Mecha - Mecha in Fiction - in Games

In Games

Mecha are often featured in computer and console video games. Because of their size and fictional power, mecha are quite popular subjects for games, both tabletop and electronic. Mecha have been featured in video games since the 1980s, particularly in vehicular combat and shooter games, including Sesame Japan's side-scrolling shooter game Vastar in 1983, various Gundam games such as the first-person shooters Mobile Suit Gundam: Last Shooting in 1984 and Z-Gundam: Hot Scramble in 1986, the run and gun shooters Hover Attack in 1984 and Thexder in 1985, and Arsys Software's 3D role-playing shooters WiBArm in 1986 and Star Cruiser in 1988.

A popular classic of mecha in games is the MechWarrior series of video games, which takes place in the Battletech universe. Another game, Heavy Gear 2 offers a complex yet semi-realistic control system for its mecha in both terrain and outer space warfare. Armored Core is one of the more popular Japanese franchises today, combining industrial customizable mecha designs with fast-paced action. Rivalling Armored Core is Front Mission, a turn-based tactical series of games by Square. It features Japanese mecha designs with more realistic physics, reserving the lightning speed common in the Japanese mech genre to special machines. Older American Tabletop games, Battletech, uses hex-maps, miniatures & paper record sheets that allow players to use mecha in tactical situations and record realistic damage, while add RPG elements when desired. It is from Battletech that the term 'mech (a contraction of Battlemech) was popularized, but 'mech is not to be confused with the more general term of Mecha.

Mecha-like bipedal tanks called Metal Gears are a recurring element in the Metal Gear series. Iconic Metal Gears of the series include the Metal Gear D in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, Metal Gear REX in Metal Gear Solid, and Metal Gear RAY in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. The most common feature of a Metal Gear is the capability to launch nuclear missiles, though this feature is absent in the two newest models in the series; Metal Gears RAY and GEKKO. Unlike in many mecha-featuring series, Metal Gears are not numerous or widely used (except the small, unmanned GEKKOs). Most of the Metal Gears featured in the series are prototypes. In the series, they are usually called "the ultimate weapon" and "the missing link between infantry and artillery".

In the tabletop game Warhammer 40,000, the forces use mecha of a variety of sizes and shapes. Tau use one-man Battlesuits while the Imperium as a whole use Dreadnoughts (for the Space Marines) and Sentinels (for the Imperial Guard) as walkers, as well as huge Titans. The Orks also use huge, ramshackle mecha called Gargants, and smaller-sized Deffdreads and Killa-kans. These are basically walking scrap metal with varying types of ranged and close combat weapons (killy bitz) and a wired-in driver. The Eldar also use their particular version of titans, which are often more agile and compact than their Imperial counterparts, as well as the smaller Wraithlords (although the latter does not have a pilot as such, they are controlled by the spirit of a dead Eldar contained in a 'soulstone').

Another example is in the game Battlefield 2142, in which mecha fight alongside conventional military units such as infantry, tanks, gunships, and APCs in the European Union's and Pan-Asian Coalition's military forces.

The Monolith Productions game Shogo: Mobile Armor Division blended Mecha game-play with that of traditional first-person shooter games. The game was divided into a series of missions with some having the player play on-foot as in a normal first person shooter while also having missions where the player could select through a variety of Mecha (referred to as "MCAs"in the game). A similar concept appears, although much less developed, in the game Quake 4, where the player can drive Mechs as well as other vehicles while the game is still primarily focused on ground based human combat. Dark Horizons: Lore Invasion took gameplay aspects of first-person shooter games such as Unreal Tournament 2004 and blended it with that of traditional Mecha simulation games.

In real-time strategy (RTS) game Command & Conquer Red Alert 3, a number of the vehicles of the Empire of the Rising Sun are referred to as mecha, since they are capable of transforming from ground or sea units to aerial fighters, granting them additional flexibility in battle but making them closer to robots then to true mecha. One such unit is called the Mecha Tengu. Command & Conquer 2 Tiberian Sun features more conventional/realistic mecha including the bipedal Wolverine, Titan and the 4-legged Mammoth Mk2. All 3 take the role of armored vehicles on the side of the GDI. The Wolverine is a light anti-infantry vehicle. The Titan with its 120mm gun and heavy armor is essentially a walking main battle tank and as such the primary combat unit of the GDI. The Mammoth Mk2 is a heavily armored super-unit with railguns of which the player is only allowed to have 1. Another RTS with mecha units is StarCraft, with mecha called Goliaths. In StarCraft II, the Viking and Thor mecha are introduced. The Viking is primarily an Air-to-air fighter which can transform to a ground mecha, similar to the Goliath. The Thor is a powerful, large assault mecha. In the upcoming Heart of the Swarm expansion, a mecha called the Battle Hellion is introduced, which can transform into jeep like vehicle named the Hellion. Another would be the Warhound, a powerful anti-armor bipedal mecha.

In the RTS game series Empire Earth, the last epochs in the games allows players to build mecha.

In the game Supreme Commander, the player takes control of a mecha known as the Armoured Command Unit (ACU). The player uses the ACU to build up armies. The ACU is upgradable and can defend itself. Due to its power source, the ACU sets off a thermo-nuclear explosion when destroyed. Other units in the game are also mecha ranging in size and firepower.

The critically and commercially successful Square role-playing video game (re-released by Square-Enix) Xenogears also featured mecha, called Gears. Mecha appear in the game as a prominent part of the story line and part of the game's innovative combat system as well as a mini-game fighting arena.

A more recent game, Chromehounds was developed by From Software for the Xbox 360. This game featured a more 'realistic' take on mecha, with much slower speeds and realistic modern weapons payloads. A large feature of this series was the heavy customizability of the Hounds, as they are called.

Konami's Zone of the Enders is a series of action games centred around mecha combat for the PlayStation 2. In the ZOE series, the BAHRAM military corporation is the primary developer of Orbital Frame technology and the general antagonist. The commander of this corporation, Colonel Nohman, is the primary antagonist. The most intimidating Orbital Frame, Anubis, is his frame of choice in his mission to eliminate the universe. Orbital Frames can be taken from ground to air to space and beyond, and are generally superior to the other, more common mecha type of the series, the LEV.

Capcom's Mega Man X series featured mecha called "Ride Armor", which can dash, fly and punch depending on what type of Ride Armor you use.

Also worth noting are the Sega games Metal Head, a 3D first-person shooter, and Virtual On, a series of fast-paced, one-on-one, mecha fighting games.

The turn based strategy game Civilization V features a "Giant Death Robot" as a late-game unit.

The first person shooter, Halo 4, also features a mech, namely a "Mantis."