Posted: 12-Feb-2001
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2 1/2 out of 5 Mice |
Vendor: Microsoft | Type: COMMERCIAL |
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Reviewer: Bill Catambay | Class: WINDOWS |
This had a great web page and the story sounded very exciting, but given my hardware configuration, the biggest challenge for me was just getting the game to run. After my first installation attempt, the CD installed the software fine, but when I went to run the game, I got an error that my hardware didn't support the game. I look at the Read Me document, but I couldn't find anything that was obvious to me as to why it wouldn't work. After a week of back and forth between me and the Microsoft support web page, it was finally revealed that the game requires 8 MB video minimum, and I was only running with 4 MB.
My setup is an IBM w/Pentium III 450Mhz, 128 MB RAM, S3 4MB video, Windows ME.
In order to get this to run, I had to go down to my nearest Frys Electronics store and by the cheapest 8 MB PCI video card I could find ($40 for the Kaser S64-8). I came back, plugged it in, went to the video manufacturer's web site to get the latest drivers, loaded them, and now I was able to run the game.
Well, not really run, but walk, and in some instances, crawl. It became apparent to me that this game requires a lot of juice, both in Video and CPU, to run well. Even with the new video card, the game crawled on my system, and the graphics we hugely pixelated.
The game itself seemed to have a lot of promise. I like the intro video and the story a lot. When configuring the controls, for some reason it wouldn't let me re-assign the fire key from the enter key to space bar (which is what I prefer for all my gaming needs). I was able to re-assign the other keys, and there were a lot of other keys. In terms of keys to remember, there was just a little bit too much for my tastes. If I wanted to have to remember that many different things, I would get myself a flight simulator instead.
The gameplay itself reminded me immediately of the old arcade tank game. I'm controlling a Mech, a futuristic version of a tank, and my first battle scene is in a desert landscape. With a couple of Mechs helping me out, our task is to eliminate 3 communications towers. Using the keyboard may not be the optimal way to play this game, although it's the method I prefer to play games (hence, why I don't have a joystick). You have to press different keys to change accelerations. I would have preferred just one key to pump up the acceleration and another key to decelerate (rather than pressing 2, then 3, then 6, then 1). I like having a single key to do a full stop. The targeting of the MechWarrior probably would have been more fun had I a faster setup. With my setup, it was press a key to nudge left, wait a second, then see the scope move to the left, but if the Mech is in motion, I'm now out of target and have to re-target. The lag was painful, and pretty much destroyed any chances of enjoying the game.
I was never quite sure what I was doing, or why certain things were happening on the screen, but nevertheless, I completed the level. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy one second of it. I've heard some good things about the game, but I seem to be missing out on all those things given my hardware setup. The sound was not that interesting, the graphics were not that good, and the game was choppy, not smooth at all.
In Summary, if you have a setup similar to mine, do not bother with MechWarrior 4. It's not for you, unless you're willing to do some serious upgrading of your hardware. On the other hand, if you're a high-flying gamer who already has the Video and CPU power, this game does show promise. Unfortunately I have no details to share from the perspective given my hardware limitations.
Final rating: 2 1/2 out of 5 mice