Heavy Gear Assault Stomps Into Early Access
Stomp stomp
Correction: An earlier version of this post said the game was free-to-play, following outdated information on the game's site. No, it won't be free-to-play, but it will sell instant unlocks for folks who want them.
When Activision lost the BattleTech rights to make MechWarrior games, they turned to a Heavy Gear license to fill the 'stompy murderbot combat' hole in their lineup. Well, MechWarrior games returned in the ongoing nostalg-o-rama, and Heavy Gear's back too.
Stompy Bot Productions and MekTek (those folks behind the revamped free re-release of MechWarrior 4) failed to Kickstart Heavy Gear Assault [official site] in 2013, but they kept on toiling and tinkering anyway. Now they've turned to that other modern funding novelty - early access - to let folks in and start playing as they finish it up for a 2016 launch.
Buying in now for $40 (£26) upwards will get you early access, instant unlocks for two mechs and some weapons, and in-game cash to buy some more. More expensive packages offer more.
The game's not simply MechWarrior, mind. Heavy Gear does MechWarrior-ish things, but gears are a lot zippier than mechs.
Heavy Gear Assault is due to properly launch on Windows and Linux in 2016. Here's an "early alpha" gameplay trailer from December 2014; I don't know why they don't have a proper new trailer showing off how the game looks now:
