The level design really makes Heavy Gear II as good as it is. Like we just said, you're in special forces, and the missions reflect that. You may assault a heavily fortified base, but only after heavy reconnaissance to spy out the weak points. In fact, the most fun we had in the game was sneaking our mech close enough to a base to check its defenses. Looking down upon enemy gears forty meters away who don't even see you but vastly outnumber you is an awful lot of fun. And when you just have to get that little bit closer to scan the next building, your palms break out in a sweat. And if you fail at one mission, it effects the following missions to a degree, unlike others where you always have to start over after failure. Sometimes failure can start another mission, which allows you to complete the task.

Other levels include chasing down and capturing enemies, protecting a base, and assassinating a target. It's not like your ordinary protect or destroy missions. There's much more variety. There are even space missions. You outfit your gear with zero-g thrusters and fly around enemy space ships to complete your mission. Control is vastly different from regular play, and it expands the game immensely.

Activision did one thing in Heavy Gear II that really ties things together. To integrate the plot into the missions themselves, they added character to the other members of your team. The different characters are of various skill levels and react differently to each situation. Not only that, they interact. You can have one character yell to attack, while another one might say to hold off until the enemy formation changes. They even get into fights. You had better protect your teammates as well. They can get hurt or killed in battle, and they don't grow on trees. Lose all your teammates and you can find yourself going up against superior forces all alone. The real interaction between characters is the thread that binds the plot of Heavy Gear II with the combat in it.