Heavy Gear: Assault coming to Steam is a long time coming, having not had a sequel to the series since 1999. Touting as “the first Mech game to be released using Unreal Engine 4”, Heavy Gear: Assault will be giving us plenty of options on how to tackle our foes with archetypes such as Sniper, Brawler, Electronics, and Recon.

Having played Heavy Gear 2 back when it released in 1999, I am pretty excited to hear about a sequel to a franchise I had long considered dead. The game takes place on an alien planet, where strife has broken out between rival corporate entities vying for profit and influence. As one of their soldiers, you pilot a gigantic humanoid Mech, known as a Gear. The gameplay footage above gives us a taste of what the mechanized combat on an alien world, in the name of corporate profit, will be like in the newest Heavy Gear in the series.

One of the small, yet important features for me that set apart Heavy Gear from the other Mech franchises, such as MechWarrior and Starsiege, was the ability to go prone with your assault armor. This allows the player to keep a lower profile, steady their weapons, and ambush enemies. This small feature gave a sense of adaptability and finesse to the Gears that other games didn’t quite manage with their Mechs.

Another feature making its return that you can see in the gameplay footage is the ability to set your Gear into a mobility mode, where you can skate across the ground with highly increased speed, much like in Tribes: Ascend. Having fond memories of skating around a blind corner into enemies brandishing a Vibro-Axe, and cutting my enemy to pieces. These features culminate into something that really set Heavy Gear apart from the rest as a franchise, a mix of Mech combat and traditional infantry warfare.

The ability to go prone, pick enemies off with sniper fire; having the option to get up and go mobile, close the distance, and tear your enemies apart with a melee weapon, or other ordinance, such as hand grenades, which really made for some versatile gameplay. Heavy Gear was all about options; you had so many choices when setting up your load-out, Gear type and size were fully customizable to your style of play. From traditional hold-out weapons, to shoulder mounted mortars, rockets and grenade pods, to sub-systems with a wide array of effects used to keep your Gear healthy, and possibly off enemy radar.

The possible tactics and playstyles felt limitless. I am excited to see if all these features that made Heavy Gear 2 so great make their return in Heavy Gear Assault, which has a December 15th projected release date on Steam Early Access. For a chance at a free Steam Early Access code hit up the Heavy Gear Assault’s official site. Do note that codes are limited, so don’t sit around and wait. I’ll see you and your Gear on the battlefield!