Arming and Loading

Saddle Up Cowboy!

The loadout screen is one of my favorite parts of these mecha type games. Here you're forced to figure out which kind of engine to get, what weapons, which special items like cloaking devices, targeting systems, sensor arrays etc. Not only do you have to consider weight restrictions, but you also have to keep in mind what the mission is. If you have artillery to spot for, you're gonna have to get that laser designator. Then there are concerns about energy consumption. If you use a lot of lasers, EMPs, or other energy based weapons, then you're going to need a larger reactor, and possibly a special item slot for a spare battery. Then you still have to weigh the costs/benefits of the different shield generators and armor types.

Picking the right weapons is important

Now hopefully before you do all of that fun stuff you've picked out a suitable HERC or tank from all the available chassis. Each race (human and Cybrid) has about 15 or so HERCs and tanks to choose from. Tanks are generally much faster, but don't gain the benefit of shielding. HERCs can take more damage and usually dish out more of it, but aren't nearly as agile or swift as the tanks are. One disappointing thing is that the HERC designs seem pretty plain and uninspired. Going from one to the other you don't really notice that much distinction between them. They all look the same, more or less. Even the heavy class HERCs don't look very intimidating.

No it's not a Gateway computer - that's a HERC

Paint Jobs

Each HERC and vehicle has skin textures to them, meaning that with a bit of tweaking in a graphics program, you can customize the look of your vehicle. Dynamix was nice enough to include a few sample skins for each HERC/vehicle. These range from cow patterns, to camouflage, to odd ball plaid ones. You might not have the best fashion sense but at least you'll be able to tell your vehicle apart from the rest.