Hey all, I'm back from my vacation. I finally managed to pick up Mechassault 2 for my xbox, and I'm here to tell you all about it. The first thing that you'll notice about Mechassault 2 is that it looks MUCH better than the first Mechassault. Textures have gotten a huge upgrade, and the models look much more realistic and gritty than they did in the first game. Bump-mapping is everywhere. The other new big feature is the fact that you can actually get in and out of mechs whenever you feel like it, and there are also other vehicles that you can drive and commandeer.
The really cool new vehicle in this game is the Battle Armor, which is pretty much the replacement for the Elemental. It's really small, but it has a built-in mortar launcher so you can take out the big guns if you happen to get cornered. But the big deal with it is that you can actually latch on to enemy mechs, and hack into them and hijack them if you're faster at a little minigame than the mech's pilot. It's really fun, and it's even more fun online when you're trying to beat an actual person at it.
The online conquest mode is pretty cool also. You basically get to pick one of the houses within the Mechwarrior universe, and you help your house battle on different planets within the universe, each with their own set of rules and gametype, so there are so many different possibilities for matches. But basically, when your house wins a game on that planet, you gain control of that planet, and you want to have control of the entire universe eventually. It's a really cool system, and a definite way to keep people coming back for more and more.
Mechassault 2 is really fun, and if you're looking for something to play while you're waiting for Mercenaries or Resident Evil 4, I would highly recommend this. It's a lot of fun, it looks great, and it's a blast online. Much more so than the first one.
-Jack
