Surrounded by 30 tons of steel, armed with enough firepower to level a city, and aided by highly trained surveillance technicians, you can feel pretty invincible. But don't be fooled—if you're not careful you'll be hearing critical damage warnings faster than you can fire.
MechAssault is an action sci-fi game where strategy really matters. That is, I was feeling embarrassed that I kept getting demolished on the first level until I learned I wasn't alone. This is not a game where you can just go in, open fire, and win. You have to use tactics if you're going to survive.
To help my fellow gamer out, I've compiled a list of some of the (painful) lessons I've learned.
Listen to your surveillance team. These guys have the skinny not only on the mission objectives, but places to hit for bonuses and places to outright avoid.
Watch your ammo supply. Yeah, those short-range missiles are pretty impressive, but save them for larger targets. You've got a really limited supply. The best plan is minimum firepower for maximum result. If you can kill it with auto-cannons and reserve the missiles for later, do it (and if you can squash it instead of shooting it, all the better).
Dodge, cover and run. Don't walk into the line of fire, I learned the hard way. Use buildings and other structures for cover as often as possible. When you see those guided missiles heading your way, run like hell, and as erratically as possible. Sometimes you can shake them off and save yourself a world of hurt. If that doesn't work…
Smash those buildings. Inside many key structures you'll find health packs and other goodies. This can mean the difference between a critical failure and mission success. Also, many of the buildings are spawn points for tanks and other nasties. Destroy the buildings and you'll have fewer opponents to worry about.
And you canuse structures against the enemy. This means you can do cool things like collapsing a half-destroyed 20-story building on top of an enemy 'Mech, wreaking tremendous splash damage, instead of using up an entire salvo of missiles.
Keep cool. Heat is a factor that must be monitored. Certain weapons generate heat as you fire them, so once your weapon overheats it won't function anymore, which takes you right out of the battle. So you can use natural settings to get rid of heat, like jumping into a river! Ahhhhhh…
Fit the 'Mech to the mission. Prior to each mission you can configure your 'Mech's weapons througha wide variety of options. But the really cool feature is the ability to do mid-mission weapon upgrades. Remember those smashed buildings? If you find a weapons facility building, bust it open. Inside will be bonuses such as a brand new Heavy Gauss rifle that can be installed right there!
Listen to your surveillance team. I know I said this earlier, but it's really crucial. Your opponents are actively moving against you and fortifying their position. The longer you wait to strike, the more difficult that strike is going to be. Your surveillance team will keep you updated on the enemy's progress and just how much (more) you need to worry.
Later the game gets even more complex—you have to strategize which 'Mech to use on a mission based on the terrain, objectives and other obstacles. Just withthe challenges so far, I'm getting my money's worth in the number of game hours alone. Not only that,MechAssault is primed for online play, making its replay factor infinite.
