ponut64 rates this game: 5/5This game is commercially titled "MechWarrior 2: Arcade Combat Edition" which will be hitherto called ACE.
Before I go into details, I want to impress upon you that ACE is a fast, action-packed experienced that stands on its own, separate from MW2 PC games. The game routinely throws 6+ enemies at you at once and expects you to kill them all in very short order. You are never given any allies. Very often missions start and you are being shot at within seconds. So I guess at this point I don't need to say that the missions are different (they are, and there are more of them).
ACE varies MASSIVELY from the PC original game. It includes more missions, lacks the MechLab entirely (forcing you to choose only from pre-selected variants, which you do not appear to even have access to the same ones the enemies do), includes 3D accelerated graphics & and improved frame-rate (here on the Saturn anyway), uses the MW2: Mercs soundtrack (which is great), and has a more limited range of 'Mechs to select from (no Marauder or Warhammer, in other words, the Unseen are gone). There are also mechanical differences as well: ACE appears to feature increased heat dissipation rates, your 'Mech (from a Firemoth to a Daishi) is significantly tougher and more lethal than your enemies, and jump-jet controls are simplified. Pools of ammo are specific to each weapon, so Firemoth Prime gets an extra ton of SRM ammo. There are also power-ups like refill ammo, MASC, invulnerability, infinite ammo, infinite heat, and healing spread across the maps. The storyline and cutscenes though appear to be the same: it takes place during the Refusal War which caused Clan Wolf to split into Warden and Crusader clans, and delayed a renewed Operation Revival.
All that said, MW2: ACE is a very, very good 'Mech action game. The graphics are lacking compared to other more well-remembered console exclusives, but the controls (if you go into the options and change them!) give you an almost complete MechWarrior experience on a console. Put that on top of exceptionally stable performance for a 5th generation console game, and you have one of the best first-person shooters of the era.
