There's something obscenely fun about the idea of hopping into a
heavily armed giant Mech and creating some havoc.....this game conveys
that feeling nicely.

THE GAME:
	Mech combat with a good blend of action and strategy.  
	First off i find the "arcade edition" title very misleading.  i almost
stayed away from MW2 because of this name...I'm not much for mindless
shooters....gladly I didn't.  I think many will be put off by the
depth of this game's play.  First off, there's the mech control.  This
is a giant machine of war and you can't just jump in and expect to be
an ace pilot.  You will take quite a while to learn how to competently
handle your Mech enough to survive.    To make this a little easier
you are provided with training missions...highly recommended.  You are
trained in the basics of Mech throughout various little exercises.  By
the end you should be able to control the mech enough to try your hand
in combat...highly recommend a few rounds in EASY to perfect your
skills and learn the "pick apart" skills. . After learning to handle your mech you must
then learn the advantages and disadvantages of each Mech. Some are fast but lacking in armor/fire power and
some are armed to the teeth and can take tons o'  damage.  learn the
pros and cons early because certain machines are good for certain
missions. There is also weapon grouping...too many weapons in one
group and your mech will overheat and shut down.  Experimentation will
quickly lead to favored groupings. .  
Finally, the actual missions.  the missions range from kill all Mechs
to more precise objectives...such as find a downed plane and
inspecting it. Then destroy it.  this gives a little spice to the game
keeping from getting too repetitive.  Combat is quite intenses and requires a
little skill to go with all that fire power.  If you just run into a
crowd with guns a blazing you will quikly be slaughtered.  There is a
very Cat and Mousish feel to the battles.  Isolate a few enemies and
take em out. Adding to this the ability to both "zoom in" on the
enemy and then shoot off certain parts of the mech.
For example, you fall back out of the firezone and sit up on a high
mountain...pick a mech...zoom in...and shoot one of the legs.  The
mech is now totally imobilized.  You can continue to do this until
they are all stuck in place, then walk around finshing them off one by
one. OF course, they're not going to sit around and take it.
*OVERALL the gamplay is top notch....frantic, intense action mixed
with some strategy and depth. 

THE AI
	The AI is quite good in this game...maybe too good. You pay for every
little mistake you make.  Once you've entered the enemy Mechs "zone"
he will pursue you and make your life quite difficult, and you will
soon find a whole bunch of mechs chasing you down, with guns a
blazin'. Which leads to the next angle...from what I can tell the enmy
will deliberately surround you.  Several will come from the front,
then some will jumpet right over you and start attacking from
behind...leaving you completely surrounded.  They will also pursue you
behing obstacles....
*OVERALL, i'd say excellent AI, the mechs are more than just
targets...they're threats. 

THE GRAPHICS
	The graphics in this game are quite good....maybe not the height of
playstation graphics but good nontheless.  The Mech design is
incredible, really adding to the feel of the game.  they are comprised
of only a few polygons but because they are Mechs
this works well....to many and you would have lost the Mechanical
"look".  The level graphics are for the most part good, but not
phenominal, and somewhat simple and it all runs at a very smooth
rate and have yet to see the slightest slowdown.
There are a few little graphical extras that really add to the game
and I thought they deserved mention, such as:  The sky....the sky is
downright gorgeous. instead of a static "picture" backdrop you are
treated to  gorgeous moving clouds colored to coincide with the
planet...just adds to the atmosphere.  In several levels there are
jets that fly around the sky, giving a WAR feel to
the game. There are a few more extras
but those are my faves.  i would have liked a little more lighting
effect, a la descent tho.  After seeing the killer lighting effects in
Mercanaries PC demo I was a little disappointed. 
*OVERALL, the graphics are good, if not a little simple....nice
touches help add to the atmosphere.

LEVEL DESIGN
	Levels range from plain, to stunning, and while the plain levels do
get a little repetitive they
lend to some great fast paced action whereas the more detailed
structural levels lend to a cat and mouse/hide and seek style play.
You will play out many missions on a level that is for the most part
flat plains,  with a few mountains thrown in the middle for
protection.  The games' levels shine when there are multiple
structures involved.  For example there are missions played out in a
small "city" where you can weave in and out of buildings and the enemy
can hide behind them.  Also levels involving bases are great.  One has
you protecting your base which consits of an outer defense wall, an
inner wall and several mini-structures inside....added to this is
somekind of structure which sends some kind of
ball into the air periodically....nice touch! Other nice
level features are an air field and a downed fighter...tres cool!
*OVERALL the levels do what their supposed to...give a stage for
combat. Unfortunately, some are very minimal in design and lend to a
repitive feel.I can't help but wish for canyons and cliffs. Good, but not great.

MOOD/ATMOSPHERE
	The goal of this game is to put you in the cockpit of a Mech...a giant
robotic war machine that's armed to the teeth...in the heat of battle.
This game conveys that feel beautifully and I believe that is one of
the main draws of the game.  As I said in the intro, there's just
something FUN about it.  The control is complex enough to make you
think...yes, this IS a complex fighting machine.  the combat is
intense enough to make you feel you've been dropped in the middle of a
war.  The Campaign mode
unfortunately seems to lack that "draw you into the world" feel of
other games  which is disappointing because
campaign mode can really add to a game. You are always on your own and
never actually get the feel of being part of a team..or Clan..which is
what it's all about. it ends up feeling more like just a bunch of
levels linked together.  Too bad, because if the Camapign mode was a
little more involving this would be an insanely immersive Mech "sim.
*OVERALL, the game does a top-notch job of giving the feel of being in
a mech, in the middle of a war. Unfortunately it falls short in the
campaign mode as i just don't feel like I'm part of an army/Clan.

CONTROL
	Mech control is as it should be....complex, yet after practice second
nature.  You have full control of the mech...you can rotate your torso
while still moving forward, you have zoom, jumpjet, fire, accelrate,
reverse etc.....Every button is used on the controller and you will
need to use the training missions to master them. The default
controller setting is a simplified version but doesn't allow full
control--be sure to change it! Frustratingly you have to hold down the
throttle in default mode to accelerate which is quite difficult when
trying to rotate the torso AND fire all at the same time.  Fortunatey
there is a code for PC type cruise-throttle where you hold down
accelerate till you hit the desired speed then let go and your mech
will maintain that speed...sorta like cruise control. Also, control in
zoom view is very touchy. Zoom in and
zoom out are the same button, which leads to more frustration, as
sometimes you'll need to zoom out quickly..this doesn't happen. i
believe you have to double"click" to zoom back out but many times
nothing happens..  Good but not great

SOUND
	the sound fx are very good, your mech info/radar is conveyed through a
female voice. You training instructor has a very military trainer-ish
voice and gives that "training camp" feel.  Unfortunately there is no
voice to tell you your next mission-just text which is perhaps part of
why the campaign mode felt "impersonal" and non-involving. The weapon
sounds aren't that exciting but aren't bad...they do the job.  I have
a subwoofer hooked up to my system so the best part of the sound is
the THUD of the heavy mechs running around. It again adds to that feel
that you are indeed inside a giant war machine.  The music varies from
great, to lame.  Some of the music sounds like it is straight out of
Terminator 2 and fit the game quite well and yet
some of the music is guitar rock...very non-fitting and caused me to
turn the music off. Too bad because when it was good it was real
good....leave it one for trainign tho.
*OVERALL the sound FX are great, although i want more voice. The music varies great to lame, they should have stuck to
the T2 tunes.


OVERALL OPINION
	This game goes above and beyond in conveying the feeling that you are
indeed piloting a gigantic Mech,in the heat of war,  and this is why i
like the game so much.  The game manages to strike a balance between
action and strategy, meaning you can' run and gun, but at the same
time you don't spend hours staring at tactical map   The campaign mode
unfortunately doesn't continue that immersive experience which was
highly disappointing.  The graphics are quite good but fail to push
the PS to it's full detail and manages to keep the game running  at a
smooth, consistent speed....the Mech designs are stunning.  The sound
FX are great in pulling you into the game but the tunes are all over
the place.

LAST WORD:
buy this puppy if creating havoc in a huge Mech appeals to you.

JASON
jdfourn@magmacom.com