Mech Assault Phantom War Reviews
Mech Assault Phantom War
- Commandeer over 20 types of vehicles, including Mechs, Tanks, Turret and Battle Armor
- Wreak havoc on the enemy and environment with a powerful and fully upgradeable arsenal
- Use the touch screen to hack into enemy territory, hijack enemy Mechs, customize your HUD layout and wield the most secret weapon in the Inner Sphere
- Master 24 single player campaigns across 4 planets and 3 exciting multiplayer game types
- Activate one of the seven Def Mods, the defensive systems equipped on many of the vehicles, to give yourself an advantage over the enemy
Mech Assault: Phantom War DS
Rating: 
(out of 7 reviews)
List Price: $ 14.99
Price: $ 9.96
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Review by Aleksey for Mech Assault Phantom War
Rating:
Mechassault for Nintendo DS is a simplified version of its bigger console brothers. That doesn’t stop this game from packing a punch of its own. Yes, the controls have been streamlined, and the game is less of a simulator and more of an arcade romp – yet somehow, it doesn’t feel like an arcade.
Missions in Mechwarrior/Battletech games have always been mostly linear, and this game is no exception. You’re thrown from one dramatic predicament into another, with different goals to accomplish. Professional voice actors who communicate with you along the way add to the sense of urgency and being there to the missions. I must reach the HPG relay no matter the cost !
What I like about this game is that it has a little more depth than one would expect from someone doing a “lighthearted” 3D game for Nintendo DS. The huds differ for different mechs, the crosshairs change shape when you switch weapons, jumping jets are implemented, and when you’re really low on energy, your Mech starts to sparkle electricity and limp, in an uncanny resemblance to the damaged Mech in the opening scene of Mechwarrior II.
But enough about cosmetics. The depth goes a little further than that. For example, this is what happened during one of the missions -
I was making my way through enemy resistance when I stumbled upon a powered-down Mech, which, I could tell, had stronger (and cooler-looking) weaponry. I made my character hop out of my Mech and hop into the new one. It powered up, and soon I was dodging enemy fire and using terrain for cover. However, they kept hitting me and I kept missing, which eventually resulted in my Mech sparkling, limping and emitting high-pitched beeping noises.
Where in another game I would be dead, in this game I limped back to my old Mech, jumped out of the near-dead one, went back in and finished off the enemy vehicles.
HACKING mechs and computers- this is another part that most games get wrong. Usually hacking is implemented as a minigame, and this one is no exception. However, the minigame moves at a hyper speed, and later on becomes more complex, which adds a degree of exhilaration as the time limit starts to run out and the beeps run closer and closer together until either you’re removed from the system, or you “got in”.
Some missions involve you getting very close to a bigger mech, while taking heavy fire, hitting a button to climb on it and then hack it so you can take control of it.
Overall, Mechassault DS delivers an engrossing portable gaming experience. It may be small, but it thinks big. I’m looking forward to playing more of this game.
Review by Liam Craig for Mech Assault Phantom War
Rating:
Everyone should stop talking about this as compared to the Xbox version. Sure, they share some concepts, units, etc, but Phantom War was built from the ground up for the DS, so it shouldn’t be looked at as a port.
As a whole, it’s pretty fun. There are some moments that’ll have you pulling your hair out, especially those missions that require you to hack other units (groan), and being forced to start some missions in completely underpowered units, but overall, it is enjoyable.
Graphics and sound are what you’d expect for a game with this much “stuff” going on (lots of units on screen, plenty of action, and huge environments), far from stellar, but this is the DS, not a full-sized console, so I give the developers some leeway as they had to work with the limitations of the platform.
In the end, it’s a good game, though a bit short and frustrating at times. It’s most sinful omission is the lack of Internet multiplayer, which stinks, becuase honestly, how many DS owners do you know who’ll come over to your house with copies of this game just to play over the regular (non-Internet) DS multiplayer?
Review by C. W. Shu for Mech Assault Phantom War
Rating:
The game is pretty sweet, but it’s pretty hard to control or it get confusing in the beginning. Once you get the hang of it, you can’t stop playing. The graphics is pretty nice for a small screen, but the game is pretty easy to finish. I enjoyed this game, so that is why I gave it 4 stars.
Review by D. Smail for Mech Assault Phantom War
Rating:
MechAssault. Definitely a good game for those who have not played MechAssault before. The game play is great. More Mech choices than the original, but the downside is you cannot choose your Mech at the start of each mission. The campaign is quite fun, there are multiple levels but they are all rather short. With less things to completely blow up, the replay has gone down. The original and second MechAssaults had great replay values because you could be distracted for so long by the almost unlimited range of things to destroy.In Phantom Wars, you might be gifted with a few buildings, or some trees. I tried replaying it and quickly found myself bored.
Multiplayer, five and a half stars. Gather up your friends because with the multiple Mech and Game Variant choices, you can have hours of fun. Campaign is dry, but the Vs. is always great. So many great maps, so many great Mechs. I found the time flying by with my friends.
Overall, if this is your first time ever playing MechAssault, get it because you won’t be disappointed, or if you have a few friends who also own it, that should make it unanimous. Getting it in hopes to blow some random stuff up over and over again is a waste. But hey, it is cheap and can distract you for a few days.
Overall- 4 Stars
Campaign- 3 Stars
Multiplayer- 5 Stars
Gameplay Graphics- 4 Stars
Cinematic Graphics- For a DS, 5 Stars
Replay Value- 3 Stars
Review by Curley Moelarry for Mech Assault Phantom War
Rating:
Bravo to Nintendo DS, for giving us a proven XBox game. If you played this title on XBox you will love this new format.