Welcome!

This game is very special to the House as it is probably the game that brought the original members together. Besides which it is still great fun! If you are new to the game you might check out CIMM Sharks site Mechassault for beginners

House Variations

Confusion
Galactic Conquest
Loki's Revenge
Team Destruction on CTF or Take it maps

 

Mechassault Links

Shadow Panther - Fantastic site
 MechAssault 1 Xbox Official Site
Fasa/Day1- the Developer
Dropship Command
MechNexus-general site for all things mech.

(Not quite) 30 Things you may not know about Mechassault

From ShadowPanthers site (wonderful site)

1. An Atlas (6000) has more armor than its variant, the Prometheus (5500).

2. The Ragnarok and Ymir each have less armor than the Atlas or Prometheus, although they weigh the same.

3. The Owens and Hackman both have more armor than the slower Cougar and Puma.

4. Listed speeds for most Mechs are inaccurate, otherwise a 40 mph Cougar would get from one location to another twice as fast as a 20 mph Atlas. In reality, not even an Owens or Hackman is twice as fast as an Atlas. If the *accepted* base speed for an Atlas is 20 mph, then an Owens is only 36 mph in relation to that.

5. The Bowman and Catapult Mechs are just as slow as an Atlas - - 20 mph.

6. The Vulture is slower than its variant, the Mad Dog.

7. An Elemental is by far the slowest Mech in the game, clocking in at 13 mph (relative to an Atlas' 20 mph) or 15 mph with use of its Jump Jets.

8. Jump Jets are not equal on all Mechs. A Bowman's Jump Jets last for 8 seconds while a Thor's Jump Jets only last for 5. However, the Thor's Jump Jets have a shorter recharge time of 3 seconds compared to 4 seconds for the Bowman. Also, certain Mechs can fly faster and farther than other Mechs, even if they have the same amount of "hangtime." Mechs that can fly the farthest include the Kit Fox and Uller. Mechs with the shortest flying distaces include the Summoner and Elemental. All Jump Jets (except for those on an Elemental) have the same height maximum and move the Mech at a slower speed than when running.

9. Mechs each give out different amounts of green armor salvage. Heavier Mechs leave more armor than lighter Mechs.

10. Level 2 Pulse lasers do more damage (per laser) than level 3 Pulse lasers, even though level 3 Pulse Lasers fire at a much faster rate and do more damage over time.

11. Machine Guns bullets do 1.5-2.5 times more damage than individual Pulse Lasers, but have a much shorter range and slower rate of fire. However, they still do more damage per second on average than Pulse Lasers, with about half the heat.

12. Javelin missiles do more than twice the amount of damage per missile than Crossbow missiles but have a rate of fire that is slower by about half.

13. Warhammer missiles do about 4-4.5 times more damage than Javelin Missiles, and can actually be fired slightly faster.

14. Lava Guns have splash damage and have knockdown ability as well.

15. Level 3 Dual Warhammers (Prometheus, Bowman) do as much damage as a 3 round blast of the the Lava Gun, with the same splash radius. Level 3 Dual Warhammers can actually do more damage over time, with less heat, than Lava Gun blasts!

16. A MadCat's Dual PPCs only dish out about 2/3 as much damage as a set of Dual Hammers at the same level.

17. The Gauss rifle shot has a slight amount of homing capability which is hardly noticeable due to its fast projectile speed. Not only that, but at levels 2 and 3 it has "Knockdown" ability which allows it to knock other Mechs down around 5% - 20% of the time. The Autocannon, on the other hand, has no homing capability but can knock Mechs down as much as 10% - 50% of the time at levels 2 and 3. However, the heaviest "Assault Class" Mechs (Atlas, Prometheus, Ragnarok and Ymir) do not appear to be affected by Knockdown Ability.

18. Warhammer Missiles and Lava Guns aren't the only weapons with Splash Damage. Both Crossbow and Javelin Missiles have a minor splash damage ability, which deals around half normal damage and has very small radius of about 1/2 to 1/4 of a Mech's width.

19. Holding down the charge on a PPC or holding down the timer on a Warhammer missile slows down your heat dissipation or cooldown rate so that it takes twice as long to cool down.

20. There are currently only three Mechs in the game that do not have homing weapons: Summoner, Bowman and Kit Fox. The Raven and Corvus will soon join this "elite" group, but neither of those Mechs will have the benefit of Warhammers. These Mechs seem to have been designed specifically for "pros."

21. A falling Mech deals damage equal to its weight X 10 to the Mech on which it falls. Therefore, a falling Thor deals 70 X 10 damage or 700 damage. A falling Atlas (which was difficult to setup, I might add) deals 1,000 points of damage. Even Elementals deal falling damage of 50 points per fall (I know, not very impressive.) This damage only occurs when there is a strike to the "head" of the Mech, whether it is a direct hit or even a glancing blow. Knowing that Mechs can deal falling damage means that Jump Jets have offensive as well as defensive applications.

22. A Core Breach (the explosion after your Mech dies) has a radius that is approximately 2 Mechs wide and always deals 3,000 points of damage regardless of the size of the Mech that is exploding (Elementals not included.) If you know your Mech has less than 3,000 points of armor left then stay away!

23. Falling buildings can also be used as deadly weapons. Unlike a Core Breach, which has a single, set amount of damage, building rubble deals damage over time. The longer you stand in the cloud of falling rubble, the more damage you take. Also, the taller the building, the more damage it causes, because taller buildings take longer to fall. Mechs appear to take more damage if they are standing on top of a building rather than next to it. Although it is difficult to calculate the amount of damage a falling building deals, I have been able to determine how much armor each building has. Here are armor values for common buildings in River City - Small: 500, Medium: 1,000, Large: 2,000, Bridge: 1,500. Knowing how many shots it takes to destroy the bridge someone is standing on can be quite handy. Just divide 1,500 by the amount of damage your weapon does to get this number.

24. Although only certain weapons have homing ability (PPC, Gauss Rifle, Crossbow and Javelin Missiles), all weapons have "tracking" ability. Homing would be defined as your weapon's ability to home in on the target (through infrared or other means) as it flies through the air. Tracking, on the other hand, would be your targeting reticle's ability to lock onto a target before firing and then aim the weapon so that the projectile(s) will intercept the path of the target. This means that even "dumbfire" Warhammers have the ability to fire at an angle to cross the path of the target *as long as it remains on the exact same course and speed.* If the target changes course or speed, the non-homing projectile will continue in a straight line, most likely missing the target.

25. "You can push other mechs up hills they otherwise can't go up. I successfully pushed an owens all the wap up the steep cliff at blue's spawning point in the icepack level using a bowman and jumpjets. A simplier example would be to push a madcat up the hill at red or blue's spawning point in the colloseum. They normally have to go around by the bridge to go up the hill. If the hill is really tall the mech that's pushing is gonna need jump jets to push them all the way up." -

26. The Raven and Corvus are the only Mech variants that do not share the same Jump Jet ability (or lack thereof.) With all other pairs, either both variants have Jump Jets or both don't. Also, the Raven has a different weapon selection than what was originally planned.  Instead of 2 Lasers, the Raven only has one Laser along with a single Crossbow Missile. Since the Raven now has a homing weapon, this means that the Corvus is the only Mech that does not benefit from either a homing weapon or a splash weapon like the Warhammer Missile (see #20 above)

27. On multiplayer maps, lava does not deal damage, it only increases your Mech's heat. Also, the "heat vent pillars" that you see on Coliseum and h*ll's Kitchen generate heat if you stand near them, but not if you stand on them! - posted

28. The map you are playing on has no bearing whatsoever on Mech Cooldown Times. A Ymir takes 20 seconds to cool down whether he is standing in Colosseum, River City or Frosty. As long as he isn't standing in Lava, Water or next to a Heat Vent, he will always cool down in 20 seconds on any map, when not firing his weapons. - posted 3/7/03

29. Water (regardless of the map) decreases your Mech's Cooldown Time by about 30%. A Ymir standing in River City's river will cool down in 14 seconds. A Ymir standing in Icepack's "ice water" will also cool down in 14 seconds.

 
Mechassault Reviews

12/31/2002 Team Xbox Names MechAssault Best Action Game of the Year!
 Also wins Best Xbox Live Game of the Year
 Read the full article

12/21/2002 Gamespot Names MechAssault Xbox Game of the Year!
 Also wins Best Online game and Best Shooter
 Read the full article

12/17/2002 Game Invasion Reviews MechAssault
 Overall Score: 85 out of 100
"Overall, you can't do much better than MechAssault for the Xbox."
 Read the full review

12/10/2002 Bjorn3D.com Reviews MechAssault
 Overall Score:  9.5 out of 10.0
"If you are tired of first person shooters and seek a serious level of destruction, pick this game up and coerce your friends to play too."
 Read the full review

12/4/2002 Gamer's Pulse Reviews MechAssault
 Overall Score: 46 out of 50
"Offering exceptional graphics, minimal slowdown, and terrific gameplay options both online and off, MechAssault looks to be a keeper for the long term."
 Read the full review

11/22/2002 GDXbox Reviews MechAssault
 Overall Score: 4.5 out of 5
"To top off the great game play and control, the Xbox's power really shines through as you topple giant buildings to block you enemies' path, or kick unsuspecting trucks around like you were playing soccer."
 Read the full review

11/22/2002 EuroGamer Reviews MechAssault
 Overall Score: 9 out of 10
"MechAssault is a beautiful, addictive, mechanised feast of destruction, ideally suited to online gamers both new and old."
 Read the full review

11/18/2002 Gamers.com Reviews MechAssault
 Overall Score: 9 out of 10
"…this game borders on being called an arcade game -- but the good kind of arcade game. The type of arcade game you'd plunk hundreds of quarters into back in the day."
 Read the full review

11/18/2002 GamePro Reviews MechAssault
Overall Score: 4.5 out of 5.0
"It's sure to assault the sensibilities of sim-minded MechWarrior purists, but the game's single-player campaign mode is a whole ton of fun for gamers just looking to wade into combat with a mean-ass metal rig."
 Read the full review

11/15/2002 Next Level Gaming Reviews MechAssault
 Overall Score: 5 out of 6
"Microsoft has definitely produced a winner!"
 Read the full review

11/15/2002 Lots of MechAssault talk on Penny Arcade
(Thanks Gabe and Tycho!)
 "MechAssault guys, if you're reading this now, you have made a very good game - one of the finest pure multiplayer action games perhaps ever."
 Read the comic (then click on News!)

11/12/2002 Gaming Age Reviews MechAssault
 Overall Score: A-
"MechAssault is a great, easy to pick up action game that will feature numerous hours of play online."
 Read the full review

11/11/2002 Team Xbox Reviews MechAssault
Overall Score: 4.7 out of 5.0
"So everyone who is reading this please take my advice and go pick up this classic shooter."
 Read the full review

11/9/2002 Gamespy Reviews MechAssault
Overall Score: 89 out of 100
"There's no better console game that fully captures the thrill of clanking around in powerful bi-pedal tanks."
 Read the full review

11/8/2002 Gamespot Reviews MechAssault
Overall Score: 9.0 out of 10.0
"The well-done campaign mode, the terrific presentation, and the variety of online modes all combine to make a truly superb final product."
 Read the full review

11/8/2002  Gaming Nexus Reviews MechAssault
Overall Score: 9.1 out of 10.0
"One of the year's most surprising hits, this is a definite pickup for mech lovers and action fans alike."
 Read the full review

11/7/2002 Adrenaline Vault Reviews MechAssault
 Overall Score: 4.5 out of 5.0
"Easy to pick up and learn, MechAssault smoothly introduces you to the world of BattleTech, even if you weren't an initiate before."
 Read the full review

11/6/2002 IGN Reviews MechAssault
Overall Score: 9.2 out of 10.0
"Just as Halo has become synonymous with Xbox, MechAssault will become synonymous with Xbox Live."
 Read the full review

List of Games featuring Mechs - from mechnexus.net