunningly gorgeous. I was impressed by MechWarrior 2 years ago, but this game puts it to shame. The first thing you'll notice are the environments, from the dark, dank swamps to the icy cold wastelands. Little tufts of grass and the like are visible, and trees can even be blown up now. Once you get over the scenery, the next thing you'll notice are the enemy mechs and your weapons. The mechs themselves are good, but nothing special; you won't fall in love with these hulking rectangular blocks. Things like your missiles firing off, though, are much more awe-inspiring. Hitting an enemy with a PPC - a sort of high-powered laser cannon - will leave a blue flame on him, while being the victim of a PPC hit will cause your HUD to go fuzzy temporarily. Taking out an enemy's leg won't cause it to fly off like before, but instead, he'll limp around, dragging the leg like a dead weight. The obvious attention to detail in the graphics department makes it a joy to go around and blow things up.

Sound
To be honest, I haven't played this game in a little while, and I can't remember what the music is like at all. The sound effects, however, are crisp and clear. A salvo of missiles flying off your shoulders couldn't be done better, and the burning sound of a PPC hit is extremely satisfying. My favorite, though, has got to be the ''blang'' of an LBX AC 20 - a close-range shotgun - just before it knocks an opponent silly. A perfect complement to the graphics.

Gameplay
I have another confession to make: I haven't played through the single-player campaign. Frankly, I lost patience with the mission objectives; all I wanted to do was get into the thick of things with other mechs and cause some mass destruction. My brother did play through a number of missions, though, but he didn't sound overly impressed with them.

Where you will spend most of your time playing is in the ''Instant Action'' and Multiplayer game modes. This is where the fun begins! You start by going in the MechLab, and customizing your mech down to the smallest detail. The MechLab is extremely easy to jump right into and use; perfect for casual fans such as myself. Still, it offers a lot of options, and you'll no doubt spend a lot of time in here tweaking your mech to perfection. There's 15 or so mechs to choose from, including the lightweight recon mech Raven, to the tough-as-nails assault mech Daishi. Then you stock them with weapons, which are divided into three categories: Ballistics, Energy Weapons, and Missiles. It's an issue of balance when it comes to weapons: for example, energy weapons are light and need no ammo, but generate a lot of heat, while ballistics cause no heat build-up, but are heavy and require ammo. You have to worry about how much space there is in the mech, how much it weighs, and how much heat will be generated, but all this is monitored and displayed for your benefit. Other options, like armor, heat sinks, engines, and anti-missile systems, are all available for your disposal.

One of the best things about this game, besides the actual combat, is that you can design any mech you want easily. You can make a sniper, armed with long-range lasers, PPC's, and Gauss Rifles, to hit the enemy hard from afar. You can make a recon mech, built for speed and hit-and-run tactics, for those Capture-the-Flag games. You can make an urban scrapper, equipped with shotguns and short range missiles, for those fights in the city where buildings are always getting in the way. You can make an artillery support mech, armed with loads of long-range missiles, to back up those in-close fighters. The possibilities for customization are almost limitless.

Then comes the actual on-field gameplay. The controls take a little getting used to, but after an hour or two, they'll become second nature. It's important to note that Vengeance doesn't feel like a first-person shooter at all; it's a simulation game, so the battles are drawn out, and require some strategy. Playing with teammates allows you to use group tactics, such as having a small, fast mech plant a homing beacon on an enemy, and having a missile mech unleashing all hell on him. The multiplayer mode is, without a doubt, the game's strongest selling point; duking it out with or against your buddies never gets old. The game supports up to 16 players at once, and you can add bots to fill in the missing spots. Trying out your custom-built mechs on the field and watching them succeed in tearing apart your enemies gives a feeling of satisfaction rarely found in games these days. It's addicting, to say the least.

Replay Value
Despite the apparent staleness of the single-player campaign, the ''Instant Action'' and multiplayer modes are enough to keep a gamer going for weeks at a time. Whenever you're bored, you can always go back to the drawing board and build up a mech from scratch. Designing wacky, unconventional mechs and testing them out is a great way to pass time; for instance, you can make kamikaze mechs armed with high explosives, and act as a crazy battering ram to take out enemies as you die. Fine-tuning your mechs to become deadly killing machines is another perennial favorite. The action itself is fast-paced and keeps the adrenalin pumping, making you want to come back for more.

Final Words
A definite must-buy for all people remotely interested in giant walking tanks. Fans of FPS who are used to one-hit kills might find the game too slow paced, but that's because it's a simulation game. Definitely not a game to miss!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/27/01, Updated 07/27/01