Picked it up an hour or so ago and played a few levels (2-3) of single player. So far it's definitely better than the single player in the first at the same point in the game graphically and funwise.
Mech jacking is particularly cool I'm gonna have loads of fun with that feature online :lol. The whole feel of the mechs is a lot better this time around, much more weighty, even the light mechs... which makes it more realistic.
The updated visuals rock, especially the mech explosions. There's a very cool effect now where the surrounding area visually gets sucked into the core of the explosion (think mini black hole effect)... then boom! Also, the flamethrower is actually a flamethrower this time around heh. In motion it looks very good, but you can't light stuff on fire. While I haven't tried it on people yet (tee hee) you can't ignite trees so most hope is lost.
The addition of the tank, battle armor and the like give a lot of variation to the battles this time around. I can't wait to head online to take advantage of these changes, but that'll have to wait till I'm through with single player.
So far the music is pretty good. I hate to compare it to Halo 2, but you can't play MA2 and not get a Halo 2 vibe from the music. At one point I swore I heard the melody from one of the Halo 2 levels. :lol
Right now the main problems I have with the game are the controls.
1- There is no control customization. (wtf?)
2- In MA1 the x/y/b buttons were used to control weapon selection which was a much better alternative to using L to cycle. With that feature you could do various weapons combos. In MA2 the face button weapon selection has been removed and you're forced to used the cycle method.
3- MA1 players will often find themselves jumping out of there mech/armor/tanks accidentally at first because of problem #2.
I'm definitely looking forward to Conquest mode though, hopefully it's close to the fun I had with Multiplayer Battletech: 3025 that EA ran a few years back, and then canned.
I was all over Mutiplayer Battletech Solaris back in the days... I loved that game *sob*.
One thing I wished they carried over from that to both MA1&2 was the mechdamage. Because of that feature there was a lot more strategy to the battles in Battletech compared to MechAssaut. You have readouts of the targeted mechs which gave you weapon stats, armor ratings etc. I remember my clan having printouts of mechs, armor ratings, weapon locations, strategies etc
For example, if most of the heavy hitting weapons were located on the left shoulder/arm of you enemy you could blow off the whole left side of his mech and send him on the defensive. You could even blow off a leg or two and leave him stranded on the battlefield while you run around his soon to be corpse. :lol Then you could trash talk him and pelt him with weak weapons until either he ejected from the mech or you decided to end his pain.
Mechs also had weak spots back then, located usually in the small of the back or back of the head. One good alpha strike and they were done for. Those were the days... I miss strategy.
