Interface

I've never seen so many knobs!

Heavy Gear 2 is not a game to kill a spare hour sometime. If you tried, you'd likely spend the hour learning the controls via the training missions. Although the training missions are adequately designed, they aren't particularly riveting, so your time would probably be better spent elsewhere. The controls aren't very intuitive for someone with first-person shooter experience, because your aim and the direction you are facing/moving are totally separate. Consequently, people who are used to the keyboard / mouse movement setup common in say, Quake, will get thrown off when first trying to move.

Looks like Degobah

Pretty explosion

Although the keyboard / mouse setup is playable, one really needs a large number of buttons one's fingertips (or a third arm). Most of the playtesting we did of HG2 was with a Sidewinder Precision Pro and the keyboard; the first to aim, target, sidestep, and fire, and the latter to control the gear's movement. Even with this setup, though, a hand has to move to control a variety of other necessary things, such as commanding your squad or switching radar modes.

Hark, who goes there?

Fire at will

In space, no one can hear you puke

One big gripe is that while the separate aim / movement thing is doable on land, handling it while floating through space is another matter. It gets extremely confusing when one hand is handling the many aspects of 3D rotation and the other is trying to aim, target, fire, etc. Think trying to rub your tummy and pat your head, times ten. If you try this, at least switch your throttle control from the dial on your joystick to the keyboard. While a spiffy analog control for a throttle sounds cool, it requires moving a precious hand, and doesn't work that accurately anyhow.