If it means anything to anyone. Very recently the Heavy Gead 4th Edition table top book is released. Its still a mix of tactical and tabletop and has advanced the story of the Heavy Gear universe. To summarize really shortly, Earth has landed on Terra Nova and has a significant foothold! The setting has gotten very intense and the life path character creation system gives your character a small back story to work on isntead of being some hero created out of the void
I remember my brother playing this and i remember he would play a King Cobra during pvp battles and thought the standard way people played with super light mechas with big Bazookas to be funny as he started to be able to predict there movments and had there timing down when they would try running past him in close range for what ever reason and he would just one shot them with his Vibro Axe. I believe he would usually keep himself safe with an EMP system, although this was a very long time ago. It's also nice to see someone else who has seen the show Technoman
Takes me back to the old days. There was a small pvp scene that I spent way too much time in. It was basic CTF stuff with most matches typically restricted to 1000 battle rating. What that led to was a bunch of the lightest and fastest Gears carrying a single heavy bazooka. It was great fun, zipping around the maps, blowing up people as you passed. Those were the days.
Thank you algorithm, we need more Heavy Gear content and glad this video got recommended, subbed! My friends and I used to have the most hilarious multiplayer matches in HG2
The laughter bit at 14:53 is a great and slightly offputting detai! I know I played this game when I was younger, but I have almost no recollection of the details. Now I finally have some kind of understanding of the plot, despite playing both Heavy Gear 1 & 2 when I was a kid, and watching the animated TV show...
The latest ruleset they released for the game is also really enjoyable. I was honestly impressed that they kept the support for so long, but it was worth it.
Joined my first online clan when I played this. I remember the box came with both HG and HG2. HG was like a bad version of Mechwarrior 2.. I only played it a little. The multiplayer in HG2 was pretty fun. I remember towards the end of my time spent playing was trying to aim rockets across the map to use as an indirect fire weapon. Not easy, because you needed a spotter. I don't remember what we used for voice comms that far back. Probably TeamSpeak or Ventrilo. Thanks for helping me and others remember this old game. It was pretty special to me for a time. Glad someone is preserving the memory.
I grew up with Heavy Gear 1 and always wanted to play Heavy Gear 2. I remember seeing an VR arcade version of Heavy Gear 2 where you fit this helmet over your head. I liked how in Heavy Gear 1, you can complete a mission with a missing arm or your computer fried (no more hud).
hey, this channel is really great! Heavy Gear 2, Albion, Ecstatica...you're covering a lot of games I like and being absolutely based about it. Subbed, can't wait for more!
Thanks so much. One of my favourite comments. I'm so glad someone else appreciates these overlooked gems. Are there any old games you love that don't seem to get much attention by other content creators? Stuff that deserves sequels or remakes?
I was completely unfamiliar with this. Thanks for the video, I really enjoyed it. I gotta say that the interstitial chapter screens you made remind me of several nightmares I've had. Take that for what you will. Subscribed.
Yeah, the community repack. I have a Win 11 pc with a 11th Gen Intel processor. I put a link in the description to the reddit post for the community pack, and also if you google search "heavy gear 2 community repack download" you'll see it at a download site such as myabandonware. *Caveats about abandonware being not entirely legal, at your own risk etc, which is why I don't want to link to it directly.
@@federicocatelli8785 That's pretty neat. For running it, it would probably be easiest to just download it through the method above. Way easier than jumping through hoops to get it to run properly from a disk install.
Good review. So the soundtrack was CD audio, and so to hear it you need the physical CD. There is a remapping and a patch available which lets you to play the game properly now. I did not know a Heavy Gear 3 was planned. Mechanomics is a term I've heard in some Armored Core reviews -- "the mech economy" of storytelling and gameplay. I must ask as an indie dev myself who is specifically in the mecha space, what sorts of things do you look for in a game and if you had a wishlist, what would you ask of a mech game? I ask this to everybody who reads this comment as well. I have a theory that its not "weight" people actually want, but mass: The gamefeel or the sensation of a vehicle and that speed or acceleration are usually seen as a direct opposition to this due to lazy programming inmost of the games which deal with quicker mechs. It should feel like you are driving, or controlling a machine, and a lot of newer mecha games just... Don't... Get this, I think? Again, very hungry for your thoughts. Subscribed.
Thanks! I was just making a joke pun with the mechanomics thing.... Weight vs mass. I agree! These things are meant to be simulations. Good space games will incorporate newtonian physics, like Elite: Dangerous, where you have to fight against things like intertia and momentum in addition to your enemies. This is personal preference, but what I would want: 1. mass expressed through physics 2. A degree of customisability, as this is common to most mech games and is an interesting part of it. 3. Some sort of interesting mission framework, whether that be linear, like Heavy Gear, or more of a sandbox, like Mechwarrior 5.
'Momentum/mass' might be a good way of putting it. A thing I'm looking for in a mech game is the feeling of piloting something 'Heavy'. IE, not just a reskin of a human being. Now, this does not necessarily mean the 'turret-on-legs' you see in the Mechwarrior games. Stuff like Heavy Gear 2, Assault Suits Valken / Cybernator, and the EDF game's 'Fencer' class are all good examples of mecha weight done right.
don't make mech fighting a chore. that's the problem with all the third rate licensed Japanese mech action games: you're basically styling on the same-ish enemies in a same way ad infinitum
Is it mass or inputs that make it feel like piloting? Armored Core 6 has mainly fast moving mechs and anime-like melee combat, also sim-light inputs - you have to simultaneously manage four different weapon's reloads/ammo, thruster drain, lockon, radar, etc. The controls/concepts are not as deep as Heavy Gear 2's simulation, but it's still a fantastic mech piloting feel.
its a pity you couldn't get the first game to work. I honestly much preferred the 1st game over the second. The first game is much more focused on the sim aspects, and there is a ton more customization options for your gear.
Thanks. Just want to clarify: are you saying I should lower the volume of the music in the title cards because they're too loud? Or that I should have very soft music playing while I speak? I don't remember the two ever being on top of each other for the most part. I'm still learning as I go along, and to a certain extent still finding a rhythm.
@@Bleusilences Ah, gotcha. As I made videos I checked what other creators were doing. I did think about this, but I would have to either make the tracks or get royalty free ones, and then make sure the volume does not interfere with hearing what I'm saying. It's a possibility, and I do like a soft ambient backing track, but I also work a 9-5 on top of everything else, so might be some time until I get around to it
Oh I get it so it`s more an hobby project, there is a lot of royalty free music out there, but be careful, there is a few places, like on the unity store or epic game store where it`s just random people repackaging royalty free music without have the rights themselves.
Kind of amazed you missed out on the early 2000s Heavy Gear 3d animated series it was produced for 8-14 year olds so it was a zero tension show but it was a thing. (My bad you did call to the 3d animated series) This game series also inspired the cartoon Exo Squad series where the phraises of E-Frames and ofcourse the FAT-born slave race that ends up usurping the earth government. This one is a far more serious cartoon where racism, genocide and slavery are the mainstay of topics where characters do die on screen and off screen. The irony of the battletech cartoon failing but the gameseries sticking around while the Heavy Gear game series ending up failing but its on screen presence being highly succesfull.
Thanks for the info! I remember Exo Squad! I should look up that series, I barely remember it. And I do love my 90s stuff, not to mention big themes and ideas.
@@Gilgamechasaur You can find the entire series on youtube but yeah ExoSquad was something of a fluke. I think it was the era between 1996 and 2004 where kids were allowed to see more mature content without the age restrict board getting upset about it. As a European us kids were never shyed away from mature content with british shows and movies like watership down and farthinwood, the Dutch Alfred J kwak. countless French cartoons like Sinbad and ofcourse we had plenty of japanese animations as both the French and Dutch tv channel producers had plenty of colaboration in directing, writing and producing animated shows.
As for the U.S. market the biggest irony was the conservative Fox Studios being the main pusher for more mature and edgy cartoon shows to the point even Disney went there with the Gargoyles cartoon show.
@@vonshroom2068 Ah, as someone who grew up in Australia, there were a few sources of mature content. I mention Teknoman blade in the vid, which I did feel was pretty violent to be a kid's breakfast cartoon when I was growing up, even though the fluids were usually pink. Then, at around 9pm or later a channel called SBS would have a segment called world movies, which would run the gamut from violence to erotic movies from Europe to Japan. From The City of Lost Children through to The Weatherwoman through to Ninja Scroll and Ghost In the Shell. It was a very education experience for a guy growing up in the 90s.
@@GilgamechasaurOw lord you guys had the worst but sadly now a days we're now all on the same level of poorly crafted ADHD filled nothing burger of kids cartoons. I have 3 nephews i've been showcasing my childhood cartoons and lets just say they no longer like the modern ones as they actually developed an attention span. Can't even recommend them japanese cartoons such as Teknoman (great anime btw) due to japanese animation being flooded with harem shows and questionable age characters. You don't want kids looking for japanese animation with todays internet.
If it means anything to anyone. Very recently the Heavy Gead 4th Edition table top book is released. Its still a mix of tactical and tabletop and has advanced the story of the Heavy Gear universe.
To summarize really shortly, Earth has landed on Terra Nova and has a significant foothold! The setting has gotten very intense and the life path character creation system gives your character a small back story to work on isntead of being some hero created out of the void
That’s cool to hear. I played the table top game back in when it came out and always really enjoyed it.
Battletech's term for mechs lighter than 15ton is a protomech, if 5 tons or below it is battle armor (usually). Incase anyone was wondering.
I remember my brother playing this and i remember he would play a King Cobra during pvp battles and thought the standard way people played with super light mechas with big Bazookas to be funny as he started to be able to predict there movments and had there timing down when they would try running past him in close range for what ever reason and he would just one shot them with his Vibro Axe.
I believe he would usually keep himself safe with an EMP system, although this was a very long time ago. It's also nice to see someone else who has seen the show Technoman
Takes me back to the old days. There was a small pvp scene that I spent way too much time in. It was basic CTF stuff with most matches typically restricted to 1000 battle rating. What that led to was a bunch of the lightest and fastest Gears carrying a single heavy bazooka. It was great fun, zipping around the maps, blowing up people as you passed. Those were the days.
Thank you algorithm, we need more Heavy Gear content and glad this video got recommended, subbed!
My friends and I used to have the most hilarious multiplayer matches in HG2
Something about Heavy Gear appealed more to me than Armored Core did.
Woah, this game looks a lot like Shogo. The graphical similarities are shocking. The blood and explosions too. I need to try this out.
It was a very pretty game for the time too. Definitely a forgotten gem from those times.
The laughter bit at 14:53 is a great and slightly offputting detai!
I know I played this game when I was younger, but I have almost no recollection of the details. Now I finally have some kind of understanding of the plot, despite playing both Heavy Gear 1 & 2 when I was a kid, and watching the animated TV show...
This, this review. Is a darn good one! Well researched and with some great ingame footage not seen in a full play through on TH-cam.
Good review of a good game. It's a shame this one never got a proper follow-up, either direct sequel or other mech game with the same engine.
They kick-started heavy gear session based multiplayer game but never managed to release it
@@tsorevitch2409 Ah, Heavy Gear Assault. Such a glorious clusterfuck.
The latest ruleset they released for the game is also really enjoyable. I was honestly impressed that they kept the support for so long, but it was worth it.
Joined my first online clan when I played this. I remember the box came with both HG and HG2. HG was like a bad version of Mechwarrior 2.. I only played it a little. The multiplayer in HG2 was pretty fun. I remember towards the end of my time spent playing was trying to aim rockets across the map to use as an indirect fire weapon. Not easy, because you needed a spotter. I don't remember what we used for voice comms that far back. Probably TeamSpeak or Ventrilo.
Thanks for helping me and others remember this old game. It was pretty special to me for a time. Glad someone is preserving the memory.
Very nice review, a famous youtuber in the making !
I grew up with Heavy Gear 1 and always wanted to play Heavy Gear 2. I remember seeing an VR arcade version of Heavy Gear 2 where you fit this helmet over your head.
I liked how in Heavy Gear 1, you can complete a mission with a missing arm or your computer fried (no more hud).
Love that old anime mech aesthetic, I'm not even into anime, but I think it's great
hey, this channel is really great! Heavy Gear 2, Albion, Ecstatica...you're covering a lot of games I like and being absolutely based about it. Subbed, can't wait for more!
Thanks so much. One of my favourite comments. I'm so glad someone else appreciates these overlooked gems.
Are there any old games you love that don't seem to get much attention by other content creators? Stuff that deserves sequels or remakes?
@@Gilgamechasaur good question but tbf i dont want anything to get sequels or remakes. I want the old era of creativity to come back to gaming!
This one aged really well. Encouraging everyone to look up the repack.
True! Just added in the a link to the downloads in the description.
I was completely unfamiliar with this. Thanks for the video, I really enjoyed it. I gotta say that the interstitial chapter screens you made remind me of several nightmares I've had. Take that for what you will. Subscribed.
Based. Thank you so much.
I love your spoiler warning effect
This game looks AMAZING for 1999. The visual style is just fantastic.
Oh my god, Heavy Gear 2. I used to play it back then. Its absolutely ahead of time, Mech animation, Graphic and AI learn to adapt to your tactics.
The kids show was my first exposure to heavy gear, watching episodes on my psp go.
channel is really great!
Awesome vid, awesome game, only played it briefly as a kid!
Yo shoutout to teknoman blade
Another game i unfortunately missed out on. I'll try the repack
Nice work
Tekkaman is still going strong.
So is heavy gear!(the tabletop)
Strange fact - the V-Engine was based on a real design: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_engine
I love this game, I got a free copy of it with my first dedicated graphics card, an Ati rage 128 pro 😂
Any way to run it on modern hw /newer os (win10/11)?
Yeah, the community repack. I have a Win 11 pc with a 11th Gen Intel processor.
I put a link in the description to the reddit post for the community pack, and also if you google search "heavy gear 2 community repack download" you'll see it at a download site such as myabandonware. *Caveats about abandonware being not entirely legal, at your own risk etc, which is why I don't want to link to it directly.
@@Gilgamechasaur
Btw I still have the original CD-Rom of the game
@@federicocatelli8785 That's pretty neat. For running it, it would probably be easiest to just download it through the method above. Way easier than jumping through hoops to get it to run properly from a disk install.
Didn't Microsoft do a Terra Nova mech game?
Make that Looking Glass Studios in 1995...
Good review. So the soundtrack was CD audio, and so to hear it you need the physical CD. There is a remapping and a patch available which lets you to play the game properly now. I did not know a Heavy Gear 3 was planned. Mechanomics is a term I've heard in some Armored Core reviews -- "the mech economy" of storytelling and gameplay. I must ask as an indie dev myself who is specifically in the mecha space, what sorts of things do you look for in a game and if you had a wishlist, what would you ask of a mech game? I ask this to everybody who reads this comment as well.
I have a theory that its not "weight" people actually want, but mass: The gamefeel or the sensation of a vehicle and that speed or acceleration are usually seen as a direct opposition to this due to lazy programming inmost of the games which deal with quicker mechs. It should feel like you are driving, or controlling a machine, and a lot of newer mecha games just... Don't... Get this, I think?
Again, very hungry for your thoughts. Subscribed.
Thanks!
I was just making a joke pun with the mechanomics thing....
Weight vs mass. I agree! These things are meant to be simulations. Good space games will incorporate newtonian physics, like Elite: Dangerous, where you have to fight against things like intertia and momentum in addition to your enemies.
This is personal preference, but what I would want:
1. mass expressed through physics
2. A degree of customisability, as this is common to most mech games and is an interesting part of it.
3. Some sort of interesting mission framework, whether that be linear, like Heavy Gear, or more of a sandbox, like Mechwarrior 5.
'Momentum/mass' might be a good way of putting it.
A thing I'm looking for in a mech game is the feeling of piloting something 'Heavy'. IE, not just a reskin of a human being.
Now, this does not necessarily mean the 'turret-on-legs' you see in the Mechwarrior games.
Stuff like Heavy Gear 2, Assault Suits Valken / Cybernator, and the EDF game's 'Fencer' class are all good examples of mecha weight done right.
don't make mech fighting a chore. that's the problem with all the third rate licensed Japanese mech action games: you're basically styling on the same-ish enemies in a same way ad infinitum
Is it mass or inputs that make it feel like piloting? Armored Core 6 has mainly fast moving mechs and anime-like melee combat, also sim-light inputs - you have to simultaneously manage four different weapon's reloads/ammo, thruster drain, lockon, radar, etc. The controls/concepts are not as deep as Heavy Gear 2's simulation, but it's still a fantastic mech piloting feel.
its a pity you couldn't get the first game to work. I honestly much preferred the 1st game over the second. The first game is much more focused on the sim aspects, and there is a ton more customization options for your gear.
I like your video but you should put "muted" music while you speak because the soundscape sound strange.
Thanks. Just want to clarify: are you saying I should lower the volume of the music in the title cards because they're too loud? Or that I should have very soft music playing while I speak? I don't remember the two ever being on top of each other for the most part. I'm still learning as I go along, and to a certain extent still finding a rhythm.
@@Gilgamechasaur The music on the title card is perfect, I am saying that you should add soft music playing while you are talking.
@@Bleusilences Ah, gotcha. As I made videos I checked what other creators were doing. I did think about this, but I would have to either make the tracks or get royalty free ones, and then make sure the volume does not interfere with hearing what I'm saying. It's a possibility, and I do like a soft ambient backing track, but I also work a 9-5 on top of everything else, so might be some time until I get around to it
Oh I get it so it`s more an hobby project, there is a lot of royalty free music out there, but be careful, there is a few places, like on the unity store or epic game store where it`s just random people repackaging royalty free music without have the rights themselves.
16:15 another death of intelligent and sophisticated gaming because of the console plebs
Kind of amazed you missed out on the early 2000s Heavy Gear 3d animated series it was produced for 8-14 year olds so it was a zero tension show but it was a thing.
(My bad you did call to the 3d animated series)
This game series also inspired the cartoon Exo Squad series where the phraises of E-Frames and ofcourse the FAT-born slave race that ends up usurping the earth government.
This one is a far more serious cartoon where racism, genocide and slavery are the mainstay of topics where characters do die on screen and off screen.
The irony of the battletech cartoon failing but the gameseries sticking around while the Heavy Gear game series ending up failing but its on screen presence being highly succesfull.
Thanks for the info! I remember Exo Squad! I should look up that series, I barely remember it. And I do love my 90s stuff, not to mention big themes and ideas.
@@Gilgamechasaur You can find the entire series on youtube but yeah ExoSquad was something of a fluke.
I think it was the era between 1996 and 2004 where kids were allowed to see more mature content without the age restrict board getting upset about it.
As a European us kids were never shyed away from mature content with british shows and movies like watership down and farthinwood, the Dutch Alfred J kwak. countless French cartoons like Sinbad and ofcourse we had plenty of japanese animations as both the French and Dutch tv channel producers had plenty of colaboration in directing, writing and producing animated shows.
As for the U.S. market the biggest irony was the conservative Fox Studios being the main pusher for more mature and edgy cartoon shows to the point even Disney went there with the Gargoyles cartoon show.
@@vonshroom2068 Ah, as someone who grew up in Australia, there were a few sources of mature content. I mention Teknoman blade in the vid, which I did feel was pretty violent to be a kid's breakfast cartoon when I was growing up, even though the fluids were usually pink.
Then, at around 9pm or later a channel called SBS would have a segment called world movies, which would run the gamut from violence to erotic movies from Europe to Japan. From The City of Lost Children through to The Weatherwoman through to Ninja Scroll and Ghost In the Shell. It was a very education experience for a guy growing up in the 90s.
@@GilgamechasaurOw lord you guys had the worst but sadly now a days we're now all on the same level of poorly crafted ADHD filled nothing burger of kids cartoons. I have 3 nephews i've been showcasing my childhood cartoons and lets just say they no longer like the modern ones as they actually developed an attention span. Can't even recommend them japanese cartoons such as Teknoman (great anime btw) due to japanese animation being flooded with harem shows and questionable age characters. You don't want kids looking for japanese animation with todays internet.
You forgot to mention the bad CGI series made with it too, that had barely anything to do with the game lol
Cringey video and jokes