More Heavy. More Gear.

Here’s one to add to the list of things I didn’t anticipate for 2025: I replayed Heavy Gear II, got inspired, then decided to rework the Heavy Gear II site.

Every time I replay this game, there’s a huge adjustment period for me. Especially, I think, jumping into it right after Mechwarrior II was a mistake. Gears are not slow and tank-like. Instead, they rely on speed, maneuverability, stealth, and most importantly of all: not getting hit. My first re-playthrough was rough. So, I did it again and it was much more enjoyable the second time around. And with that, I’ve shared all my new and relearned knowledge of Heavy Gear II on the site.

There are tons of updates on the Heavy Gear II section of Local Ditch Gaming; basically every page has been reworked, redone, updated, and filled with new, relevant info.

The install guide, walkthrough, and weapons table are some the highlights. If you’ve still got the disc version of the game, the guide’ll get you running on a modern system. The walkthrough is thorough and covers my approaches and strategies to all of the campaign and historical missions, with detailed builds, screenshots, and painstakingly-stitched-together-in-Photoshop maps when needed. Dare I say it’s the best Heavy Gear II walkthrough on the net. The weapons table shows the damage values, ranges, recovery times, etc. for all of the weapons, allowing you to figure out which weapon will be best for your scenario.

Downloads contains links to get the game running nowadays, custom key bindings, some of Activision’s official maps, demos, and level editor. There are loads of new screenshotsif you just want to see the game again. The Gearspage now contains pictures and summaries of every gear in the game. Character info is here, too.

Not to mention, the page’s been updated to match the new Local Ditch Gaming formatting. I’ll miss the old Matrix-inspired design, in a retro-sort-of-way, but I think the clean, consistent pages are better, especially if you need to view the pages on a phone or tablet.

This is basically how I wanted the site to be in ’99. Better late than never!

And with that, I’m a little burnt out, so that’s probably it for Heavy Gear II, unless I get the itch to play it again in another decade. Hope this info comes in useful. Feel free to drop me a line if you need anything!

New/Updates:
Heavy Gear II – Install Guide
Heavy Gear II – Downloads
Heavy Gear II – Walkthrough
Heavy Gear II – Weapons
Heavy Gear II – Strategy
Heavy Gear II – Pre-release pictures
Heavy Gear II – Screenshots
Heavy Gear II – Gears
Heavy Gear II – Characters
Heavy Gear II – Codes
Heavy Gear II – Story
Heavy Gear II – Requirements