MechAssault Download Content Overview Special @ Gaming Target

Written by Leigh Culpin on February 21, 2003

Special: Well it has a kitchenЕ too bad the sink's missing.

We waited. And waited. We were first told Уsoon,Ф which was then upgraded to УJanuary.Ф January came and went, and yet we were still lacking in that which was promised us. After many a pledge of having new MechAssault content ready for download soon after the launch of the Xbox Live network, it's finally here. Yeah, it took a bit longer than it should have, and no, there isn't even a CTF mode ready for us yet, despite the delay. On the other hand, we do have two cool new maps and a couple sweet new mechs that will likely add some more balance to the gameplay.

Previously there was little reason to choose a lighter mech Ц playing online found the occasionally jump-jet freak who didn't mind being the easier pickings of his (or her) team. The masses seemed to like the big boys Ц the Atlases, Mad Cats, Thors and the like. Battles, and lives, tend to last longer and be more fulfilling in the mechs with more armor, and this imbalance in gameplay seemed to be a big sore point for the MechAssault community. However, Microsoft has attempted to remedy this with two brand new light mechs: The Raven (which makes appearances in older mech games such as Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries) and a variant of this mech, the Corvus. While both are extremely light scout mechs, either of which can be easily destroyed by a couple of well-aimed gauss rifle shots, their excellent speed and maneuverability actually make this small mech a plausible alternative to being one of the big and slow boys. The Corvus has jump jets, though no missiles, but dual pulse laser cannons and an auto canon equipped along side dual target jammers (dual meaning that it lasts twice as long). The Raven (which I personally prefer) has dual null sigs, twin lasers, twin machine guns and a missile launcher. Both are tied for second fastest mech at 42 m/s, and it shows once you start playing with them. Before running them on Live I wanted to get a feel for them, and what better way then starting up a round of Grinder? As it turns out it was a cinch to get all the way to the Ragnorok with the Raven, even if I had more trouble with the Corvus (though that may be more to do with my playing style than anything). Unfortunately, show downs with the Ragnorok tended to be a bit more work, since it has so much armor and the new mechs have next to none. Despite this, in a team environment the Raven and Corvus are sure to be excellent additions thanks to their high speed, great maneuverability and nicely balanced weapons arrangements (though I hate not having missiles).

The new levels are also a nice alternative to what was previously available. Stone Cold is a very nice open arena with enough details to be aesthetically pleasing, yet still be easily the best all-out battle ground with few hard to navigate areas or obstructions. Hell's Kitchen is quite the opposite Ц heavily littered with buildings, gas tanks (both of which explode nicely, causing very respectable splash damage) and rock formations; it's more strategic, yet can be a very action-oriented map Ц the tight spaces make for some really frenzied battles, more so perhaps than any other level. You rarely see so much firepower in such a small space, and though the opportunity for using real tactics is there (use the terrain to your advantage, flank the opposite team, etc) often you'll end up finding yourself just shooting in a general direction and getting a hit or kill.

I've always been partial to the ice themed levels since they're much easier on the eyes than the lava and rock arenas, and it's nice to have one that isn't loaded with hills and hard-to-reach areas. Hell's Kitchen resembles River City somewhat in that many of the level's obstructions can be destroyed, but I had always thought that River City was the big favorite because once you got past the sheer coolness of destroying a huge city, you had a wide-open arena to battle in. Stone Cold saves you the trouble and gives you an arena for all out massacres Ц just the kind of arena I like. It's easy to jump into, and while simple, it's certainly one of the better maps currently available. Hell's Kitchen takes a bit more work, though it's certainly an improvement on some of the stock levels the game ships with and can make for some pretty interesting battles.

Final Thoughts
Though it certainly is late, and it isn't CTF or any other new mode that we may have been hoping for, it should be enough to momentarily satisfy those waiting eagerly for the aforementioned. The levels are well thought out and add nicely contrasting depths to the game (to some degree at least), and the new mechs are really what the MA community needs Ц almost something a little bit off-beat but ultimately well-balanced, which is a great step in the right direction of addressing MechAssualt's biggest shortcoming: lack of a wide variety of decent mech choices. Not quite what was ideally expected, but certainly worth the short download.