MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries (1996)
Genres:Shooter, Simulator, Tactical
Themes:Action, Warfare, Science fiction, Sandbox
Game modes:Single player, Multiplayer
Story:MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries was released in September 1996 and is a stand-alone sequel to MechWarrior 2 and the last Activision BattleTech game. In this game, the player takes control of an Inner Sphere mercenary squad, with control over the finances and mission selections. Mercenaries gives the player access to 30 new BattleMechs and 50 missions covering numerous worlds, including missions pertaining to the Clan invasion. Mercenaries also features MercNet (a redesign of NetMech) for multiplayer.Show more
Vote to bring this game to GOG and help preserve it.12 205
As a kid, my first Windows computer (an IBM Aptiva) came with this game bundled with an ATI 3D Rage card. It was mind-blowing. The game had my attention from the awesome intro, the soundtrack was amazing (played direct from CD), and the gameplay was dynamic and incredibly engaging with a story like that followed your actions and culminated in the beginning of the Clan invasion. I spent so many hours in this game, and still long to play it again. I feel like none of the subsequent Mercs entries to the line have captured the magic of this one.
One of the first games I played multiple times to see the different endings, so many great memories. The opening cinematic is still a masterpiece in my opinion. "... look on the bright side, you get to keep the money"
This is one of my all time favorite games. It was the first game that really made me feel like a mercenary commader. And so many sound bytes still live in my head. "Connected to ComStar Contract Database." I remember having a heck of a time getting past one mission, with elementals. It blew my mind when I figured out I could go back and choose to take a different mission and still continue the main story later. Would love to be able to play it again without jumping through a bunch of hoops.
One of the first PC games that I majorly got into. Loved the intro. Was never particularly good at the campaign as a 10 year old, but the instant action was just as fun
One of the first games in the mechwarrior and mechcommander games that I had as a kid. I usually played this solo. it was one of the first resource management games I played that I enjoy it and some of the missions were very hard and the arena matches were tough but very rewarding if I win more often. This needs to be on here especially the other mechwarrior games and the mechcommander games as well
Oh boy, this was the Mech game I played the hell out of.
Even got to play with MercNet a few times.
I didn't know it when I started playing, but you really had to keep an eye out on the start and end dates of those contracts.
I miss computers having Game ports for Joysticks, as my MS Sidewinder 3D got a lot of use. Shame the MS precision had a drift back to neutral on the twist unlike the Sidewinder.
I submit the most Merc2 Mercs moment of all time:
You land on a planet on a single patrol for a quick milk run. You go through the keyboard ritual to increase your radar range to 2km and start towards nav Alpha. You destroy everything in your path with minimal resistance until a few nav points later you're 1 km out from the dustoff nav point when the last obstacle powers up... a pair of mechs lead by a third your targeting computer reveals is some ancient thing called a Flashman that you vaguely remember from the 2750 TRO. You close the gap to finish it off when your cockpit flashes red twice as two large lasers instantly slag your cockpit.
You run it again because "that was just bad luck." Then it happens again. And again. And again. Then you switch to a Catapult, run it again, but this time you spin around and jumpjet backwards into range because that way the ancient bucket of bolts can't see your cockpit. Then somehow without touching the back or sides of your Catapult, it headshots you twice in a row. Eventually you give up, go straight toward the last nav point, skipping Nav Alpha, and manually target it from 2km out, and shoot it to death with PPCs before it can power up.
Because that Flashman didn't have RNG, it just had two Large Laser headshots.
Would love a 1:1 remake of this game with modern 3D engines. The newer games just didn't capture the same atmosphere.
IMO the best of the Mechwarrior 2 games, and the one that set the bar that every 'mercenaries' mechwarrior has been chasing ever sense. It takes all the best parts of the mechwarrior games and rolls them in the dirt ,makes you pay for them and lets you go from a next to nothing lone mercenary to a hero of the inner sphere fighting back the clan invasion!
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Jurassic Park: Operation GenesisJurassic Park: Operation Genesis is a construction and management simulation video game for the PC, Xbox, and PlayStation 2 based on the Jurassic Park series.
The main point of the game is to recreate Jurassic Park - building a five-star theme park with dinosaurs, and turning John Hammond's dream into reality. In the park, the player builds paths, amenities for visitors such as food, restrooms, enclosures, and attractions. One must also keep the park safe and secure.
The park can be populated with up to sixty dinosaurs, with twenty-five different species available from the three Jurassic Park films. The player can also add attractions similar to those seen in the films, such as the safari seen in the Jurassic Park film, and additional attractions such as a balloon tour and several varieties of viewing platform.
While the PlayStation 2 version is fairly common, the PC and Xbox versions of the game are considerably rare, with the Xbox version considered one of the rarest and most expensive titles for the system, with copies of the game often selling on eBay for upwards of $100.
GAMEPLAY:
The player's main objective is to create a theme park/zoo featuring dinosaurs, make it popular, and make it safe with a 5-star rating. Gameplay functions are very similar to the SimCity and Tycoon game models. It is necessary to build feeding stations where herbivores can get bales of plant feed, while carnivores are fed live cows or goats. However, herbivores become unhappy if they don't have enough trees around them or enough nearby dinosaurs to socialize with. Likewise, carnivores have an innate desire to hunt other dinosaurs, so even a constant stream of livestock will not keep them happy.
To create a dinosaur, fifty percent (50%) of the particular dinosaur's DNA is needed. The higher the percentage of DNA, the longer that dinosaur will live, unless it dies by means other than natural causes, such as malnutrition or being attacked by another dinosaur. To obtain a dinosaur's DNA, the player must extract it through fossils or amber. Higher quality specimens will yield more DNA.
To obtain fossils and amber, the player must send a fossil-hunting team to dig in one of nine dig sites around the world. Additional dig teams can be purchased later in the game. Each dig site contains fossils from three particular dinosaurs. Fossils of some dinosaurs, such as Brachiosaurus, can be found in more than one dig site. The chance of finding fossils depends on the quality of the site. There are 6 classifications on the quality of a dig site, ranging from "excellent" to "exhausted." It is still possible to find fossils and amber at sites that have been exhausted, although they are often of low quality with little DNA to provide. Valuable items such as silver, gold, or opal are also discovered infrequently by the dig team(s), and can be sold for profit.
Attractions help make the park popular, and increase its rating power and income when correctly configured. Attractions must be researched before they can be constructed, and include the Balloon Tour, Safari Adventure and Viewing Dome. Viewing Vents and Viewing Platforms do not need to be researched. The Safari Tour and Balloon Tour attractions allow for the player to "take over" the ride for the purpose of park exploration and photography, but only when a visitor in the game is using it. The player may also observe the dinosaurs from the Viewing Dome, Viewing Vent, and Viewing Platform by selecting the "View" option after clicking on the building.
Amenities such as restrooms and restaurants are needed for visitors. Additional buildings such as a gift shop and a resting area must be researched before the player can add them into the park. Vaccines for diseases–such as tick infestation, gastric poisoning, rabies, and the fictional Dino Flu–must be researched before a sick dinosaur can be treated for a particular illness.
DINOSAURS:
There are a total of 25 dinosaurs featured in the game, some of which were featured in the films. They are divided into four main sub-groups. Small Herbivores such as Gallimimus and Pachycephalosaurus are easy to care for and do not take up much space, but are not as popular with guests. Large Herbivores such as Brachiosaurus and Triceratops are very popular with visitors and do not require expensive fences, but need large spacious exhibits.
Small Carnivores such as Dilophosaurus and Velociraptor do not generally need vigorous security as their larger counterparts, but can still harm guests if they escape. Large Carnivores such as Tyrannosaurus and Spinosaurus are the most popular dinosaurs in the game, but require large exhibits with high security fences and are prone to rampaging when stressed.
MISSIONS:
The game has 10 missions the player can complete. In some websites like IGN and GameSpot, early previews indicated that there were originally to be 12 missions. There are about three or four general types of missions, including taking photographs of dinosaurs to try to rack up a certain amount of points from the photos in a safari mission and dinosaur control missions where the player has to retire the carnivores (preferably large ones) to protect the herbivores.
SITE B:
After all the missions are completed, the "Site B" mode is unlocked, which allows the player to create an island without any fences or buildings for people, similar to Isla Sorna in The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III. Visitors are not allowed on the island. The player can place up to eight hatcheries and create up to sixty dinosaurs, which live on the island without diseases or the possibility of becoming stressed. As long as they have food, water and living space, the player can simply watch the dinosaurs interact and live out their lives.
FAN MODIFICATIONS:
Because of the PC version's modular file structure, the game is very easy to modify with nothing more than a regular text editor. It is possible to create almost completely new missions, exercises, dinosaurs, dinosaur designs, new visitor appearances, and play options. The Indominus rex, a genetic hybrid dinosaur from Jurassic World, was made available in June 2015.
Thanks to the open ended design, a small community of fans have come together to improve realism, unlock unreleased features, and design new features to be included. A group of people have formed the Community Expansion Project and the Genesis Expansion Project, which takes previous modifications and designs new ones for release in a patch for the overall community.
The team's main aim is to recreate the dinosaurs to be as realistic as possible, mainly expanding and creating new behavior. Two other modification sets, the Film-Canon Mod (FCM) and Novel-Canon Mod (NCM), are from Jurassic Park fansite, JPLegacy.org. The NCM includes dinosaur designs and islands based on the Jurassic Park novels. The FCM includes film-based dinosaur designs, music, sounds, and islands. Since the release of the first expansions, many others have appeared, with increased sophistication to make the game more realistic.Action Science fiction Sandbox Educational