Heavy Gear II

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Description

As the leader of the special ops group Dark Talons, lead your squad mates on a series of dangerous missions as you discover the NEC plot against your homeland, Terra Nova. Operate behind enemy lines as you gather data, attack enemy camps, capture enemy leaders, take over space stations, and more. Combat happens on land, underground (huge caverns), and even in space. There are plenty of weapons to outfit your gear, even some hand-to-hand weapons. You can also add perks and flaws to further customize your gear. Stealth is a major concern in some missions. The game play feel is very different from the Mechwarrior series.

Set in Dream Pod 9's Heavy Gear universe (it actually rivals the Battletech universe in complexity, though not nearly as famous), this game requires 3D accelerator with its "Dark" 3D engine. The gears are capable of very human-like movements, such as kneeling, crawling, and jumping.

Screenshots

Promo Images

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Trailer

Alternate Titles

• "Heavy Gear II: Mission Caprice" -- German title

Part of the Following Group

• Heavy Gear series

User Reviews

Interesting alternative to Mechwarrior, but still relies on overwhelming numbers...	Windows	Kasey Chang (4617)
Impressive visuals, but lacking in gameplay.	Windows	blefuscu (462)

Critic Reviews

Spel för Alla	Windows	Sep, 1999	9 out of 10	90
Electric Games	Windows	1999		90
Computer Gaming World (CGW)	Windows	Sep, 1999		90
Gameplay (Benelux)	Windows	May 31, 1999	85 out of 100	85
PC Joker	Windows	Jul, 1999	82 out of 100	82
Score	Windows	Mar, 1999	8 out of 10	80
PC Player (Germany)	Windows	Jul, 1999	79 out of 100	79
PC Games (Germany)	Windows	Jul, 1999	76 out of 100	76
GameStar (Germany)	Windows	Jul, 1999	75 out of 100	75
Computer Games Magazine	Windows	Jul 14, 1999		70

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Trivia

Christmas

If you play a netgame around Christmas, the gears will be wearing Santa hats.

Development

Before the game was released, Activision actually had three different HUD designs for the cockpit displays: demo (from the demo version), graphical, and military. By popular vote, military was chosen for the game.

Intel

Heavy Gear II was selected as one of the showcase games for the "Intel Inside" advertising campaign that year.

Linux version

Heavy Gear II is Loki's first major port attempt that features 3D acceleration. As the original was Direct3D only, Loki has to port the game to OpenGL, as well as rewrite all the soundcard code to OSS/OpenAL standards, but the end result is virtually identical to the Windows version.

Multiplayer

The Linux version can actually play with the Windows version on the network. There are no difference between the clients once you're connected.

Awards

• GameStar (Germany)
  • Issue 03/2000 - Most Bugs in 1999

Related Web Sites

• Designer's Post-Mortem on HG2 (Gamasutra's Post-Mortem series by the game's designer...)
• Heavy Gear Depot (Heavy Gear fan site (archived))