Heavy Gear (video game)
Heavy Gear | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Activision |
Publisher(s) | Activision |
Director(s) | Tim Morten |
Producer(s) | Chacko Sonny |
Designer(s) | Dustin Browder |
Programmer(s) | Bill Ferrer |
Writer(s) | Dustin Browder |
Composer(s) | Jeehun Hwang |
Series | Heavy Gear |
Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
Release | 1997 |
Genre(s) | First-person shooter, vehicle simulation game |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Heavy Gear is a 1997 computer game made for the Windows 95 operating system, based on the Heavy Gear role-playing game. A sequel, Heavy Gear II, was released in 1999.
Plot[]
The story follows the crew of the CNCS landship Vigilance (an enormous hovercraft carrier) as they played a cat-and-mouse game across the badlands with a rival landship from the AST, the Draco.
Development[]
Faced with the loss of the BattleTech-MechWarrior property, Activision acquired exclusive worldwide rights to video games based on the Heavy Gear series.[1] Heavy Gear was developed by largely the same team which created Mechwarrior 2, though with the significant addition of Frank Evers, then best known for Earthsiege 2.[1] The game used an enhanced version of the Mechwarrior 2 game engine,[1][2] and was partly derived from existing MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries code. Before the release of the PC game, an arcade version based on the Virtuality Hardware Platforms was developed but never released.
Reception[]
Publication | Score |
---|---|
CGW | [3] |
CVG | 30/100[4] |
Next Generation | [5] |
Computer Games Strategy Plus | [6] |
In Computer Gaming World, Greg Fortune wrote: "The most disappointing thing about this game is that you see lots of parts of the game that really do show care and creativity". He considered Heavy Gear a missed opportunity that failed to live up to its competitor, the MechWarrior franchise. Fortune concluded: "As it stands, the game feels more like a beta than a finished product and is woefully incomplete in many areas".[3] Alex C of Computer & Video Games dismissed the game as "yet another tweak to the aging MechWarrior 2 engine".[4]
Writing for Computer Games Strategy Plus, Tom Chick summarized: "It's not a total loss, but what's good about Heavy Gear is the stuff that was good about the MechWarrior games all along. But what's bad about Heavy Gear is inexcusable coming from a veteran team of game designers".[6]
Next Generation reviewed the PC version of the game, rating it three stars out of five, and stated that "in creating Heavy Gear, Activision has a different universe and a better engine but a roughly designed game. Mechwarrior 2 still holds the edge with flamboyant mech designs and a sweeping storyline".[5]
The reviewer from Pyramid #30 (March/April, 1998) stated that "a lot of hype heralded the Heavy Gear Computer Game. For months prior to its release, gaming magazines touted it as a 'Mechkiller' and the game to 'make Mechwarrior fans forget Battletech'. Briefly, it's not and it won't".[7]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "NG Alphas: Heavy Gear". Next Generation. No. 31. Imagine Media. July 1997. pp. 100-1.
- ^ "PC GamePro Preview: Heavy Gear". GamePro. No. 107. IDG. August 1997. p. 70.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Fortune, Greg (January 16, 1998). "Heavy Gear". Computer Gaming World. Archived from the original on August 16, 2000.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Alex C. "Giant Robo on a snooker table!". Computer & Video Games. Archived from the original on January 20, 2007.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Finals". Next Generation. No. 39. Imagine Media. March 1998. p. 117.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Chick, Tom. "Heavy Gear". Computer Games Strategy Plus. Archived from the original on April 6, 2005.
- ^ "Pyramid: Pyramid Pick: Heavy Gear Computer Game". Sjgames.com. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
External links[]
- 1997 video games
- Activision games
- Heavy Gear video games
- Multiplayer and single-player video games
- Multiplayer online games
- Video games about mecha
- Video games based on tabletop role-playing games
- Video games developed in the United States
- Windows games
- Windows-only games