When it comes down to it, giant humanoid robots have to be the least tactically sound instruments of war to emerge from the imaginations of the science fiction community. Unlike tanks, they can be felled with a well-placed tree, tripping like a toddler with untied shoelaces. The weaponry is often placed in easily destroyed locations like the appendages, meaning that there are simple approaches to disabling a giant robot. Somehow, though, an entire genre has emerged around these unwieldy beasts, and I think we can all agree: mecha are pretty freaking awesome.
Introduction:
The word mecha is loan word from the Japanese word meka, which is itself a loan from "mechanical." In the Japanese usage of the word, any mechanical creation is a mecha, but in English, mecha is generally reserved for humanoid mechanical armors that are human-piloted. Many anime are based around the premise: Voltron, Robotech, Gundam, Patlabor, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and on and on. The possibility of humans essentially transforming into 20-40 meter avatars of destruction is clearly an appealing idea to disgruntled teens on both sides of the Pacific.
The unusual prevalence of mecha in Japanese cartoons and comics makes sense because the origins of the genre are on that soil. Although influenced by the giant robot of Tesujin 28-go of Mitsuteru Yokoyama's manga, the piloted mecha phenomenon was founded by Go Nagai in the manga Mazinger Z. From there, the genre evolved into the creation we see today.
Before turning to the games featuring the genre, it's interesting to note how mecha anime has become the genre of choice for many bildungsromans. The previously immature protagonist, through some circumstance, ends up taking control of an entirely new body with new powers of destruction--hello, allegory for adolescence. Any fan of Robotech can attest to the evolution of Rick Hunter from inexperienced hothead into a seasoned warrior in the seat of his veritech fighter. And then there are the ensemble casts of young protagonists who cope with the tribulations of teenage-life all while saving the world: Power Rangers, Voltron, Evangelion . . . And don't even get me started on the pure, vitriolic angst of Gundam Wing.
If watching fictional characters destroy city blocks in giant machines can fuel anime franchises, you had better believe that it form the bedrock of many different video game franchises.
Xenogears (1998):
At the beginning of Xenogears, the protagonist Fei tries to defend his village from an attack of Gears (read: mecha) by climbing into an abandoned Gear nearby. He has some success in his effort until he see his best friend die. Then things get a little hazy, he goes berserk and when he wakes up from his spell, he finds he's destroyed his village. Normally in an RPG, the protagonist just gets banished, but Fei goes that much farther. The first disc of the game follows Fei through an extremely convoluted storyline. Just as a suggestion of the bizarre metaphysics involved in the plot: Weltall, Fei's gear, is referred to as "The Slayer of God."
Players experience turn-based combat in both Gears and on foot as the compelling and baffling story pulls them along. Widely regarded as one of the great RPGs of the PlayStation, the game devolves when the player hits Disc 2. As soon as Disc 2 is inserted, the game becomes a series of slide shows occasionally interrupted by a dungeon crawl and a boss fight.
It maintains a worthwhile 84/100 at Metacritic, and it is the foundation of the Xenosaga series. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a sales flop in North America. According to some unreliable data, it may have sold only a little over 100,000 copies here.
MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat (1995):
When I was growing up, I lived in a Mac household, and while that was all well and good for getting my Warcraft and Wacraft 2 fixes, it just didn't it for Mechwarrior 2. To understand my obsession with MechWarrior (and MechCommander), you have to understand that I was obsessed with the universe of BattleTech. While other geeky kids were rolling dice at the behest of a Dungeon Master, I was painting tiny metallic figurines and playing at mock-war on a hex map. I, to my chagrin, read almost all of the novels put out by FASA. So, when MechWarrior 2 came out, far more publicized than its predecessor, I actually bought Virtual PC just to be able to play the freaking game. It was virtually unplayable on my family's Mac unless I eliminated all textures and reduced the graphics down, essentially, to wireframes, but I still played through that entire game.
As a 'Mech pilot, you had classes of 'Mech at your disposal: light, medium, heavy, and assault. For MechWarrior 2, you were given the choice between two Clans in the Refusal War. Unless you're a lore geek like I am, that really isn't so important, but what it did was give players the best, most advanced 'Mechs then available in the BattleTech universe. Later installations in the game gave players the classic 'Mechs that the Inner Sphere used to fend off the invasion of the Clans like the bruising assault-class Atlas 'Mech, but MechWarrior 2 was focused on the high-tech invaders of the known universe during an internal scuffle.
The game is astonishing because it's like being in a flight simulator for an imaginary vehicle, and it was released thirteen years ago. You were even able to customize your 'Mech with new weapons and armor scavenged from the battlefield. All of the technical acumen that went into the game created a full, vivid experience for the gamer.
More than any other franchise (like Shadowrun or Earthdawn), the BattleTech universe was the reason Microsoft purchases FASA Interactive Studios. Although they have since jettisoned the studio, they milked the franchise for two reasonable hits: MechAssault and MechAssault 2. Each was enjoyable arcade-style fare, but they were gross bastardizations of the complexity and depth of the MechWarrior series.
MechWarrior 2 received two expansion packs as well and was given the Origin Award for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Computer Game 1995. Right now, Smith & Tinker, a venture-backed company, owns the rights to the universe.
Oh please be working on an MMO. Please.
Armored Core 4 (2007):
The Armored Core series is one of those solid contenders in the mecha combat genre that always seems to lag behind the big boys. In one of those common dystopian themes, war has destroyed the nations we know today and left in their places corporations with standing armies of giant mecha. I have never been tempted by the game, but the continued existence of the franchise attests to its success.
The fourth in the series, released for the current generation of consoles, received some of the best reviews of the series. Unfortunately, that only means a Metacritic score of 67/100.
The same studio that produced Armored Core 4 also produced Chromehounds, a much better received game that doesn't condescend to players.
Front Mission (1995):
Look: another Square game. Front Mission's mecha are called wanzers, which, honestly, sounds kind of dirty. At its soul, Front Mission is a wonderfully complex strategy RPG. If not for the presence of the wanzers, it might be easily dismissed as a FF: Tactics or Fire Emblem clone, but Front Mission allows the player to customize their wanzers to their own specifications given the machines a sense of personality. They aren't simply machines: they're your machines.
Through the beginning of 2006, the Front Mission series has been modestly successful, especially given the smaller audience of a hardcore strategy game, and has sold over three million games.
Virtual On (1995):
Outside of The X-Men Arcade, I doubt there are few machines that I pumped more quarters into than Virtual On. In its arcade form, the game was extraordinarily simple: you controlled a single mecha, a Virtuaroid, as you squared off against another machine. The art style is definitely in keeping with its anime inspirations. The mecha barely remain on the ground for more than a few seconds because most of the combat occurs in the air. The intense one-on-one combat, particularly against a human opponent, is made even more intense because the machine is controlled through two control sticks. The player uses particular directional combinations to access special moves for whichever Virtuaroid he happens to be using.
I don't know if there really was a plot in the arcade game because I spent most of my time sweating and glaring at the guy sitting next to me as I dropped another few quarters into the machine.
There are have been four installations of the game, and all but one of those games was re-released on consoles.
Steel Battalion (2002):
Steel Battation may very well have been the greatest mecha simulator to come to gaming consoles, but the world would never know because it cost almost $200. The controller was the main driver of the price with an MSRP over $100. Utterly absurd.
It was a complete bust on the market, selling only 42,000 copies.
Awww. Maybe I should pick up a discount copy.
Conclusion:
As long as teenagers want to blow things up in giant mechs, this genre will churn out sequel after sequel. Let me reiterate an earlier point: please please please, make a MechWarrior MMO.
Leave a Reply