MechWarrior 2: Resource Forum

I never thought the Mechwarrior cult (I use that word in its positive sense) would revive the original Mechwarrior 2 ethos. My only experience with multiplayer gaming was Mechwarrior 3 in the CZ Leagues community back in 2003. That was neat. But a lot of people kept making references to the "old days" of NetMech, and I wished I hadn't been so late discovering their existence. It is a good thing that they're back.

The first time I played a Mechwarrior game must have been shortly after the higher graphics versions of Mechwarrior 2: 31st Century Combat came out. I still prefer Clan Wolf, my first choice, over the other clans, and the Colmar mission, with its futuristic "outland" soundtrack and realistic desert-scape, left an indelible impression that has not failed to return every time I begin it.

At the time, the game was unbelievably realistic; it is still engrossing. The primary reason seems to be its ability to draw the player into its world. It is rather similar to the effect of a good story, such as The Lord of the Rings.

The fact of the matter is a good story never dies (unless all copies are lost). I guess this is true even among electronic games.

Ah yes... MechWarrior 2. It's kinda ironic, when I was young I fell victim to this game partly because of the amazing graphics back in the '90s. And now I keep coming back to this game in part because they are now cool and old-school.

And unlike other games, I never ran out of anything to do on this game. There is always something to play on there. You can learn all there is to MechWarrior 2 in less than a month. And yet 13 years later, it can still surprize you in many, many ways.

Glad to see you've stumbled across this site, hope you have fun here!

hehe, yup you nailed on the head Kell, this game never ceases to surprise me.
Welcome Zakhur too!

Yah, the leagues back then were quite nice MNL and the GC probably were the top 2 MechWarrior 2 leagues of all time in playership.
I never got the privilege to be in the GC as I was on Mplayer, but I know it was great!

Maybe someday we can get a new one going.

My best memories from Mechwarrior 2: 31st Century came from our first ever desktop. I was in grade 4 and we had a Toshiba Infinia with S3 Virge. Up till then, I was a fan of games like Sonic, The Adventures of Batman and Robin, and Mortal Kombat 3 on the SEGA Genesis. It didn't take long for us to realize that our new computer came with a bunch of software, like Terratopia, "Get ready for school, Charlie Brown!" (which my little sister enjoyed), and... Mechwarrior 2:31stCC enhanced for the S3 Virge (I managed to get a hold on some bargain copies of MW2:31st CC 95 edition, the Titanium Trilogy, and MW2:Mercs 3dfx.

But the one I most undoubtedly enjoyed was MW2:31stCC. It had a feel and an atmosphere that I never felt in any other video game. To date, I only reached the last mission for the Jade Falcons (so unbeatable ), and the third-last one for the Wolves (the Karetah mission). But my best memory comes from the Trials of Grievance (instant action) duels that my brother and I used to play. Our favorite maps were Goat Path and Bone-Norman.

MW2: Mercenaries was also a good time, but I'm not acquainted with it as much as I was with the first one. My most favorite missions were in the third campaign: on Prosperina, where you defend a rebel base, assassinate a DC commander, and liberate a prison facility.

The later Mechwarrior games, save for probably 4: Vengeance and 4: Mercenaries (which I think is 2: Mercenaries dumbed-down), didn't appeal to me as much as the old ones. Right now, I managed to get those copies out of my basement and am trying to get them working on my new O/S's.

I have to agree with you 100%, caracen16. I have played many MW games before, but none have ever compared to (in my opinion) MechWarrior2:31cc.
I don't exactly know what it was that gave the newer MW's that "watered down" feel to it. It may have been they took the arcade/simulator style away from it, and in place just gave us some kinda game that was just a FPS on steroids.
Again, not quite sure, but they just weren't the same! Not MW3, not MW4, and certainly not some pampered-up "mech sim" that game producers are trying to sell us now for game consoles.

...In short, you can say MW2:31cc is the all-time granddaddy of all mech games.

yep ya got it right saracen16, MechWarrior 2 is one of a kind.
The feeling is quite unique compared to most games these days.

I think we should make a petition to Smith and Tinker, which holds the IP rights for the Mechwarrior franchise. It would be awesome if they re-released XP and Vista-compatible versions of the old Mechwarrior games, or bundle them up in a special edition for a new, upcoming Mechwarrior title, which the company itself promised. Better yet, we could petition them to make Mechwarrior 5 a very true-to-classic Mechwarrior title with gameplay based on the old versions but kicked up a notch, and have re-mastered or re-mixed versions of old tracks.

But I guess a man could dream, can he?

...A pipe dream. But strange things can happen.

most likely a dream.

with the current generation of consoles, i think a lot of game developers find it easier to program for consoles, so their efforts are more focused there.

It would be cool if they did do a remake release (so it could be compatible for XP/Vista) and put it on steam. that definantly would draw in new people and old people.

Well, smith and tinker do hold the rights, but still Activision would have to agree to it since mech2 was created by them.
Back then activision created their games directly. They do not do that anymore.