Wrestlevania

Hawken, or: Fuck Me, Mech Games Are BACK!

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I've just watched this, and I'm now finding it uncomfortable maintaining a sitting position...

Zm7gEDhrPfk

If you adored MechWarrior, or manga like Appleseed, back in the day I guarantee you'll be nursing an insta-semi around the 1 minute mark too.

~rewinds, watches again~

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Looks amazing and even more so if that truly is the work of only a small indie dev team after only 9 months!

I was thinking I'm watching a high production values Hollywood effects movie at some points. The graphics look that good.

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It looks like they've used a procedural ramenhutch generator.

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Looks like Phantom Crash a bit. Hopefully it's more like that and less like Armored Core.

One of my favourite games on the Xbox, had an absolutely incomprehensible story line with fantastic, offkey music.

Fuuck I just want to play some Phantom Crash right now but my saves are on my Xbox in England (have beaten all but the last 4 bosses and unlocked every single track in the game).

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well.. at least they nailed the shakycam functionality :deranged:

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Hmm, the mechs don't seem to have any weight or momentum. One of the things I lvoed about the Mechwarrior and Earthsiege games was that the machines felt heavy and grounded in the world. In that video they move and skate around like Quake players with mech skins. It's an FPS with a mech veneer.

Nice environments though.

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Even though the machines didn't look to FEEL solid and heavy, the environment and graphics more than made up for it. Anyone else feel like we're not too far from a video game world that feels as rich as some of our favorite animes? A crowded multi-level metropolitan area that you get to unleash your mech upon?

a-heeeeeeeeell-yes.

tumblr_l6p29bkQpz1qzmowao1_500.jpg

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Hmm, the mechs don't seem to have any weight or momentum. One of the things I [loved] about the Mechwarrior and Earthsiege games was that the machines felt heavy and grounded in the world. In that video they move and skate around like Quake players with mech skins.

I think the developers are aiming more for the Appleseed kind of thing; agile suits of oversized power armour, rather than tanks with legs. That brief first-person shot does make Hawken look like a twitch shooter more than the action-strategy game MechWarrior was. I suppose it's taking things further along again, after Activision lost the FASA/BattleTech license and jumped to the Heavy Gear* universe instead.

Does look promising though, even if you won't need to dig out your ancient Sidewinder joystick from the back of the loft. Loved that thing, especially being able to twist the stick for torso rotation. :tup::gaming:

*Whatever happened to the HG series anyway? The second game was loads of fun, but it seemed to vanish without a trace all the same. :violin:

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Oh shit Pete, don't make me think back to all the hours spent with my sidewinder playing MW4. My nostalgia muscles can't cope.

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Oh shit Pete, don't make me think back to all the hours spent with my sidewinder playing MW4. My nostalgia muscles can't cope.

Two words: "hat switch"

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Oh shit Pete, don't make me think back to all the hours spent with my sidewinder playing MW4. My nostalgia muscles can't cope.

I used to like to shut down in the river on the swamp levels. Completely invisible to sensors.

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I think the developers are aiming more for the Appleseed kind of thing; agile suits of oversized power armour, rather than tanks with legs.

Anime mechs still have weight and power. They are massive after all and giant things move a certain way.

My favourite mecha animé, Vision of Escaflowne, does a really good job of making the melefs both agile and unwieldy at the same time.

Sorry but Hawken doesn't look like a mech game to me, it's an FPS. The mechs look small, like people in mecha cosplay fighting in a pretty model city.

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Two words: "hat switch"

I've still got a Microsoft Sidewinder in the loft somewhere. Mech driving with force feedback is something special and the hat switch ruled.

S.

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you know, the more I look at the trailer, the more excited I am because of the setting. the scenery is great. maybe this is me growing up in a communist country where tower blocks ruled the skies, but being able to duke it out amidst massive tower blocks, jumping off highway ramps, is a dream come true any way you slice it.

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Reminds me of Slave Zero from back in the day, which I always thought was an interesting but flawed game. If this could be an improvement on that idea, I'd be down for some giant robot suit on robot suit action....

*wants a Mechwarrior game soooo bad*

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The one environment looks neat, reminds me of cyrsis a bit in the rendering style, but the gameplay looks like any other deathmatch. Making cool art is one thing, but theres no real hook to this so far.

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Man, I remember playing Slave Zero! It was amazing for its time. Let's bring that back. someone - quick - make it for smartphones or tablets, so I can play that puppy on my ipad!

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Environment textures look nice but the particle effects and animations look really iffy in that video. Still damn impressive for an indy project though, and if the gameplay is there, none of that visual stuff matters in the end.

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Man, I remember playing Slave Zero! It was amazing for its time. Let's bring that back.

Runs perfectly in XP if you set it to use Compatibility Mode.

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It still doesn't feel mechy, it moves way too fast for a mech.

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You're thinking of real mechs – these are imaginary mechs, though, full of futuristic technology.

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