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MechWarrior 2 had nothing on these brutes.
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If you're anything like me, you probably found the 'mechs in Mechwarrior 2 to be a bit... small. Zono Inc., however, seems to realize (quite correctly) that size is everything. The main fighting unit in Metal Fatigue is the Combot, a three story tall behemoth that could crush the average Mad Dog beneath one massive foot and not even notice it had stepped on something.
The Combots consist of five parts: two arms, two legs, and a torso. Each part can be totally and easily customized: just select what sort of weapon or shield you want each arm to have, pick a leg type, and choose the torso. An example from the official page: "... a heavy attack Combot might consist of a rotary blade arm, plasma cannon arm, a missile-launching torso, and armored legs."
If you like arcade fighting games or the television show "Transformers," you should love the combat in Metal Fatigue. Outfit your Combots with laser swords and massive battle axes and try to act out your favorite scenes, or just load up with long range missiles, a jetpack, and lightly armoured legs for some quick hit-and-run action. With over 10,000 possible combinations of items ranging from sonar legs to Electro-Grip arms, it's easy to build the right Combot for the job.
What could be cooler than devastating your enemies with a well-built Combot? Ripping the arm off your current enemy, attaching it to your own torso, then attacking him with it, that's what. Parts can also be taken from fallen Combots, and if you don't feel like using them, you can sell them or research them at your base so you can build your own. Salvage will be a crucial part of Metal Fatigue, and it should pump even more strategy into an already full game.
Another thing worth mentioning about the Combots is the AI system. Dark Reign was ahead of its time with customizable unit AI, and Metal Fatigue follows suit. You can have your Combots always dive in with a melee weapon, or stay back and snipe, or anything in between. If you have enough faith in the concept of artificial intelligence, you can even let the Combot do whatever it thinks is best.
The Combots do have a couple of major drawbacks: they're very expensive, they can only be in one place at a time, and they do have weaknesses. A huge Combot armed with dual battle axes could easily be taken down by even the lowliest air fighter, since the Combot would have no way of fighting back.
That's where the other units come into play. Build a small squad of missile jeeps or aircraft to escort your Combot and provide support. Metal Fatigue is designed so that both Combots and regular units are needed to win battles; the strategy lies in how you balance and deploy your units.
Non-combat craft are also present, of course. Your Hovertruck is used to build structures, repair things, gather resources, and salvage Combot parts. Another important civilian unit is the Driller... $0.76 and a plastic cup goes to the guy who can figure out what the Driller does.
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