MW2 Mercenaries Intro Remake 2019

Remake of Activision's Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries intro video.
After about a year of spending some (too many) free evenings on this project I call it finished. Animated and rendered in Blender 3D with EEVEE realtime render engine. The Mech and cockpit models, and some sounds are taken from Piranha Games Mechwarrior Online, some (CC0) sounds from freesound.org, everything else was modeled, textured and animated by me.
Hope you have fun and feel the nostalgia of this awesome game from 1996 :)

[@ra-ul1238]

Reviewing some of the comments I want to add some points here. #1: Since doing this video I have progressed as an artist in many aspects and have better hardware nowadays I would do a lot of things differently than back in 2018/19. #2 A remake only offers a limited number of possibilities for changes, especially by sticking to the original soundtrack (which was a concious decision, because I love it). I agree that there are controversial topics like one-shotting an atlas and why was the Victor (originally Zeus) was left back etc. These were not my choices but the choices done by the original creators of the intro. With all that said, I want to thank everyone who viewed this work, stopped by and commented, whether positive or seemingly negative or with constructive criticism, it is highly appreciated. It shows me that creating artwork for the Battletech universe, which is one of my passions, finds some resonance. That's why I'm spending my free time on creating this stuff. Have a good day!

[@aries144]

I have fond memories of the original intro. I enjoyed your remake. You're good. I can see you becoming great. Carry on!

[@tplambert]

Beautiful work. The question is, are you going to tackle the famous mw2 mercs battle of Tukkayid end video? I think I speak for all mechwarrior fans here when I say it may have made a few of us shed a tears....

[@ral47]

Thank you for creating something new from an old thing people love. Let the people who dont like your mech choices make their own videos.

[@electro7435]

Yeah people are whining about it in the comments like as if it is impossible to get headshot or something.

[@ra-ul1238]

@@tplambert I was indeed planning to do it, but then got to work on another exciting project called Hired Steel: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z2PSZXVvr5eVepo

[@Datan0de]

Something I've noticed about the intros to the older MW games: The weapons are either totally ineffective or they one-shot their targets. Still, happy memories!

[@TheInsomniaddict]

Funnily enough, the ballistics in MW2 Mercs were buggy and often didn't register hits. So when the colonel fires her AC5, it doing nothing kind of makes sense.

[@SeraphimRoad]

Plotarmor is thick on this one. Until it fails

[@shaider1982]

Activision intros seem to always have ended with a missile to the face. Battlez zone (1998) had that

[@phelanwolf6747]

@@shaider1982 well, Ghost Bear‘s legacy intro ends with a Kodiak in the face :P I wish death from above and other melee attacks would work in MWO. Too bad there was never a Mechwarrior 5, same as there was never a sequel to the Matrix movie.

[@boxtank5288]

Well both with buggy mechanics but also sometimes it may not seem like you're doing much, especially when a good shot earns retaliation fire that you notice does more, then you nail it good and BOOM, definitely did something that time because it is down, maybe hitting the cockpit (which is the fastest way to take out a mech but hardest due to the tiny profile)

[@amurizon]

"Look on the bright side, kid: you get the keep all the money." Brought back memories. Good job!

[@zureal01]

Same here, oh man, such good memories. Do you remember the multiplayer jump hop trick? oh man, it was pretty intesne.

[@captainarcher5205]

To this day... I still don’t understand that line I mean, she’s dead. What’s she keeping? LOL

[@Ionsniper]

He was saying it to the rookie pilot in the commando that made it aboard.

[@derekmann3340]

DUH!

[@razorburn645]

All about the Cbills and glory.

[@inquisitordragon6827]

What she said "Damn, Eat This!" What I heard "Damn, He's Thick!" Which is a very good description for an Atlas.

[@foofoo3344]

Yeah, the Atlas does have a thick torso.

[@tplambert]

In 2021 it’s ‘he’s thicc’.

[@ShineyFace1337]

I mean, you'r not wrong

[@SANECCO]

and here I thought she said, 'he's history!'

[@primal9007]

You're not wrong. The Atlas has a very thicc torso which makes it a prime target to hit it.

[@thadofalltrades]

The VA of that dropship captain is so badass. I just love the way he says, "look at the bright side kid, you get to keep all the money."

[@JensMorrison]

Yeah, but I still hate the guy.

[@procrastinatinggamer]

Am I crazy or does the dropship captain sound like Crispin Freeman to anyone else?

[@Spiralpaladin]

@@procrastinatinggamer It kinda sounds like Phil Lamarr to me.

[@davidklein4581]

I love when she said, “there is still room in hell for your sorry carcass”. My favorite Mech just annihilated her. I love the Catapult

[@vexingrabbit1824]

I roll with the Shadow Hawk, medium armor, pretty fast, hits hard compare to most mechs in it's class, and looks awesome.

[@davidklein4581]

@@vexingrabbit1824 your not wrong

[@clintfell7668]

@@vexingrabbit1824 Only problem with the Shadow Hawk was its completely terrible weapons. An AC5 for mid to long range, A LRM 5 for mid to long range, an SRM2 to add more dangerous ammo your never going to be able to use before it get blown up, and a single medium laser for short to medium range. Even its main variants had terrible guns. AC5s are terrible for any era and the SRM2 would be better off as another medium laser and heat sink. That AC5 is better off a large laser with added heat sinks and armor. But as long as you are allowed to strip the terrible guns off and replace them then the Shadow Hawk is one of my favorite mechs around.

[@vexingrabbit1824]

@@clintfell7668 I usually frop the AC5 and LRM5s for a AC-10 or 20 then armor it up and you have a mid class mech that can take down an assault mech if your careful with decent speeds and armor. However it does have it flaws like the big gun on the shoulder that is easy to destroy and what not but all mechs have some weakness. I still like my Shadow Hawk, leave my poor 700 year old mech alone T_T

[@jamesweddle184]

Well done bro, that really brought back some good memories! Now the intros to MW2 and GBL need your magic touch!

[@tkrys]

This

[@tarawallis9823]

Anymuster (channel) did a great remake of MW2 opening cinema, although that video is now 10 years old

[@squizzlor]

Damn, think this is the greatest thing ever done with Piranhas assets. That ramp segment using the cockpit view lookedfantastic.

[@ryanmontgomery3300]

Beautiful recreation of the original intro, which didnt age quite as well with time as i thought it would in my head. You did a great job matching the timing of the original while improving on the animation.

[@peters6345]

Would love to see MW2:M come back as a remake. Such a cool game

[@YurNikolaev]

Yes, MW2:M remake on MW5 engine. That would be a blast.

[@gipsydangeramericasmonster9632]

I would love something similar but as an rpg. Like fallout or skyrim, in a sense

[@apaijmans]

They should do a remake with the same dark voices and humor. Lot's of it.

[@SuperScopeDog]

@@YurNikolaev MW5 is a good starting platform but it is incomplete as a Mercenaries game. Didn't need a story just a setting with handcrafted events in Battletech history spanning from the 4th Succesion War to the Clan invasion. MW2 had all that. I don't want to be attached to cardboard characters, I want to run a Merc outfit and keep all the money.

[@AnnatarCarvour]

@@SuperScopeDogMechwarrior 5 mercs has gotten much better with the updates Heroes of the inner sphere an now Legends of the Kestrel Lancers..patches ..I used to play the orginal MW2 mercs when.it first came out.

[@StingrayProductionsZone]

My goodness! The best mechwarrior remake I've ever seen! Congrats on a superb job!

[@sammehlberg6664]

Ahhhhhh my very first battletech experience, bought with 20 other games in a box from office depot.

[@selfsaboteursounds5273]

RIP Col. Holly Harris, she was a real OG

[@TimberwolfCY]

Damn fine work here. I do miss the Zeus in there; the OG intro gave it a special place in my heart, and honestly the MWO model for it is a spitting image of the one from the original Merc2 intro. That said, still great work and very much appreciated!

[@finegamingconnoisseur]

As an old-time fan of MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries, this remake is actually very well put together. Thank you for this video.

[@calebscrewloose]

Oof the absolute chills. Waves of nostalgia hit like an AC/20 from an Atlas to your Left Arm.

[@Chromedbustop]

People nitpick too much. This was really good!

[@NoGutsNoGalaxy]

So very cool, wish PGI would've done something like this for MW5 Mercs... Thanks for doing this, you got plans to continue these?

[@ra-ul1238]

I was indeed planning to continue these and already started setting up props for the MW2 Mercs end scene, but since last August I'm part of the TMC crew on the Hired Steel project and put other things on ice. But I think you will be delighted with Episode 1 which should be released in Q1 this year.

[@thadofalltrades]

This is really great. The different weapon types when the commander killed the atlas and when the commando fired on the Catapult felt a little empty. The SRM rocket sound in the original is very iconic.

[@Nxtl68]

Can we talk about how the drop ship could have totally stayed there the extra two seconds it would have taken to get the Victor on the ramp?

[@ra-ul1238]

Right, something I wondered as well in the original intro. I guess in a mercenaries world the argument would be about not getting paid enough to risk some scratches on the hull.

[@Nxtl68]

@@ra-ul1238 I guess. I doubt that Catapult would have been able to put that dropship down unless it had an arrow IV stashed somewhere

[@StingrayProductionsZone]

@@Nxtl68 From what I heard years ago, a tactic of mechwarriors would be to wait for mechs to start to board, then launch missiles inside the doors into the interior which could bring down a dropship instantly. They probably had to cover the doors fast before the catapult could launch it's salvo inside.

[@kelvincasing5265]

tbf he also does say the dropship’s weapons are down

[@sinisterhunter]

@@kelvincasing5265 altho that makes no sense unless he took offscreen fire

[@user-wq7xt8vr6c]

In 1996 Zeus? In 2019 Victor? Am i right?

[@ra-ul1238]

Correct, I took the (artistic) freedom to go for that change

[@user-wq7xt8vr6c]

Great work, thank you :-)

[@lhke2012]

Notably, we haven't seen a Zeus with a right-handed ballistic hard point in MWO

[@petehjr1]

Yeah Zeus cant headshot an Atlas in one shot like a Victor can

[@benwhitehead2125]

I thought that too!

[@harryhoudini714]

THANK YOU!!!!!!! to whoever did this!

[@ben2741]

Pretty good use of available tools

[@Jaime-Wolf]

Lol the ending is how all mechwarrior online games end up. everyone else being the light mech that made it to the drop ship and the assault left behind to fend for themselves and left to die.

[@Sgt_Glory]

Amazing work, so glad you did this. Brought back some wonderful memories. Thank you.

[@KeiNova]

I just covered this game on my channel. You are really amazing for doing this, it looks great!

[@michaelmorford3932]

Just now found this video because of a BigRed 40Tech follower. Great job, brings back fond memories of the game! That final line is chilling. 😍

[@11chaseWINDU]

my brother who's 10 years older than me had this game when i was little. i was about 8 at the time i believe. when he went to college he left this game at the family computer. i would boot it up just to watch this intro. Then I'd pick a random mech and walk through the desert having no idea what the hell i was doing or how to start the actual campaign. I just loved listening to the music and firing rockets into the void. good times

[@waraspan755]

Oh my god. It´s awesome. More. Just make more, some shortfilms not intros only. It´s brillant. Why did I find this great video today, not earlier?

[@ra-ul1238]

I'm working on more, not on my own but with TMC. We just released a Machinima this Friday: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nHOno3qhod2kqc0

[@mwhighlander]

Damn that's well done. Needs more foggy orange planet effect, though!

[@mkpolos]

Still love seeing this from time to time, so well done and I really appreciate you bringing this cool scene back to life, more than it ever was.

[@Deusmecumest]

Oh man, what memories that brings.

[@Myrkky100]

Really good work. I can live with Atlas going down easy and everything, the only problem I really have with this intro is that the Victor is standing *right* next to a dropship taking off and it does absolutely nothing to it. It could have, say, been blown over by the blastoff and the final image could have been the Catapult's foot coming down on its head. Not Ra-ul's fault, obviously.

[@creedrichards137]

Not bad, It could have used more of the cinematic character of the original, like the first missile the Catapult fired at Commander Harris flying above her mech before the killing blow. Despite that, it was a good remake. Once addition I very much liked was the scene of the dropship entering the planet's atmosphere.

[@renumultiplus]

Wow, this is really amazing! Brings back all sorts of memories.

[@RSColddawg]

That's....uh. That's a weird lookin ZEUS the Commander is driving.

[@jeremydelaughter5127]

it's a victor, likely he is using MW5 models that don't include a Zeus. Still it's a good remake dispite that.

[@RSColddawg]

@@jeremydelaughter5127 Zeus is in MW5

[@jeremydelaughter5127]

@@RSColddawg okay I stand corrected, I don't know why he didn't use the correct model then

[@jeremydelaughter5127]

quick FYI, it is in MW 5 but i've never found one darn my luck...

[@absilint1318]

The animator used mech warrior online

[@mancer0]

Sweet. When you do an open world campaign in Mech 5 this should be the intro.

[@GodBeastX]

Thanks for reminding me of my teenage years. LOVE IT! I wish I could give you 100 thumbs up!

[@ioreodream]

Great update on one of the most intense mechwarrior intros.

[@ryry187]

That was awesome !!!

[@RenRenification]

Just epic! Gives me goosebumps from 10 year old me playing this.

[@DidacticGarbanzo]

Man, this is AWESOME!

[@MemeatorMotivatoroftheMemes]

I may have grown up on MW3 Mercenaries, but damn does this look good. Lots of patchy memories from when I was 10 just sitting at a computer running Windows Vista (I still remember when 7 came out and I nearly blue screened the computer installing it) but having the time of my life. Maybe one of these days I'll get back into Mech Warriors, but for now it feels like the magic is gone with the newer games at least for me.

[@DJTourniquet]

While I do wish you had kept the flying piece of armor at the end for the mw2 mercs title, this is far better than the original. Well done my man.

[@xcrimsinx]

I played that game at least 10 times over the years, good memories.

[@dividedby1024]

I just found this! Awesome work!

[@PsyckoSama]

And that's where the drop ship captain gets fragged by the mechwarriors.

[@AndyShell]

This is my favorite mw intro

[@ScorpiusZA.]

Aaaah - The memories

[@gogglespaesano8102]

Awesome! Should do the Original MW2 and the Ghost Bear's Legacy ones also!

[@RedHand17]

man this is cool! :) this was the first MechWarrior / BattleTech thing i ever saw when i played MWM 2 ,

[@danielroesner2342]

Great Job. Looking forward to your MW2 and MW2:GBL intro and the MW2 Mercs ending movie (Tukayyid battle). :)

[@primal9007]

Holy shit on a stick. This is legit 100% clean right here. You need more subs. This is a masterpiece.

[@massimodambrogio]

Amazing work! 💗 Blender

[@blacklynx7720]

A very good remake effort, nice work. Nice to see people still make Mechwarrior stuff.

[@mbarker_lng]

Lot of comments about the weapons in the vids not matching the meta. Gotta keep it real here folks- watching a 5 min duel between a Zeus/Victor and an Atlas isnt going to work for game intro footage. Even if it wasnt tedious to watch, the file size of such a vid would be gigantic and have consumed a ton of room on the game's CD-Rom. (btw I was the lead tester or MW2:Mercs 3DFX enhancement/multiplayer/dynamic salvage patch bundle ;) )

[@IrishBagel07]

Loving it. Absolutely stellar work right there. And know that I know this exists, I'd love to see the same treatment for the MW3 Intro.

[@ra-ul1238]

Thanks, but I don't see a MW3 intro remake happen anytime soon. It's not that bad as it is.

[@IrishBagel07]

@@ra-ul1238 Ah well, a man can dream.

[@ra-ul1238]

@@IrishBagel07 Always :)

[@SirxMMPD]

Really nice re-make of the intro!

[@Makaan]

Btw now spend another year doing a remake of the outro ("battle of Tukayyid day 20" one)¡¡

[@ra-ul1238]

It is a consideration I'm taking.

[@kahlzun]

this was pretty good for Blender. Nice specular work on the Commando's eye also! Always wondered why the commander didn't just eject

[@capterson4]

Y'know, with the FFVII remake and everything going on, I'd love to see an MW2: Mercs remake. I know it won't happen because of rights issues, but still.

[@speeve1366]

Could come back in a MW5M mod total conversion

[@jonnyb70]

there's no reason it couldn't happen in MW5.

[@speeve1366]

@@jonnyb70 it needs to happen

[@smokayman]

Christopher Tysowski; probably best if someone mods it. Piranha could never do it justice.

[@CrizzyEyes]

So far there's a pretty good sound effect mod and music mod for MW2 into MW5. Now we just need the right campaign...

[@Jerad2142]

Love this game (still play it to this day) very well done!

[@Belgereth75]

Sweet! Brought back that sense of badassery the first time I saw the opening cinematic from the original!

[@Belgereth75]

Shared on NGNG discord.

[@RenegadeHPG]

This looks great! Nice job

[@user-ki4ms5jg7r]

That was DAMW good! My respect for this vid! Good job! BTW, it seems the first cadre of the video has more pixels, than vanilla Intro, LOL)

[@TT-pb3ew]

fantastic work! loved every bit of it, youre work is amazing! just wished that either they remade MW2 MERCS with new graphics or i could find an old win98 computer to run it on :)

[@ra-ul1238]

Thanks, glad you like it. You could try to run Win 98 SE on a virtual machine like VirtualBox and see if you get MW2 running.

[@jamesaseltine2756]

Badazz! Kikn mech action!

[@Yezu666]

Amazing work!

[@cmdrreggit]

"Command, I got the recon data and one pissed off Atlas on my tail! ... DC Catapult on the rise!" .....shivers!

[@needparalegal]

I would fire that dropship captain before my next mission, LOL.

[@syedahmadqusoiri3067]

The glorious days of Mechwarrior.. these days, it's just sad..

[@AshaiTides]

Holy shit, hell yeah!

[@speeve1366]

Fuck it had the same intensity it did when I was 12, and seeing it now, my god. That was beautiful, thank you for that.

[@Sikknote]

This is excellent.

[@shodanxx]

Fantastic job !

[@SupCom78]

damn good video there comes back memories. ^^

[@nachoakajrod]

I didn’t think I would like it, but damn son that was perfect.

[@amyandvik]

2 years late for this party but awesome!

[@sylviusleonard5144]

This was sick!

[@Makaan]

Very well done. You took some liberties and changed some details, and the combat action has a bit less of intensity but its still a joy to watch.

[@ra-ul1238]

Thanks

[@vafan13]

It makes me happy that 20+ years later someone said, "I want to remake the Mechwarrior 2 Mercenaries intro." Great memories.

[@ra-ul1238]

Thanks. Not much stuck with me for so long like the love for the Battletech universe.

[@vafan13]

@@ra-ul1238 MW2 was one of (if not *the*) first new game I got after my family got our first computer. Was ~10 at the time and it blew me away. Got GBL when it came out, naturally, and then absolutely loved MW2:M. The way they introduced the clans and the mechanics of being a mercenary hiring others, picking missions, and making/spending money was all done really well. Will always hold a special place in my heart and memory.

[@Psi_Cop]

I think this is a great. The rough pieces are definitely there, but it is missing a lot of the polish. Not a gripe, just a comment. What a graphics programmer could get away with in '95-'96 is a lot harder to do now :) And like you said, it's not easy trying to time it all to someone else's established soundtrack. Nice job!

[@dttenorio]

That was awesome.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Fantastic. Absolutely brought back some good memories. Though, where's the Zeus! ;)

[@tbone9474]

I always thought the catapult fired an Arrow IV system at the end. Other than that great update, other than the Zeus missing but you already covered that

[@ra-ul1238]

Yep, I realized that it was an Arrow IV after finalizing the project.

[@tbone9474]

@@ra-ul1238 would've saved you a bit of time animating it:) but honestly looks good, I certainly couldn't do it

[@dallassukerkin6878]

Absolutely excellent, good sir!

[@ChairmanMo]

Wow, that is fucking beautiful!

[@DarthCalculus]

Very nice!!

[@Seofthwa]

Still a great video and don't sweat the small stuff.

[@LeonardoSANTOS666]

AMAZING!!!

[@Quake210]

Oh Hell YES!

[@YINGYANGPOLARBEAR]

Nicely done 👌

[@theHerathrig]

Good work but it lacks the dark hellish atmosphere the original had.

[@JeraldSizzler]

Damned good stuff!

[@TheWingless]

Your *former* Commander... Colonel Holly Harris.

[@DUYT09]

This is great

[@blaggzear3152]

epical work! i got tears in my eyes....

[@brad506th]

They really need to reboot that game. 10x better immersion than MW5.

[@NeroimusIndustries]

Kinda wish you still used the zeus, but good job!

[@Primetimus]

fantastic remake that feels true to the original! I was always thinking if the original was to make more sense it would have shown more mechs approaching their location in the background, perhaps the dropship getting hit and it's weapons systems being knocked out, the commander's mech legs damaged or further away?. Just random thoughts of mine :)