Mech Sim Recommendations?

[LarryTyphoid]

I've always heard of these super complicated mech games where you've got a million actions and things to fiddle with, but I don't really know if this is a full blown genre or not. I looked for mech game recommendations on the Codex but all I saw were anime action games. I've played Metal Wolf Chaos but that's not what I'm talking about. I mean a game where you're in a first person perspective, in the cockpit, and it's like a simulation game, like a space sim. Only game I've played like that is Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri, which is a fantastic game, but it leans more into arcadey FPS territory, and you're in smaller mobile power armor, not a big stompy mech.

Should I check out the old Mechwarrior games?

 

[ERYFKRAD]

I've always heard of these super complicated mech games where you've got a million actions and things to fiddle with, but I don't really know if this is a full blown genre or not. I looked for mech game recommendations on the Codex but all I saw were shitty Japanese pornographic cartoons action games. I've played Metal Wolf Chaos but that's not what I'm talking about. I mean a game where you're in a first person perspective, in the cockpit, and it's like a simulation game, like a space sim. Only game I've played like that is Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri, which is a fantastic game, but it leans more into arcadey FPS territory, and you're in smaller mobile power armor, not a big stompy mech.

Should I check out the old Mechwarrior games?

Probably see if you can score a copy of heavy gear as well.

 

[Trans-Financial-Man]

I've always heard of these super complicated mech games where you've got a million actions and things to fiddle with, but I don't really know if this is a full blown genre or not. I looked for mech game recommendations on the Codex but all I saw were shitty Japanese pornographic cartoons action games. I've played Metal Wolf Chaos but that's not what I'm talking about. I mean a game where you're in a first person perspective, in the cockpit, and it's like a simulation game, like a space sim. Only game I've played like that is Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri, which is a fantastic game, but it leans more into arcadey FPS territory, and you're in smaller mobile power armor, not a big stompy mech.

Should I check out the old Mechwarrior games?

Yes. I would say Mechwarrior 2 Mercenaries hit the sweet spot for mech games and every mech game since is either left or right of MW2. Some people are going to recommend you Mechwarrior 5. Ignore those people. Mechwarrior 5 is the most modern game and the easiest to get running but it has a fundamental lack of soul and talent. Every single part of it is just good enough. There is no flair. It presents the awesome and varied lore of Battletech in the most bland and myopic fashion you can manage and woefully fails to evoke a feeling of big stompy robots battling one another. Mechwarrior Online was made by the same devs and is equally soulless.

There are plenty of guides for getting MW2 mercs working in it's various DOS and PC versions. Try that as a base and then work your way through others like MW3 and 4, Heavy Gear, Earthsiege (Mech sim prequel to the Tribes games), and so on. There are also strategy games like Battletech (same universe as Mechwarrior. Mechwarrior is a spin off of the Battletech IP)

 

[JamesDixon]

Mechwarrior 1 was really good plus you pilot the unseen. Everything past that is clanner trash.

 

[Lady Error]

The Earthsiege series was also pretty good actually.

 

[Removal]

Starsiege

 

[manifest]

Steel Battalion.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

running but it has a fundamental lack of soul and talent. Every single part of it is just good enough. There is no flair. It presents the awesome and varied lore of Battletech in the most bland and myopic fashion you can manage and woefully fails to evoke a feeling of big stompy robots battling one another.

It's got melee attacks though.

 

[Matador]

Armored Core For Answer.

- Insane customization and robust physics simulation. Changes affect greatly gameplay.
- Good action gameplay.
- Epic missions.

We need a new Armored Core.

 

[Riel]

Some people are going to recommend you Mechwarrior 5. Ignore those people. Mechwarrior 5 is the most modern game and the easiest to get running but it has a fundamental lack of soul and talent.

Is this review a about the base game or with expansion packs? I haven't tried Mechwarrior V myself, but I hear with the two expansion packs it improves a lot... I intend to grab it in a sale when they pack it all together probably in a few months. Definitely not paying more than 20€ for it since I know I'll play a few days and then move on.

On the other hand and while not exactly what the OP was asking for I recommend giving a try to Mechwarrior Online, it's just a purely combat oriented game without any meta game or story and it's full PvP, but the fighting is pretty good now, with different types of game play styles (brawling, sniping, lrms...) gathering whines and moans in equal measure from its targets. Still, do not expect nothing else than dropping in 12vs12 and blast (or be blasted by) the enemy team. Also MW5 is free so nothing lost for trying it, as a plus it has no P2W to speak off and can be played without spending a dime on it ever since they even reward the pay for with real life money in game currency with events regularly, so you can get HERO mechs, bays... and while it lacks story on the other hand enemies are a lot more demanding and challenging than bots, I remember videos of some MWO top player testing MW5 in the early days and they were dispatching enemy assault lances by cockpit hits left and right, lol.

 

[lightbane]

While not a hardcore sim, I read good things of MechWarrior Living Legends, but it's sadly MP only.

 

[Acrux]

Starsiege for sure. That also includes MissionForce:Cyberstorm which is still one of the best mech TBS games around, especially for customizing HERCs (the sequel is not as good).

As an added bonus, it has some extensive lore: https://starsiegecompendium.com/

 

[Black]

Wow, how lucky of you.
https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/mechwarrior-living-legends.113167/

 

[Lucumo]

Only ever played Earthsiege 2 and Starsiege and I liked those.

Armored Core For Answer.

Not really a simulation though. IIRC, I played the first three games (the Playstation ones) and they were alright.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Anybody here played G-nome?

Yo FriendlyMerchant this sounds up your alley.

 

[Acrux]

Anybody here played G-nome?

I spent many hours smoking pilots out of their HAWCs so I could steal them.

 

[Dadd]

Why isn't anyone making Armored Core clones? It's been years since the last release.

 

[FriendlyMerchant]

Anybody here played G-nome?

Anybody here played G-nome?

Yo FriendlyMerchant this sounds up your alley.

Hmmm. I might have to play this game now to use this superior mech exclusively. Goy mechs will be instantly scrapped.

 

[Acrux]

Instead of making G-Nomes a mech, the developers more accurately displayed their true nature in this game - an enemy of mankind. Here is a very realistic picture of a G-Nome:

 

[Gaznak]

Earthsiege 2 + Starsiege and Mechwarrior 2-3-4, obviously. Everything else (Shittered Steel, Heavy Gear, japanese mecha-sims etc) are dreck IMO.

 

[Hag]

While not a hardcore sim, I read good things of MechWarrior Living Legends, but it's sadly MP only.

MWLL is actually pretty hardcore, more than older MW games I think. Similar gameplay, but MWLL is more unforgiving, has a bigger rooster of mechs and weapons, as well as electronic systems such as various radars and ECM.

 

[bataille]

https://roguetech.fandom.com/wiki/Roguetech_Wiki

It may feel a bit overwhelming at first, but if you stick with it you'll find most likely the most complex and varied mech customization sim in existence. And the tactics are pretty good too!
But be aware that it's very much an autism simulator, so you'll need maybe dozens of hours to learn all the systems and start making more or less informed decisions.

 

[LarryTyphoid]

I haven't yet played most of the recommendations in this thread, besides Mechwarrior 1, but I have played some of the Gungriffon series.



It's a console series, with the first two being SEGA Saturn games, so it's not exactly what I was thinking of with a bunch of different controls like a PC game. That being said, it's probably the most "simulationist" mech game on console besides Steel Battalion and maybe Armored Core (the latter appearing to be a third-person series which kind of disqualifies it for me). It has an arcade-y structure, something common to Saturn games in my experience, but the controls do a solid job of making you feel like you're controlling a big robot.

 

[Avonaeon]

Earthsiege 1 + 2 and Starsiege can be downloaded for free from the developers website: https://www.tribesuniverse.com/

I've played Mechwarrior 2 and 3 and those are very good. I'd recommend the dos version of Mechwarrior 2 though, as it's aged a bit better graphically.

Besides the others mentioned, there's also Terra Nova which is pretty fun.

 

[LarryTyphoid]

You ever know that there's a Mechwarrior game on SNES?