What is MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat?

Short of actually building a BattleMech in your garage with plans of unleashing its power on the suburban neighborhood of your choice, MechWarrior 2 comes as close as you’re going to get to the real thing. Based on the FASA BattleTech Universe, MechWarrior 2 is a 3D battle sim with a rich story line and a history that backs up the explosive action. With considerable time put into the development of realistic controls and physics (more than two years since the original MechWarrior), the game invites you into its world without any distractions of disbelief. Then, once you’re truly immersed into the game, the mission objectives take on a whole new sense of weight and urgency, adding to the overall enjoyment of the experience.

Offering more than 50 missions, each ranging in size and scope, MechWarrior 2 begins with your pledging allegiance to one of two rival Clans. Both the Jade Falcon and the Wolf Clans have their own agendas and your game heavily depends upon which side you choose to belong. Once you’ve decided upon your Clan, you have the option of learning how to operate the BattleMechs in an extensive Cadet Training program, or jumping right in to the first mission.

Missions consist of a few objectives which must be met in order to advance the ultimate cause of your Clan. Each mission takes you to a different location giving the game great variety in look and character. The early missions are reasonably considerate of the fact that controlling the BattleMechs is not, at first, an easy thing to do and it takes practice to take full advantage of its features. Once you get your feet wet in the early missions, the game turns up the heat with more complicated objectives and aggressive foes.

Beyond the complex missions and in-depth story line of banished Clans living in a constant state of war, the sheer number of available gameplay features makes MechWarrior 2 worthy of high praise. With 15 different BattleMechs, all easily customized, the game offers a generous variety of gameplay elements. Thanks to the true 3D graphics, there are also several camera perspectives. Play from within the cockpit of your BattleMech, trailing behind it, or even from an overhead satellite view: There are still more options within each of these views. For example, from within the cockpit, you can look left and right, up and down, and even zoom in and out of the Z axis. Aah, total freedom.

Graphically, MechWarrior 2 does more than necessary to impress. From the awesome intro sequences which set the tone of the entire game to the detailed texture-mapped environments, the real-time 3D landscapes are thoroughly convincing and highly stylized. Also adding to the game’s immersive nature are a host of thunderous sound effects and sporadic, but effective, soundtrack snippets. The result is an environment which makes sense and yet seems totally foreign.

One minor annoyance is that Activision’s installer automatically puts Sound Manager 3.1 in your System Folder and forces you to restart. If you have System 7.5.3 (System 7.5 Update 2.0) you’ve already got Sound Manager 3.2 built in to the System and don’t need another outdated version floating around. You’d think that in this day and age an installer would be smart enough to figure that out.

In the end, MechWarrior 2 is a stellar game because it balances the immediate fiin of blasting 3D Mechs with a more complex simulation element. Throughout the game, you can play on any of several levels — from hanging on every word of the story line as it continues to unravel with each mission to going after objectives simply as a means to advance to the next level. With fun and depth to spare, MechWarrior 2 is more than enough game for just about anyone. It was well worth the wait.

Baggatta, Patrick. (October 1996). MechWarrior 2. MacAddict. (pg. 56).

See also: MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat (3D RAVE version)

Download MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat for Mac

Architecture

IBM PowerPC

System Requirements

From Mac OS 7.5 up to Mac OS 9.2

Compatibility notes

Minimum Requirements

• PowerPC processor
• 16 MB RAM
• 58 MB hard disk available
• 8-bit color display
• 640 x 480 resolution
• 2x CD-ROM drive
• System 7.5.1
• Sound Manager 3.1

Emulating this? It could probably run under: SheepShaver