No matter how intuitive its Halo-inspired controls or gorgeous its explosive particle effects are, MechAssault feels like the hollow framework of a shooter that needs fleshing out. The game's main tenet, which relies heavily on twitch reflexes and repeated circle-strafing, turned MechAssault into little more than Quake with robot skins.

Which is fine for hardcore fans who, to this day, populate MechAssault servers on Xbox Live. But for the franchise's encore, accessibility is key, and developer Day 1 is rethinking gameplay from a ground-zero perspective.

"Our mech games have traditionally always featured mechs and their various versions," Denny Thorley, president and CEO of Day 1 Studios says. "But what we really want to get across [in MechAssault 2] is that it's really about the pilot." Thorley explains that when gameplay takes place only from the vantage point of a mech, "you lose a sense of just how big and powerful these things really are."

The world in MechAssault 2 is viewed from the flesh and bone perspective of a pilot—one who can enter and exit a disparate mix of mechs and vehicles. To wit, our first hands-on experience with the game begins as a pedestrian in the midst of anarchy. Two clashing mechs are tearing the city a new one, and our goal is to haul ass through the fray and hijack a battle armor, a new man-sized and heavily armed exoskeleton.

Besides the added sense of immersion and scale, MechAssault 2 also allows you to take control of nonmech vehicles such as stealth tanks, as well as a VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) troop carrier. While these different vehicles will, no doubt, play a big role in single player, each unit's importance really hits home in multiplayer.

The VTOL carrier, for instance, can transport battle armors and tanks behind enemy defenses, as well as drop turrets and repair power-ups for other team members, while tanks, remembered fondly as missile fodder in the first game, are now much more useful, thanks to an added cloaking ability.

With all these new additions, Day 1 has given the franchise the depth it's lacked. MechAssault 2 still handles like its predecessor, but the team has turned the series into an open battlefield experience where a mech's or vehicle's worth is weighed on a per-situation basis. Mech love, indeed.

Mini Me-Ch

The new battle armors in MechAssault 2: They won't take more than a few missile volleys, but they're fast and hard to hit, and they can climb buildings and jack your ride by attaching to the back of your mech.

The Future of Online Play

Just like its predecessor with the initial Xbox Live offering, MechAssault 2 will spearhead the launch of Live 3.0 with its array of new features. When asked about the extent to which MechAssault 2 will support an online community this time out, Dennis Thorley told XBN in a most serious and nonjocular manner: "I assure you MechAssault 2 will be the poster boy for Xbox Live 3.0." We take this to mean that the game will support clans, competitions, voice messaging, and plenty of extra content.

Copyright © 2004 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in 1UP.