Heavy Gear

Heavy Gear is a 3D mech combat simulation developed and published by Activision for Windows 95. Based on the Dream Pod 9 tabletop game, it places players in the cockpit of towering bipedal Gears on the planet Terra Nova, where the Confederated Northern City-States (CNCS) and the aggressive Allied Southern Territories (AST) battle for control. The game offers a 32-mission story campaign that follows a legendary pilot, but its standout mode is the dynamic Tour of Duty, where every mission outcome shifts the front lines on a living strategic map. Players choose a side and a unit with distinct perks, then fight to push the enemy back in a persistent conflict. Multiplayer extends this: online servers track territory gains across all players, turning battles into a faction war. Gears are fully customizable via a drag-and-drop garage, letting pilots swap chassis, weapons, and armor to suit their style. The game demands at least a Pentium 90 MHz, 16 MB of RAM, and 195 MB of hard drive space; for smooth, attractive visuals, a 3dfx accelerator is essential. Without one, graphics degrade sharply. Released in 1999, Heavy Gear arrived as a rival to the MechWarrior series, carving its own niche with fast-paced, ground-hugging combat and deep unit customization.