Heavy Metal: MechWarrior Online's Hunchback
The concept of a giant robot so giant that it makes all the other giant robots seem like adorable little rhinos appeals to me, I think, on a very fundamental, perhaps even instinctual level. As someone who is neither giant nor (to my knowledge) a robot, I somewhat fancy the idea of striking spine-tingling, fight-or-flight-invoking fear into someone with my mere presence. And MechWarrior Online's Hunchback, thankfully, looks to offer me a chance to take the reins on that particular fantasy. According to Piranha, this 'bot tips the scales (by which I of course mean all of them at once) at 50 tons - 20 percent of which is armor, and the rest of which is probably guns. See it perform incredible feats of moving at all after the break.
But what, pray tell, does one do with an impossibly large mechanized warrior? Bake a pie? Rescue kittens from trees you're about to step on? Start a small but reliably profitable business venture? Nope to all three, shockingly. Apparently, you wage war with a MechWarrior. Who'd have thought?
"The Hunchback 4G is a close-range brawler, with thick armour and excellent weaponry. Capable of dealing as much damage as it can take, the Hucnhback is hard to put down, and hard to defend against. Extremely capable in any urban environment, look for this 'Mech at the vanguard of attacks; the AC/20 alone is cause for pause, but adding two medium lasers and a small laser just add to the close-in killing power."
So then, simple and to-the-point - nearly as practical as the concept of a giant robot isn't. In a game with so much inherent complexity, though, it's nice to hear that at least one mech won't require its own series of textbooks - well, for coming to grips with the basics, anyway. Is anyone in the beta, though? Have you taken this mech for a spin? I'm still leaning toward the Jenner, but I consider myself profoundly open-minded when it comes to colossal metal death machines.