"Better start looking now, this gem is worth it!"

If you can find a copy of this rare gem, I'd definitely have to say, go for it, Merc! (the title that you're given in the game). My literature teacher said that true literature can only be defined as novels which withstand the test of time, that appeal to all generations and cultures. Well my friend, a great video game must pass the test of time, and as my loving Dad has gotten this gem to function properly on my computer, I blow off the dust and give the folks at Interplay a big round of applause for this Shattered Steel.

Story-
This story is kinda apocalyptic in a way, if you look at the extensive notes in the back of the book, they talk about world wars and stuff, but those are just appendices, stuff you read if you're really into the game (which you will be soon, trust me). But for now, we'll just stick with the basic story, which can be summarized as follows:

You're a Merc, which is a pilot that operates a Planet-Runner (yes, I'll get to the MechWarrior 2/Shattered Steel comparison in a minute, hold on), anyway, you have to fight these aliens which have taken apart humans and harvested them into themselves...yeah, creepy huh? The story is really great and deep, and even has details which involve your artificial intelligence briefing CPU. Yeah, its just that deep. Definitely a 10/10.

Presentation-
Great! Everything has sort of a spacey feel to it, and not a corny one either. When you're in the hangar, you won't need a whole bunch of moving junk to slow your CPU down, everything's done in a great big still. But wait, its not quiet, nor is there some kind of dorky menu tone to bog you down as you mod your Planet-Runner, they have these little intercom announcements that can be kinda serious to downright funny. The options menu look like some kind of futuristic holographic pad thing, and when you check your mission objectives, you feel like you're really looking down into your Planet-Runner, its all dirty, a piece of the plating is missing, and there's this thing that says something like ''pull hatch to jettison''. Yeah, very realistic.

I'll stick the modifications here, you won't spend too much time poring in the Planet-Runner Lab, its obvious that the games designers wanted you out on the field instead of in here all day, basically, you have 5 categories of modification: your chassis, reactor (the higher the level, the more power you have), engine, primary weapon, and a few secondary mounts. Believe me, its a lot deeper than it sounds, and its enough to get the job done, they give you control, but not enough to bore you, nor make you constantly replay missions just because your Planet-Runner isn't the best design, if you know what you're doing;-)

I'm trying to think of something to give this game a 9/10, then I remember the little movie clips that they throw in here and there (like when your ship is about to enter Hyperspace, these can be skipped though), and I just can't. Hey, a 10/10.

Sound-
Great! The sound really puts you into the action, the footprints hit the ground as you walk, the weapons-fire is top notch, and there are even some creepy sound effects too. For example, if you behead an alien (yeah, cool huh?) and leave them sitting there beheaded, you'll hear an eerie scream as you head off into the distance. There's some music, but its real subtle, don't worry about any weird techno or metal beats while you're sitting there in fear hoping the enemy doesn't fry your rear. Utilizing stereo sound to its best, you'll actually find yourself looking over your shoulder sometimes to make sure that there really isn't an Aspis lurking outside. Yeah, another 10/10.

Graphics-
Wicked! I've never seen 640 x 480 graphics used to this extent before! These graphics are top notch! Uh, for the time at least, if you're an entrepreneur who collects games from back-in-the-day, you're probably ready to put up with really bad graphics...good thing this game's not one of those! The graphics are really great, and still look good now! The textures look nice, and when you use ''the big one'' the ground actually ripples in this massive shock wave! Albeit everything's not quite rounded off though, you're going to see some (okay, quite a bit) of sharp edges. But think of it this way, if they tinkered with it until it looked as good as anything you'd play today, then you'd need a 500 Mhz just to run this game. Which leads me to my next point..., but first, lets give the graphics a 8.5/10.

System Requirements-
Incredible! I'd have expected a game like this to need at least a 300, but it doesn't! With the great graphics and sound, all the game is asking for (per to the instruction manual) is a 486-66! Although you'd have to run the game in 320x480, so I'd really recommend a 586-133 (which has worked fine for me). This runs the game in 640x480 mode with most of the trimmings close to maximum percent, a P-200 runs the game to its maximum. For doing so much and asking so little, I can't help but give this a 10/10. So go on and dig out that old 166 from the basement, buy some network cards, and get ready to have some...

Multiplayer-
Fun! Those three letters and punctuation mark pretty much sum it up! Sure you can play the old get-in-your-hulking-machines-and-blow-the-daylights-out-of-everyone-else, which is by the way, very much well done. But what's even more fun is the co-op! Having trouble beating some of those missions? Then invite a friend over and get ready to kick some butt! You can go throughout the games missions--with a friend or friends. There are some drawbacks to this though, for some reason, the game randomly decides whose computer can load the missions and whose can only load their own bots, so it'd be nice if that had been better determined. I'm not sure if the bots and missions are fixed to the save file, so you might be able to copy over all your good save files and mechs to the other CPU, otherwise, you're better off just starting from the beginning. Now, something about co-op though, you get upgrades a lot more slowly. Whereas you'd be getting a type-3 chassis in no time at all, in the single player, it'll be a while before you see it in the multiplayer, and this is for good reason too, its because with a friend, or friends, its going to be a lot easier, so the game would give you a lot less upgrades to keep it fun. Good move by Interplay.

Also, if you and your friends don't get along well, then let one of them help out the bad guys, you can split up into two groups amongst yourselves in co-op, one being the evil group, which tries to stop the objectives from being accomplished, and the other which plays for the good guys. I think this would've been better done if the person could inhabit the bodies of different aliens, and then, as the one their in gets destroyed, they'd randomly go to another one, and again and again until all the enemies are destroyed, that would've made it more fun--and fair. Back to the get in your hulking blowing daylights mode, let's just call it Anarchy. And that's well done too, with dozens of different stages and stuff to fight opponents in. But if you get this rare gem, you'll probably be spending too much time in Co-Op to care at all about Anarchy. I would've enjoyed a mindless survival co-op mode or something, and it'd be nice if you could gather up a friend and try to take on a fleet of 5 scorpions or an endless horde of masses, but it just doesn't get that deep. Its either Co-Op, Team Play, or Anarchy. However, I'd rather lack the survival mode and get a great game than to have it and have an okay game, so I'm giving this one a 10/10.

Gameplay-
Incredible, what do you expect from a game like this. A simple 4 button joystick will handle you just great throughout this game, you push forward to run, backward to go backward, and turning. So there's no throttle, but hey, that's one less thing for you to worry about while you're blasting alien scum! For me, I keep the auto-aiming on, it really helps, you see, when you target an enemy, the Planet-Runner will automatically look up and try to stay on target with the enemy to ease you in shooting it. Well, that'll make the game too easy won't it? Wrong. Usually, you won't be standing still while all this is going on, neither will the enemy, or its 7 something companions at the time, so the auto-aiming just helps make things a little bit more manageable. Which leads me to the next thing, you'll be outnumbered quite often, as at first, enemies only take oh...about a dozen or so shots before they go down, so you'll get thrown about 4-5 enemies quite often, and its fun! Shooting! Dodging! Retreating! All this 3D action really gets the adrenaline pumping! Incredible...

All the missions usually can be placed one of the following categories: 1. Defend a stationary object- you'll have to defend a bunch of buildings 2. Destroy a stationary object- rush in and destroy a lot of buildings, pretty fun stage where you'll be scared once everybody sees you and all. 3. Defend a moving convoy- you'll have to defend some pretty heavily armored, slow-moving convoy that just has to go down the path full of the most enemies:), this is kinda fun too. 4. Destroy a moving convoy- just what it sounds like. The alien convoys are HUGE, and they can absorb blasts like nothing else, the stages are fun though. 5. Go in with your troops and take out a big boss/object guarded by a big boss!- Oh yeah! These are the ones you'll enjoy the most, there will be a boss, or some huge object surrounded by a boss and it'll be your job to take a couple of troops (you cannot direct or control them), and rush in there and take care of business. These usually are the longest ones, and they feel most like war because as you see the green dots (friendly) disappear as red dots (enemy) converge on them, you'll feel the despair sink in... How cool is that! And aside from some special instances (go in and inspect something, then you'll usually have to destroy it), or ones where things don't turn out as planned, the missions are all great, and mixed in quite well. Don't worry, you won't be escorting 3 convoy missions in a row, nor will you have to deal with 5 big boss missions in a row too. Well thought out missions, a DIFFERENT stage for every level, and a storyline with choices and different paths. Oh yeah, a 10/10.
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MECHWARRIOR 2 vs. SHATTERED STEEL
_________

Shattered Steel came out in 1995, Mechwarrior 2 in 1995 (actually, the instruction manual says the copyright is 1995-1996) either way, when Mechwarrior 2 did come out, Shattered Steel and it were in some serious competition. I'm going to assume that you see these two in the store (they're both pretty rare), same price, and you don't know what to get, either the Mechwarrior 2 (lets include NetMech, that's the bundle my brothers CPU has with it) and Shattered Steel. What to do, screenshots can't tell you everything about the game? Well, listen up, because we (my brother and I) own both games, and here's what I have to say...

Story-
You know the story for Shattered Steel (SS), which is very deep, plus, the CPU reads it to you after every mission, which is a big plus. In Mechwarrior 2 (MW2), its about two clans that constantly in war for some reason. Not only that, but story bits presented in little text, as an ''aftermathish'' sort of thing, that's only optional to read after every mission. I didn't too much read them at all really, but SS had me listening, whereas MW2 had me clicking on past it.

Point: SS

Graphics-
MW2 can't hold a candle to SS in this category. Seriously, nothing. Screeshots could tell you this, SS at least tried to make some decent textures, and they did great! Whereas MW2 (which came out in 1995-1996) didn't even try, but instead they have minimal textures with polygons galore! Not only this, but my version of MW2 requires an ATI 3D Rage card (or another card might do, but you probably need the ATI driver), the reason why I say my version is that it says ''ATI 3D Rage Pro Edition'', so I'm guessing (and hoping) that there are other versions out there that don't require this. Anyway, this isn't to say that the graphics in MW2 are horrible, they do what they need to do, and you won't mind too much, but if graphics mean a lot to you, then stop reading and run with SS before somebody else grabs them both.

Point: SS

Customization-
Sorry SS, but MW2 has you here. In SS, you've got about 5 areas of customization, while in MW2, you've got more than I can name any day, heat sinks, armor, armor on each arm and hand, you can mount either a dozen machine guns in a hand, or half a dozen lasers, depending on what size they are, you can mix up some small lasers with large lasers with missiles, and you can put them anywhere on the Mech, and look at this, a paragraph about a fraction of a fraction of the customization you can do in this game. This one goes to MW2.

Point: MW2

Presentation:
Personally, I liked the menus in SS more, but the ones in MW2 have a futuristic feel too, with holograms and stuff too. The map in SS in presented in 3D, so you can see mountains and stuff, which do mean a lot in this game. But in MW2, mountains and terrain don't play as big a role, so the mountains are more of a top-down view until you get to extremely zoomed in, where its some 3D. Both games' maps do what they need them to do, so its a matter of extreme personal taste, and this isn't a deciding factor anyway, so...

Point: TIE

Sound:
Ooh, how tough. Both games are of high quality sound, I noticed the explosions in MW2 more, but SS has such realistic alien sounds. When you behead an alien, you hear it for meters away, but to MW2's credit, faint sounds of a battle going on in the distance can be heard quite well too. I personally liked how you got to hear the Mechs computer voice more in MW2 than in SS. But the other Mech pilots' voices in MW2 sound like they're in a recording studio, whereas in SS, you really think that real people are out there, static on the brief radio messages, laser fire in the background, really realistic. Overall, because of the story, MW2 has more down-to-earth sounds, you know, the things you could hear in real life, explosions, approaching footsteps, missile launches, etc. Conversely, because of the outer space setting of SS, you'll hear alien screams and cries, your lasers sound more ''spacey'' like, and things like that. Of course, SS still has explosions, approaching footsteps, and missile launches too, but its just that they mix in some out-of-this-world sound effects too.

Music doesn't really do anything in either game, in fact, its not even heard over the laser fire and enemy screams or explosions. Its kinda like, if you're sitting in a ditch waiting for your shields and weapons to recover (SS), or waiting for the target to come within your sniping reticule (MW2), its like, ''hey, there's some music playing when I'm not shooting stuff, cool.'' Nothing blatantly offensive or loud. Looks like we're in for another...

Point: TIE

Gameplay: With so many different categories, I split it up some into these groups...

Multiplayer:
For one, SS comes ready to multiplay, while with Mechwarrior, you need ''Net Mech'', a whole new program. My brothers CPU came with the Netmech already on the CD, and while I'm installing, it says, [loose quote] 'Netmech will take an additional 225 [200-something] kilobytes to install. You must install it now or else you will have to uninstall Mechwarrior and then reinstall it. Continue?'. For you, who you probably don't have the bundle, its like Okay, I found this rare gem, now I gotta find Netmech too? Well, chill, I think that Netmech might be able to be ordered online easier than MW2 could, and as far as I know, you can't just download the thing. I mean, come on, buying a program for 200-something K worth of code? Couldn't they just make you give them your e-mail addy so they could mail you tons of ads and let you download the thing for free? Well, unfortunately not. MW2 has to have a SUPERB multiplayer in order to comeback from this, does it? Let's find out.

No. It doesn't. Overall, I'm kinda dissapointed with the multiplayer in MW2 as opposed to in SS. In SS, you had one huge mode, Co-Op. Where you and a friend could work together to cooperate and kick some alien tail. What do you get in MW2? Anarchy, oh yeah, and Team Anarchy. But I mean, blowing up eachother more than a dozen times starts to lose its flavor (unless you really dislike the guy or something...). There are a lot of stages, and you can customize a whole lot more than in SS. You can change the gravity (put it on nothing, whee! 400 MPH mechs! What! A wall! Who put that th-----*boom*), time of day, temperature, et cetera et cetera, but not even customization will save MW2 from the mediocrity of blowing each other up time and time again. If they had just let you make up a few CPU controlled mechs to fight together, or better yet, a co-op mode through the different stages (I can't recall how many times my brother could've been of some great help in those tough missions), and package NetMech with the game (...), then maybe MW2 would've stood a fighting chance...

Point: SS

Strategy Element:
How much strategy is involved? This is a tough one, there's more of a terrain involved strategy in SS than in MW2. They gave you a wicked 3D tactical map for a good reason, you'll need to refer to it quite often in order to know how you should maneuver to get to the place. You can see all enemies on the whole grid (minus a small corner on the extreme opposite side), so you can see the pattern that the enemies are in, so you can know which way you need to come in. I didn't use the map that much in MW2, mostly, it was waypoint to waypoint. SS has no waypoints. Most of MW2's strategy comes from the fact that you can command your lancemates, so you can station one to go somewhere else, and say...draw out fire, so that they can be lured into that great sniping spot of yours. In SS, the troops are kinda strong, and they're controlled by the CPU, they'll just go in and try to take out as many enemies as they can until they are eventually destroyed. You can follow them and help them out -- only thing is is that they might get in your way, or vice versa.

Hmm...a really tough decision, one that definitely isn't a tie... SS has fun terrain maps, while MW2 has Navigation points and some different objectives (sometimes, you'll have to inspect buildings before you destroy them). The one thing that tips the balance to MW2's favor (barely) is that you're fighting opponents of near equal strength to you, so you can't just stand there and shoot (well, not past the first 2 or 3 mechs anyway), this isn't to say that you can in SS, but you don't have to worry about weak points and legging (shooting a leg off of a Mech) and stuff. This isn't to say that SS is largely inferior (in fact, it barely is), but looking at the two of them if you own them both, you could see where MW2 would be a bit more strategy oriented.

Point: MW2

Fun Factor:
They're both great games, just two different styles of games. In SS, the aliens are substantially weaker than you, so its more of strength in numbers for the CPU. Big numbers. 5-to-1 odds in SS is what you'd get on a good day. While in MW2, each Mech is comparable to your own (not the intellect of the CPU, depending on the difficulty), so the worst odds you'll usually get are 3-to-1. 3 good Mechs, I mean, occasionally, you'll have to deal with 4 or 5 light mechs at a time, but for the most part, you need to aim your shots wisely. Pay attention to where that PPC (Particle Projectile Cannon, one of the strongest weapons in MW2) comes from out of your enemy. If its the left arm, than blast it first, if its the right, then shoot accordingly. There are many many commands in MW2 to be used for the keyboard, personally, I don't mind, and before long, I was nailing commands on the keyboard without hardly looking. But for those of you who just hate memorizing long strings of keyboard commands, than MW2 is not for you. Do you like being told to ''Okay, let's stop shooting for a while and cool off'', or not. Its not a bad thing per se, its just that it could interfere with the gameplay for a while.

Sigh, It's just in what you like really, I mean, okay, you'll see most the summary in the final aftermath, so in the interest of keeping things fair and not confusing, lets just say...

Point: BOTH

Conclusion:
They are both great games, and if you can mooch off of a friend or relative to pick these both up, then by all means get them. Here's one final roundup for you...

:SS- The graphics are far superior to those in Mechwarrior 2. And the sound effects do a great job of building the atmosphere. A very deep game, but there's less to do inside the Planet-Runner -- the designers clearly want you to focus on the aliens blasting your butt outside. Your keyboard isn't used very much (assuming you have a 4 button joystick), only for the map, simple power realigning you can easily do at the beginning of each stage, and other minor tidbits. You're dumped into the middle of a fight quite often, and you don't have to worry about where to aim at on an enemy, just do it and move on to the other 6 surrounding you! Pick this up if you like being outnumbered, don't like to spend a lot of time on one foe, and like more of the ''okay you're in the middle of a fight now go do this and that'' kind of scenarios. (This is me, personally)

:MW2- The graphics are kinda polygonal, sharp edges, and stuff. The sound is more of explosions and buildings crashing, and the music stands out more in this one due to the fact that there are less bloodcurdling alien screams to be heard, this isn't necessarily in credit to MW2. The whole game has more of a mechanical, simulation type feel than SS. More strategy oriented, how you build your Mech definitely accounts for your playing style. You'll have to memorize quite a few keyboard commands, but they're not that many, nor are they confusing (most of them). More gauges to watch than in SS, and you'll have to know exactly where to aim at on most enemies. The odds aren't that bad, since every Mech is capable of going toe to toe with just about any Mech (the featherweight 20 tonners can run and jump circles over the 100 ton garguantuans). Pick this up if you like more ''conceivable'' odds, are familiar and like the BattleTech license, and if you like ''okay, here's what you have to do, there are going to be some enemies in your way, some can be avoided, others can't'' type scenarios.

Since MW2 has several successors (MW3, MW3 Expansion, MW4, MW4 Expansion, Mechassault for XBox), unless you're really into BattleTech and Mechwarrior, I would highly reccomend picking up SS because of the nostalgia feel and excellent gameplay. The Co-Op mode adds a whole lot of replay value to SS, whereas MW2 is your standard Anarchy/Team Anarchy modes.

My Reccomendation:
Don't hesitate to pick up SS if you ever see it, bargain bin, at a yard sale, even used I'd pick this one up. Its a great, long, game, with graphics that still don't look too dated. If you ever find it, great! Now have some friends bring over their basement P200's and get ready for some awesome Co-Operation fun! Co-Op is what really makes SS stand out over MW2, in my opinion. The single player in SS is great also, with multiple paths. There should be a demo online, just search for it, various sites will be hosting it. Oh yeah, and the demo does have the great multiplayer mode I was discussing earlier;-). There's even a patch to the demo, as well as a patch to the real version that fixes a lot of stuff you didn't even notice. Sadly, Shattered Steel 2 will never be released, and its really a shame too. Oh well, for now Merc, we'll have our Planet-Runners, made up of our tarnished, war-worn, Shattered Steel.

END SUMMARY:
Story- 10/10
Presentation- 10/10
Sound- 10/10
Graphics- 8.5/10
System Requirements- 10/10
Multiplayer- 1010
Gameplay- 10/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/31/03, Updated 03/28/05