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.
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 | |
Genre(s) | First-person shooter, vehicle simulation game |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
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.
Faced with the loss of the BattleTech-MechWarrior property, Activision acquired exclusive worldwide rights to video games based on the Heavy Gear series.[2] 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.[2] The game used an enhanced version of the Mechwarrior 2 game engine,[2][3] 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.
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
GameRankings | 60%[4] |
Publication | Score |
---|---|
AllGame | [5] |
CNET Gamecenter | 8/10[6] |
Computer Games Strategy Plus | [7] |
Computer Gaming World | [8] |
Edge | 7/10[9] |
EP Daily | 9/10[10] |
Game Informer | 8.25/10[11] |
GameRevolution | B+[12] |
GameSpot | 7.3/10[13] |
Next Generation | [14] |
PC Gamer (US) | 82%[15] |
The game received mixed reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings.[4]
Greg Fortune from Computer Gaming World 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."[8]
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."[7]
Boba Fatt from GamePro wrote: "First-timers to the giant-robot-derby genre will enjoy Heavy Gear, but, ultimately, it's nothing more than a disappointing MechWarrior knockoff."[16][a] The reviewer from Next Generation wrote: "In creating Heavy Gear, Activision has a different universe and a better engine but a roughly designed game."[14]
The reviewer from Pyramid #30 (March/April 1998) wrote: "A lot of hype heralded the Heavy Gear Computer Game [sic]. For months prior to its release, gaming magazines touted it as a 'Mechkiller' and the game to 'make Mechwarrior [sic] fans forget Battletech [sic]'. Briefly, it's not and it won't."[17]
The game was nominated for the "Best Sci-Fi Sim" award at the CNET Gamecenter Awards for 1997, which went to Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter.[18]