Michael Stokes, Lieutenant of the 131st Screaming Beavers heavy gear platoon, sits in his gear and tries not to cry. His entire platoon destroyed. Vastly outnumbered in an ambush, he was the only one to get away.

A familiar dark voice sounds from communicator. "So Mikey, we finally meet on the battlefield." It begins to sing mockingly, "Where are you Michael? Come out, come out, wherever you are."

"Hello Ryan," Michael manages to whisper, but nothing more. "It's been a long time."

"HAHA. Yes it has, Michael. I've come back. But this time, I'm not playing second fiddle. This time, I'm playing for keeps. Now come out and die like a man."

"If it must be so." Michael says.

His gear rises from its submerged hiding place twenty meters behind where Ryan just passed. With battle won skill and pure talent, he surgically strikes the weak point in the center of Ryan's back. Ryan's gear stops dead, it's pilot killed.

"I am sorry, little brother." And now he does cry.

Activision may have lost the rights to produce Mech Warrior 3, but they sure didn't get out of the big destroying robots industry. They chose Heavy Gear, another large robot role-playing game, as the blueprint for their Heavy Gear series. Do the Heavy Gear mechs live up to their Battletech ancestors, or are they, like Ryan, just the little brother who's going to get nailed? Read on and find out.