MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat (PC/DOS) 1995, Activision

You are the genetically engineered Clan Mechwarrior. The Clans are invading the Inner Sphere. Join either the Wolf Clan or the Jade Falcon Clan as they pursue their own agenda against the Inner Sphere and other Clans. Take your advanced Omnimechs into battle against all comers. Win high warrior ratings (by using less mechs or smaller mechs than needed, completing secondary objectives, etc.) and you'll get chance at a promotion trial where you face superior odds in an arena. If you win, you advance in rank. If you are very successful, you can make it all the way up to Khan, leader of the Clan.
Mechwarrior II was developed in-house by Activision as the successor to their original Mechwarrior. While this time there are no dynamic campaign and mercenary actions, the Clan culture is integrated into the two campaigns. Different clans have different mechs and different rules, even different weapons. You can customize your mechs in order to use less than the "par" force in order to get a higher rating. The game features full 3D environments. The addition of NetMech allowed users to fight each other online.
When 3D cards came along, special versions of the game were created to take advantage of 3D texturing.

[@mimief7969]

Used to sit on my dad's lap And watch him play this, now I'm 30 and still into this stuff 😊

[@failingup4907]

This game was unbelievable! The sounds, the woman's voice, the physics, how the mech powered up. So many good games back then.. I spent so many hours playing Mech 2, Battlezone,X wing, Tie Fighter, Command & Conquer more I can 't think of right now. This was easily in my top 5. Wish I could go back to that time and replay them again.

[@Nick-fc4wu]

I have her "incoming message" every time I get a text.

[@jlinkous05]

Mech Commander too!

[@jonathanj.3695]

​​@@Nick-fc4wu I have the missile lock-on warning buzzer as mine 😂.

[@Nick-fc4wu]

@@jonathanj.3695 I'd have that one set to certain people haha

[@OneBiasedOpinion]

If you ever played any games from this era, you know that the systems and complexity of this game was pretty amazing for something made in ‘95. Activision used to make such good stuff.

[@jonplaud]

this is when I learned to customize your mech. It was hard and it always heat up and had to cool down >_

[@BOYDY84]

My first pc game. A memory that will never die

[@NotHere2SellCookies]

Yeah, before Activision was infiltrated by the CIA they made great games. Now they just make dull crap to keep people distracted.

[@CTG80]

30 years later and that intro still gives me chills. SO good. This game was amazing, esp for the time it came out.

[@waveali5620]

When I first got this game when I was in the service. I literally stayed up a whole night playing this then going straight to PT for a four mile run. The shit you could do when when you was twenty years old. This was the golden age of PC gaming.

[@Ti-JAC]

Yep i too, not just this one - HMM3 was what got me to stayed up more nights.

[@Supermike6]

When I was little, I thought mechs existed (through secret black projects). Seeing my dad play the game make me want to think of him as a Mech operator training through a simulator. Then the horrible truth came and I can only dream of one day being able to operate a real mech.

[@gwinbeer]

Michael Phillips Are you excited about the upcoming megabot vs kuratas mech battle? Reference: jalopnik.com/americas-giant-robot-fighter-shows-off-its-moves-1797516503

[@Supermike6]

Eventually they will walk and not run on wheels

[@700gsteak]

You must have loved the movie, The Last Starfighter. lol

[@thereasonableamericans411]

Actually, it was a real project. Jane's simulator-like.

[@kssLr]

Life had a few rather unpleasent surprises for each of us.....my condolences! :)

[@PublicWifi]

Still one of my top 5 favorite game intros.

[@thereasonableamericans411]

Agreed! Without even watching it I recall the "we've got mechs down at nav gamma, it's got a lock on me it's got a lock on me! Arrrrgghhh boom!" 20+ years later, I don't even need to see it I remember it so clearly. ha

[@PrimitiveBaroque]

This was a good game. It kicked ass. I remember spending hours playing on this thing.

[@JS_1983]

i spent my whole 15th year obsessed with this on my dad's pc 😁

[@srbrant5391]

A year well spent.

[@matttaniguchi9788]

I played a lot of this on my PC also in my 15th year

[@00BillyTorontoBill]

I was 30... and it lasted longer than a year! lol

[@AndrewScott1762]

Same! 🙌🏻

[@Frungi]

This game, included with my Power Mac, is where I learned the word “tertiary.”

[@lacquerware6962]

Same!

[@xpez9694]

@@lacquerware6962 quarternary and septenary

[@nuttyjawa]

Same here too hah

[@JC-rm6pm]

1996, I was 11 years old when this game came to my local PC store, they had "surround" speakers and a projector with "The Pentium" pc on demo playing this game in a low illumination room, i remember being so blown away! I mean, we had a 386 at home playing msdos games... i will never forget one of the salesperson lines, "this Pentium has 1GB Hard Drive, you will never finish it"... and here we are now dowloading 4GB episodes of game of thrones :D

[@thereasonableamericans411]

I too was 11yrs old in 96 and got this game and dad went nuts and get a Zeos Pentium 16MB of Ram and a soundblaster 16 card with a 1.2GB hard drive and my school teacher said "you'll never fill that hard drive" when I told her what we got. I was in awe! Best thing ever!!! That hard drive was filled 2 years later.

[@SS-kz7td]

Me three was 11 in 96. I played this around then. My dad spent $2500 on a Pentium II P5-166mhz from gateway. It could run any game great. I was aware how fast computers were advancing at that time, but didn't realize how fast. And then there waa AOL.... Haha

[@tbut155]

I was 6 when I first played this game. It blew my mind. This game is engrained in my memory forever

[@EdBert]

It might be my age talking, but I think 1991-1997 was the golden era of PC gaming.

[@TapPaires-ob2lr]

Definitely! Today's games have all the graphics and fancy stuff, but they lack soul. Having everything you can want kills creativity, whereas when the game makers had to make do with what they had, it lead to some very cool innovations in gaming. Of course, it also lead to improvements, and staying comfortable there would've been as bad as it is today.

[@blaize00]

I was born in 97 but grew up playing games like this, as well as more contemporary stuff. I think if you open your heart to it, you will find there are many games even nowadays that do something unique or innovative. Then, nothing is stopping us from enjoying anything from back in the day. I just spent 3 days replaying master of orion 2, stalker, then hopped on helldivers with my pals. I believe the golden age of gaming is today, we are really spoiled for choice.

[@asdfomfglol]

@@TapPaires-ob2lrdepènds of the game and company tbh. Dark souls has a lot of "soul", for example.

[@JillyBean860]

This game came with a ton of other games as part of a bundle with the Toshiba desktop my parents bought in the 90s. I recall playing this before heading to driver's training in 1996 or 1997. I was late one day because of it and didn't even care because I was having fun lol.

[@aquarius5719]

Would you like to play them today?

[@jmabs5096]

You brought me back 25 years ago running this game on my dad's work computer while I had the opportunity too...man what I'd to relive my childhood!

[@paoloantonio1531]

26:50 I just love this soundtrack... sounds so... post apocaliptic.. so Terminator, so badass... I love it

[@JillyBean860]

If you put the CD-ROM into a CD player, you could play the songs. My nerdy butt thought it was so cool.

[@Z1pZ1p3r]

This was my first Mech game ever. I was waaaaaaaaaay to young to understand any of it. Still have fond memories of it though.

[@soulessginger6454]

Asme here, and it's such a trip to come back and look at what the game looks like when you're not 6 years old.

[@jmabs5096]

Same. Had no clue, half the time I couldn't even figure out how to launch a mission. Once I did I'd die, restart and do it again 😂

[@Greg-xi8yx]

Exact same and my computer couldn’t run it nearly well enough and I still loved it.

[@simms75]

The immersion in this game was second to none.. Just started playing MW5 - and they've certainly captured that feeling..

[@astrayamatu]

One game is from 1995 the other from 2019 , glad to have crown up with those games mw2 came out when i were 15 and for that time this game was ahead of some other games ,something the younger generation will not experience that these daya

[@patricksmith6971]

Taking me straight back to Saturdays in the 90's...

[@EV3REST]

I was playing this game when I was 2-3. This is absolutely insane. I have no idea why I even remember it, but I really want this game on my mac now

[@srbrant5391]

Likewise.

[@aaz1992]

I remember playing this when I was 5. Game was only two years old then

[@Drelam]

This was one of the first computer games I played think it was my older brothers originally. I was like 6 or 7 and really didn't know how to play, and I would just run around on the same level never being able to beat it, but having a great time anyways. Very nostalgic to see game play of it. Excited for Mechwarrior 5.

[@Nathriel]

I have extremely fond memories of this game. You just can't beat PC games from that era. Steel Battalion for the original Xbox was pretty good too with it's savefile wipe if you died once, dedicated controller, and simulation quality.

[@jeffjones719]

why is this still more satisfying than newer versions?

[@stevesan]

there's a certain weight to the movement that newer games seem to lack..

[@tommywadejr.2393]

EXACTLY! I was just saying the same thing after trying out the new Battletech. Definitely 'meh' by comparison. MW2 had me hooked from the opening movie!! :)

[@aquarius5719]

Mission design was better.

[@BandanazX]

Death from above was the way I liked to get my kills. Get up on top of those mesas and jump down on mech's heads.

[@thewinesmith]

Seriously the best online game ever. Clans, different class rules etc. Yes i was all about my c4 dfa kicks!

[@bigedslobotomy]

Some of the missions were INSANE! I remember one (I can't remember it's name) where you had to rescue a dignitary, so you couldn't just shoot everything up. Of course they were heavily guarded, and as you made your way in, there were missiles coming at you from all directions. It was INSANE! My favorite weapon was the PPC, because you could hit targets out of reach of their weapons. It was upsetting when you exhausted your missiles. Good times!

[@ChestinysDialed]

That feeling is about to return and I'm about to have a damn justifiable reason to own a gaming PC after 20+ years of consoles.

[@qmto]

In the later training missions, I used to try and kill the instructor. They're pretty tough but they can be beaten if you attack from behind and target their leg first lol.

[@gdtyra]

But you wouldn't think of upsetting him in his home, would you?

[@Shyssiryxius]

Oh.My.God. I forgot I spent like 2 years of my childhood playing this game. WOW - thanks for this

[@aquarius5719]

"Battletech fan" channel has installation guide for windows 10. Everything you need is in the description if the videos.

[@andyprice4696]

I was 12 years old when this came out and my friends dad had a pretty bad ass PC for the 90s. We played this non stop. Brings back memories of good times and a simpler life.

[@bonitabromeliads]

the cadets voice acting is hilarious. especially since they're supposed to be clans in the outer rim but he sounds like a 50's boy from Indiana.

[@fifthdimension1984]

I got this game as part of the computer package way back in the 90's. It was absolutely awesome and not overly complicated like the subsequent mech warrior games. The music, the commentary, the graphics were top notch. I stupidly got rid of the Win 98 set up years ago and find I can no longer play this really cool game. I will need to get a "vintage" set up that has Win 95 or 98 running .

[@justinman114]

BAM! RIGHT IN THE CHILDHOOD!

[@2200gonewild]

Played this when I was 5 and had a fucking blast!

[@winslowwong9719]

This game came with the sidewinder joystick. It was bad ass

[@henrikhyrup3995]

A graphical masterpiece, several years ahead of its time IMO.

[@wallabing]

When I first played this as a child, I thought it was a horror game where you control extremely advanced fighting robots in hell. The dark, bleak and stern theme and combination of sci fi industrial music of the game is what made it amazing to me. When all the other kids in elementary school were playing Zelda and Pokemon, I way playing this technological masterpiece.

[@fyte4luv23]

i used to purposely shoot the instructor's mech & i'd try to outsmart him while hiding behind structures.. dude always killed me tho lmao

[@jousboxx9532]

My brother managed to kill him once, he somehow kept talking and didn't seem to notice lmao

[@auxillianwarghost5123]

Ramming into him at full speed was always fun too.

[@MatthewTheWolf2029]

My brother got me this game SO LONG AGO. And I loved it. Though I could never quite master it, and I never completed it. Still, this game holds a lot of memories for me.

[@ReachField]

I played so much at this games back in the day i was about 5/8 years old

[@wertypearl7015]

I found this game among a bunch of my dad's old CDs while snooping around one day... looks like a fun game!

[@gdtyra]

Lol that feeling when your childhood is now being rediscovered by the next generation...

[@weshowe5449]

For some reason I remember better graphics...I also had the special edition that came with the Aptiva so maybe? Or maybe not... In any case I played it for days.

[@trobertw]

That's called nostalgia goggles

[@cbrunnkvist]

It could be that you are confusing this game with MW2: Mercenaries (-I was!), which was released one year later and looked slightly better with textures and support for different resolutions if I'm not mistaken. kzbin.info/www/bejne/hYWToXSEod5mirs

[@thegeneralmitch]

Jade falcon: "We shall secure Terra, our birthright!" Comstar: "are you sure about that?"

[@dalmatia1]

Dad bought the fam an IBP Aptiva? PC and this game came in the bundle. Playing this as a kid in the 90s was amazing. Brings back some memories. 90s were so much better - just 1 computer for the fam and you gotta use the telephone line to go online

[@rthomasb]

Same here! Hearing the intro was like listening to an old friend. I loved this game.

[@nut__cracker]

Thanks for the video. It was great bringing back the memories. The last time i played this was in 1996/7. I was only 11. I never quite understood the game. I used to blast any other robot and that was good enough for me!

[@aquarius5719]

Try the installation guide of "battletech fan" channel. Manual of the game is in the description of the videos.

[@lukeperhaps2734]

Played this so much. Timberwolf with LRM was unbeatable.

[@yeeyee9970]

Our theatre arts teacher had this. I thought i was older and it was the 1989 one. Glad im not thaaat old.

[@thewinesmith]

Hell yeah i used to play this multiplayer online. Was in a clan and everything. Best game ever made.

[@RexofSteel]

Wow... I can't believe this was from 1995. Those are pretty awesome 3D graphics for back then... and it's so cool that it even haf the cockpit bob. I came here after playing the new MW5 because I know my dad has ALL of these and most were before my time lol. I'm 23 so I think I was barely around when 4 came out.

[@pixelartiste1]

Memories and Love

[@d1zguy864]

31st century can’t come soon enough

[@robertwells105]

Between this game and Rise of the Triad, I thought these were the most awesome, high quality games out there.

[@GeneralBozo]

thanks for this! going from super mario kart on the snes, to this when we got a pc at home, i never really had a clue what i was doing. i do remember the overheat shutdown being really annoying though!

[@xarafan1]

Amazing game. I even got the addon Ghost Bear's Legacy. Good times!

[@MrNihilist74]

I was able to get the dos box version of this game working. I was so disappointed because it would not let me change the keybinds. The PS1 version of the game was my first mechwarrior game. I loved it and the newer games on pc. I wish I could get this one working with the keybinds that I wanted.

[@justinellis92]

I played this on PC all the time when I was little. Brings back memories.

[@ateacherwhogames8893]

The new mechwarrior games look great, but I do miss these big open maps.

[@juhoturunen]

Still the best mechwarrior game!

[@thereasonableamericans411]

Wow, I was 10 or 11 years old when I got this game, my mind was blown. I played this all the time for a couple years straight. Way ahead of it's time. Comanche the helicopter game was the only thing further ahead for it's time I think in that day.

[@morganbranch4450]

This game still holds up.

[@Leoluvesadmira]

My 1st mech game was MechWarrior 2 mercenaries

[@smilingbandit4975]

With MechCommander two of the best BattleTech games for PC ever. For the technology available back then this game was and still is overwhelming. Compared to the technology available nowadays and what is made out of it (see MW5) it is just sad.

[@oorgasmatron17]

Many memories this game. I used to play it after school at 13teen .

[@DanBlackRacing]

OMG this is awesome,. I used to play this SOOOOOOOOO much!

[@nascarsimracing1]

I heard about this game from my stepdad, who played this on an IBM Aptiva back in the 1990's. I tried To get this to work on my windows 10 pc but couldn't figure it out. But i am soo desperate to play this amazing game that I have 3 vintage pc's I am restoring solely for the purpose of playing these kinds of old games. Also, one of my pc's came with one of those awesome old 90's fat crt monitors!! And the BEST part is that the monitor WORKS! I am soo excited to finish restoring these pc's so I can play mechwarrior 2 with my stepdad. And one of the 3 pc's I am fixing is a dell latitude from 2000, which i will be putting windows 98 on it, and use it to play old games at SCHOOL! I guarantee I am prob the only person in my whole school who would bring a vintage laptop to school and play vintage games.

[@gdtyra]

I played this on an IBM Aptiva too! It was a weird desktop where the disk drive was separate from the main tower

[@EquilibresuaMente]

I have this original game to this day.

[@Ej6daniel]

Played this back in 2003 at age 8. I knew the graphics were bad but damn man. 😂

[@dermashy]

Ha I remember my pc had trouble running this game , 😮 . Still loved it 🙏🏻

[@dcable133]

Dear God this game was so fun. Brings back sooooooo many memories

[@dawnyzero0]

in about 2 months, we'll be 1075 from the 31st century and 1033 years from when MechaWarrior 2 takes place. 415 years until the first Mech is made. (I know it's an alternate universe, still a cool idea to imagine Mechs walking around. Like, for construction & entertainment)

[@novemberbathory7290]

I used to love shooting off one leg and all the weapons on an enemy. Watching them stand there completely immobile, defenseless and helpless was more fun than just blowing them up

[@captcorajus]

Wow, this brings back some awesome memories.

[@BaldingSasquatch]

I had this game when I was very young and I remember playing it a lot and never knowing what to do/what was going on

[@madzen112]

Lasers overheating, servos whirring, rocket barrages in your opponents face, this game had something!

[@gdbve3r]

Remember playing net mek on 56k modem? That game defined "lag shooting" Depending on ping, you have to aim half a mek, a full mek, 2 meks, or even up to 3 mek distance infront of your target. The sad thing is, this hasn't really changed....

[@Alianger]

Which sound device is used? Sounds like GM or MT-32 after the intro

[@JoeUseres]

My fist game on a PC... love

[@bigpepperoncini6918]

I could never get this to run on my 90s pc cries in DOS nostalgia 😭😭

[@ryandixon9971]

I remember watching my dad play this when I was a year old

[@christianescudero3496]

How do you have memories from 1 year old?

[@srbrant5391]

Dude, what the fuck?

[@thereasonableamericans411]

That's because you did it last week.

[@Relic827]

The opening cutscene compared with the gameplay would be perfect for an “expectations vs reality” meme

[@stevendeamon]

Still better than the new Mechwarrior 5 :)

[@meridionreftaghn3971]

Jesus, this was all the rage when I was, what, 10? xD

[@TianarTruegard]

Ah the classic Mechwarrior experience... I may have to see if I can get this running on Dos Box... Mechwarrior 5 is fun but lacks the Clan experience. Wish they'd do a MW2 remake or a new Mechwarrior featuring the Clans.

[@pepbarcalista6076]

Nostalgiaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DAYUM

[@Wellilady]

I still love it. Mechwarrior forever!

[@stoopie9655]

i was looking for the title of this game since 2000. nice.

[@gamoviede3460]

i remember my friend was son of a dentist, he got a killer pc for birthday with this game...

[@sengyew83]

How were you able to access all entries in the Archive Holoprojector? I recall multiple entries were greyed out when I played it back in the 90s. Were they patched in?

[@TangFiend1]

This guy is a total Sibko Reject . . .. years later I am yelling at the screen. Yeah . . congratulations 'mechwarrior'

[@Chidoro41]

Purchased a sidewinder pro stick just to play this

[@700gsteak]

man, I always wanted one of those back then. When I found out they released a usb edition, I was really kicking myself that I never got one.

[@migovas1483]

The atmosphere on this game was awesome, There are still games that don't understand how limiting players IS how things should be... of course this will irritate most people that want quick fast and easy play, ...

[@Gentleman...Driver]

My first game. Couldnt understand English as a kid and I sucked and failed every mission. But it was my only game and I tried my best. 🥺

[@migovas1483]

Good game, so simple things as the right angles, and the camera motion and the panels around you to take care, and don't forget your cockpit rotates like a tank so your walking direction is unrelated to your angle of aim/vision. keep your heat in Check and make your Ammo count. All these things made the game more immersive and forced you to think out of the box on many situations. Sure the graphics sucks by todays standards but the experience was worth it . I always take this game as reference for whatever biped machine a game want to introduce and the result is mostly disappointing. They always dumb down to a more Arcade like experience. Hell, even powering the Mech On and Off was awesome.

[@mz98snake]

I remember thinking this game looking amazing and thought it was so realistic when i was a kid lol.

[@aquarius5719]

And you have not played the tabletop game that came before the videogames. Search "battletech catalog".

[@davidkierzkowski]

Did any of the newer release capture the same gameplay feeling? This was so badass

[@dshufflz3129]

This game was epic. Wish they would revamp it.

[@anthonyC9199]

In 1995, at 5 years, old I could never figure out how to play this game.

[@PeakyBlinder.Platinum]

I Played in Windows95 with invincible mode.

[@An_de_Li]

Futuristic game for some kind of men. Game the best for its time (1995), by the way. (^_^) (Like 691; Comm 156; Views 90K)

[@david55200]

i think i have finish this game 15 time.... My father offer me this game for my birthday at 15 years old. The video lack of cd-rom music. For play it , you need a special cable linked to cdrom drive for heard cd music.

[@fractal_gate]

OMG my CHILDHOOOOOOD😭