Like the original MechAssault, the sequel MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf centers on a no-named Wolf’s Dragoons MechWarrior supported by Lieutenant Foster from the original. The graphics are a few years more advanced of course, as are the sound effects.
But I feel that even more than the new BattleMechs, the dismounted gameplay in Lone Wolf is far more important for both the series and the genre of action games in particular. Never before had I seen the ability to crawl out of a ‘Mech and interact with the environment on a smaller scale in a BattleTech themed game.
Lieutenant Foster developed the armor after the events of the first game when the player recovered a memory core from a fallen ‘Mech. Given that the enemy was Word of Blake, the player’s armor could possibly be a derivative of the Purifier. It’s armed with an arm mounted small pulse laser, a mortar- (an autoloading large caliber grenade launcher really), a claw, and jump jets. Unlike the Purifier, this armor doesn’t use any kind of stealth capability, but has the ability to “hack” security protected ‘mechs- even while they’re in operation by means of a mini game.
I think I’d prefer SRMs, but at least you’re better armed than in the HALO games.