Stompy robots

Have you played Battletech - the newer one

If not, you really should. It's excellent.

Gigantor is the best robot.

I got massively into Front Mission 3 for about six months when that came out. Probably the thing that got me into turn based tactics stuff for years afterwards like FFtactics, Advance Wars and the like.

Other than Titanfall, it feels like there's a big (stompy robot sized) gap in the market at the moment. Would love to see a dev like, say, Suda51 come up with something

Slight tangent, are there any really good FF Tactics or FF Tactics Advance ports or emulations available?

They're both easy enough to emulate. I'd get PPSSPP and Tactics Ogre Let Us Cling Together though (you can also get the War of the Lions PSP version of FF Tactics with the very good cutscenes)

Front Mission 3 was the shit, one of my absolute favourites. The pacing/difficulty was just right, the dual stories, the integrated web...all topped off with stacking Eject Punch to nab those Qibings in the tunnel mission...

For years I wanted to play the 4th and 5th, and finally got the chance with CFW updates on the PS3. 4 descended into a required skill link up I never quite understood (and vids of playthroughs didn't help either) and 5 seemed a bit better, but lacked a lot of the depth of world.

Pity what happened to the franchise past that.

Lost Planet (and sequel) also had some of the most satisfying mech action out there, playing in Japanese lobbies with coordinated teams was a sight to behold and terrifying on the opposing team.

I highly recommend Hardcore Mecha, if you’re ok with a 2D side-scrolling mech game. It’s a very fun indie title, with a challenging difficulty and beautiful graphics. The controls are a little weird to get used to at first, but the game rewards the player if they can persist and get the hang of it.

Another one that I think is even better is Galak-Z. 2D multi-directional scrolling roguelite, with excellent dogfighting action and, as above, superb presentation. Heavy Robotech vibes as you zip and boost strafe around, transforming between fighter and mech mode during combat. Great fun, but also pretty difficult.

Hell yeah. Mostly because I have the spare money to buy a few and sit on them for a while to resell them to pay for the care home in 2040

It's going through a bit of upheaval at the moment. Development is still slow but PGI handed balancing to a player led group (Cauldron) and a lot of weapons systems are now more viable. It is changing somewhat though as most mechs have been given agility improvements (if only mild) and there will be a rescaling pass soon where some larger lights are made smaller.

There's also a map developer so we're getting one revamped map per month. I'm in an outfit that does exclusively brawling and we're having fun (my fave is Kodiak Spiritbear with AC20, 3xSRM6 and medium pulses).

Sounds pretty good. How are you ensuring you don't get into matches with pugs that don't play by your house rules, though?

My first mech game was Battletech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception on the A500. Loved it and completed it many times back in those days. That drew me to playing the Battletech tabletop game/RPG with mates in the late 80's/early 90's. Crescent Hawk's Revenge on PC came next, then Mechwarrior.

The big one for me though was Mechwarrior 2 (and Mercenaries) - I even bought a CH Flightstick Pro for that one! At that time MW2 and TIE Fighter completely blew my mind.

Didn't enjoy MW3 anywhere near as much though and never bothered with 4.

Absolutely adored Starsiege.

Tried MWO when it first came out but it didn't really appeal to me at the time so dropped it pretty fast.

Loved Titanfall 2 and played that online for at least a year though, weirdly.

HBS's Battletech is brilliant. Felt very much like a return to its tabletop origins and plays very similarly to Crescent Hawk's Inception from all those years before. Would love a mod that remade that game in the new engine.

MW5 is OK. Mechs feel suitably heavy, combat can be pretty satisfying, but the AI of your lance-mates is abysmal and the missions get really repetitive pretty quickly. Lost interest before the end, sadly.

Oh shit, I forgot one: anyone remember Shogo: Mobile Armour Division?

It seems to have a really bad reputation these days among the younger gaming crowd, but back then I thought it was great! Sure, the character textures are a bit weird, but weren't they all back then? Zipping around in a Gundam style mecha, stomping on footsoldiers and taking on other mechs, then having to jump out and do a section on foot inside a building; there was literally nothing else like that at the time!


Edit: mrharvest Oh, nice one! Thanks for the info; I'll have to try those mods out and jump back in!

I loved an old PC game with scan lined FMV called Iron Assault (I think). Quality game, but always crashed on the final mission.

Ring of Red remains the only mech game I ever played that really communicates the feel of a titanic machine, ponderously moving. It's good thing you can save anywhere because it takes an incredibly long time to finish some of the scenarios.

Highly recommended for people who like Front Mission and turn based strategy games in general, there's a unique tension to combat because it's all about optimal range for each unit, nervously watching through a viewfinder hoping you can get the enemy mech into range for a perfect killing shot before they target you, or alternately harass them with minor stings and incoveniences to buy yourself time.

As someone who grew up on Japanese video games, my first video game that featured mechs had to have been Virtual-On, in the arcade. I liked sitting down on that hard plastic chair and controlling my big Sega Saturn-powered Gundam with the two sticks around a square arena.

After that, I played some Armored Cores and such, Xenogears, but the next big mech game to make an impact on me had to have been Zone of the Enders. I think that was the first time the tech was there to allow the mechs to zoom around in space with the same speed and kinetic energy as the ones I'd see in anime.