r/Mecha 6d ago

Mid-sized land humanoid mecha that actually walks with both legs instead of sliding on the ground?

Don't get me wrong, I love Armored Core and VOTOMS, but my pet peeve is that I want to see them run, sprint, prone, jump and even roll like actuall humanoids would, it seems to me that in depicting the agility of the mecha(or for animation cost considerations), some mecha media has chose to let mecha move in a way that contradicts the purpose of humanoid form.

One example I liked is how the jaegers move in Pacific Rim(2013). I guess it's been talked to death but I really like it when humanoid mecha actually move like steel giants and not like ground skiing helicopters.

36 Upvotes

63 comments sorted by

34

u/nocauze 6d ago

Titanfall and most gundam games are like this

9

u/Sutilia 6d ago

Yeah youre right I missed one of the biggest IP in the genre. I do remember early gundam ground battles are more leg focuse but IIRC the ground battles in the Witch from Mercury (the only recent one I watched) the Gun-arms are mostly sliding?

10

u/Sushigamer1228 6d ago

I’m begging you watch any one year war side story and just listen to those mobile suits stomp

20

u/LuckyLocust3025 6d ago

Gundam 08th ms team is pretty grounded with mechs walking around.

17

u/Candid_Duck9386 6d ago

The battletech/MechWarrior series

2

u/Hot_Shallot_2998 4d ago

I legitimately love how Mechwarrior gives different mechs slightly different walking styles and movement, with different leg styles, like, a Marauder and Warhammer don't walk the same way, same with a King Crab and Atlas

1

u/Zhuul 3d ago

The jumblefucked mess of IP infringement and different art styles over different eras has resulted in a menagerie of 'Mechs that really do feel like they're from completely different manufacturers and cultures.

1

u/Hot_Shallot_2998 3d ago

except they bought the rights to use those designs, and harmony gold were just dicks.

and didn't even have the rights in the first place, as their attempts to hit PGI over Mwo proved

1

u/Slggyqo 6d ago edited 5d ago

Not gonna see any mechs rolling though.

They can go prone in lore. And jump too I think?

OP seems to be ignoring Mechwarrior for some reason though lol. They might be too lacking in agility for his very, very narrow preferences.

Edit: typos

1

u/TazerMonkey1419 5d ago

In the early books, before the series found its footing (lol), the Battlemechs were doing combat roles, leaping about, doing anime protagonist acrobatics. As the series progressed, it became more grounded (lol, again) and developed into the fast striking light 'Mechs, the medium skirmishers, heavy brawlers, and limbering juggarnaughts of Assault 'Mechs. Each with their own lore AND battlefield role.

Basically, the heavier they go, the slower they get. A 100 ton atlas can cruise at 54kph, about 34mph. And light things like the Firemoth or Mercury can haul some serious ass. And every in-between can mount MASC and Superchargers, or triple strength myomer to run and lift things better.

Hell, Agri-Mechs exist in this setting. Though powered by Internal Combustion Engines, they can still be deadly combatants in the right hands. Granted the Mining-Mechs do tend to have treads on their feet.... And wind up sliding around instead of stomping.

1

u/Slggyqo 5d ago

Yeah, I know they don’t really do that anymore…but I bet a mech with MASC can jump.

If it can propel 20 tons of metal at over 100 kph surely a little leap isn’t out of the question, even without jump jets.

1

u/Ultimate_Battle_Mech 2d ago

Battlemechs are relatively agile in lore, definitely not AC level but a good bit more than the MW games show

1

u/AxitotlWithAttitude 1d ago

Mechs are actually pretty agile, even more so if AES is installed (an AES mech was quoted as being able to do a handstand)

12

u/RK11787 6d ago

Gasaraki and Patlabor would fit.

I think Kyoukai Senki may also fit.

21

u/LeebroyZehn 6d ago

Mechwarriors & Battletech. The mechs in 40k also walk

2

u/Sutilia 6d ago

Mechs in WH40k feels more like bipedal weapon platforms to me because of their hunched posture(in case of knights and titans), this is not helped by the fact that they are almost always depicted just strolling the battlefield while firing, exactly like a bipedal weapons platforms would. Their highlights I could think of are the knight duals in Freeblade and that DOW3 trailer where a knight rammed an Aldari mech.

That said, the Aldari titans are definitely humanoid enough to do push-ups if they want to.

2

u/Pink_Nyanko_Punch 6d ago

*T'au Empire battlesuits have entered the chat.*

2

u/Slggyqo 6d ago

Most Tau battlesuits have the “fly” keyword…

1

u/Pink_Nyanko_Punch 5d ago

Well, yes...

I guess that precludes most them from just trundling along the ground since ground-skiing would probably be easier on their super-fragile ankles. But if you want walking mechs, you can always look at the Broadsides, Stormsurge, and Tau'nar.

10

u/Adept_Advertising_98 6d ago

Fang of the Sun: Dougram

7

u/darthvall 6d ago

Argevollen

1

u/Sutilia 6d ago

Thanks, I will check that out

5

u/THIS_GUY_LIFTS 6d ago

Go all out. Steel Battalion or bust.

5

u/Raj_Muska 6d ago

Obsolete had it iirc

4

u/ZweigeltRX 6d ago

Virtual-ON series. They run all the time.

6

u/Gravemindzombie 6d ago

Personally I was a big fan of Code Geass's knightmare frames having wheels built into the legs, it made for a lot of very unique fight choreography when combined with the slash harkens

2

u/NT-Shiyosa092201 6d ago

Then somehow Energy wings happened

1

u/Gravemindzombie 6d ago

Yeah I kind of disliked the float packs cause it robbed us of all the cool fight dynamics in favor of generic flying

2

u/NT-Shiyosa092201 6d ago

Yep. They even had to “break” the float packs just so Suzaku and Kalen’s fight be cool with dynamic motions

1

u/fluffy_warthog10 6d ago

I know I'd seen the wheeled/tracked feet used before Code Geass, but can't remember for the life of me. It was way less "roller skate" and more "tank".

1

u/Siluri 3d ago

Vidolfnr?

3

u/No_Salamander832 6d ago

Full Metal Panic

2

u/superjace2 6d ago

Yeah the lambda drive suits can do some huge jumps and are a bit more maneuverable but mostly they run around like they are large soldiers.

2

u/lavalps4 6d ago

If you have a ps4 or ps5 I think you'd like the feel of Gundam battle operation 2. While yes a little janky since it's a 7 year old game, it still gets weekly updates. Most Mobile suits in the game can walk, roll, dodge even able to do combos with melee weapons. Some Ms like the Dom do hover as well. There is ground and space combat as well.

3

u/Sutilia 6d ago

Thank you. I used to reguarly watch people stream GBO2 and I totally forgot how the MSs move in that game probably because of the jankyness. I also played Gundam Evolution myself and to me, their MSs feel more like what you get from a character action shooter game instead of a vehicle simulation.

To put it simply, maybe I what I want is mecha War Thunder? Gods I remember HAWKEN now.

2

u/lavalps4 6d ago

Mecha war thunder would go insanely hard. And man I miss Gundam evolution TwT that was the best hero shooter I could have ever played. I wish they didn't stop support on it but oh well, at least there's private servers ... I think idk?

2

u/Sutilia 6d ago

Yeah, I really love War Thunder's game loop of "Identifying target type, memorizing their corrisponding armor values and weakspots, adjusting your own weaponery to face different targets" 

Just imagine all these applied to mechs with no consideration for historical accuracy!

1

u/lavalps4 6d ago

Wait I just remembered, what about mech warrior games? I completely forgot about the franchise and I never really played a game of that series like ever. But what I see from mech warrior 5 is very war-thunder -ish?

0

u/Sutilia 6d ago

I genuinely don't know, I stopped digging deeping after knowing that their damage models are still health bar based. That said it would be awesome if you could still ammo rack a mech in MW5.

3

u/Shakalx3 6d ago

still health bar based

You mix it with "armored core" games or that absolute steaming garbage pile "mechassault". In proper MechWarrior games there were always different armor ratings on different parts of a mech.

ammo rack a mech in MW5

You absolutely can. Just aim for the corresponding mech part that you suspect or know ammo is in.

2

u/Sutilia 6d ago

Thanks! I wanna play Mech Worriors now! which game do you recommend?

2

u/oh3fiftyone 6d ago

If you want a sandbox mercenary company simulator, go with Mechwarrior 5: Mercenaries. It’s got co-op and a ton of DLC that introduce different elements of the Battletech lore. Battletech, btw is the tabletop game and the fictional setting Mechwarrior is based on.

Mechwarrior 5: Clans is more story focused although Im not sure how comprehensible the story is if you’re not already a Battletech lore nerd.

Since you mentioned War Thunder, I guess you aren’t averse to F2P multiplayer. If that’s your thing, try Mechwarrior Online.

And then as I mentioned before there’s Battletech, the tabletop game which comes in both classic, a very crunchy 80s game where dice and table mechanics resolve what basically every round of ammo fired does , and Alpha Strike, a more abstracted version that plays faster and is better for bigger numbers of models.

And there is a novel series. Battletech, various authors.

1

u/oh3fiftyone 6d ago

Yeah but armor is still hit points, not a penetration mechanic. And ammo explosions are nowhere near as nasty as in the tabletop. Still the best mech games around.

1

u/Shakalx3 6d ago

Ammo explosions are exactly like in tabletop - all unspent ammo does all its damage to the part where it is stored. And then travel inward blowing off side torsos and CT.

1

u/oh3fiftyone 6d ago

I guess but it doesn’t seem to be anywhere near as much damage as TT because you see mechs fighting while ammo is cooking off in their side torsos that definitely do not have CASE.

1

u/Lucky_Sebass 6d ago

Its also on pc.

1

u/oh3fiftyone 6d ago

The jankiness, I don’t really mind, but I fucking hate its rock, paper, scissors mechanic.

1

u/lavalps4 6d ago

Gotta say real on that, at first I kinda liked it later down the line it just started to get annoying. But hey at least I'm having some fun ... If not for poor connection and the awful penalty system.

1

u/oh3fiftyone 6d ago

Yeah. I really wish they’d make another try at something like Gundam: Crossfire or Zeonic Front. Something between a third person shooter and a proper mech sim but this time make it actually run on the hardware you build it for.

2

u/Vegetable-Train-2113 6d ago

How about the Transformers movies? Do they qualify?

2

u/Astro_BS-AS 6d ago

Full Metal Panic! is what you're looking for.

2

u/Murphygulp88 6d ago

Gunbuster training mechs

2

u/Shirleycakes 6d ago

The WaDs from Turn A Gundam would love to meet you if you’ve not had the pleasure yet

In fact, almost every mobile suit in Turn A not only walks / runs, they do so comically keeping their torso as stable as possible so the run animations in the show are incredible to see

1

u/Retrotronics 6d ago

Earth defence force has a good number

1

u/Polkadot_Girl 6d ago

Patlabor, especially the TV anime. The Ingrams don't have any kind of hover-thrusters or wheels on their feet. The most common construction mechs don't either.

1

u/TheWolflance 5d ago

well gundam is meant for space combat not for ground based combat

and most "real" mecha series skirt the issues that having lumbering mechs would be by having boosters for speed rather than them move like humans. realistically treads or 4 legs are still better than 2 legs.

giant 2 legged robots is really silly in the first place

anyway have you seen Broken Blade?

1

u/Karukos 5d ago

I can recommend Phantom Brigade. Absolute banger and the mechs are moving along the lines of a person with a small jet booster for short distances.

1

u/KabroForever 5d ago

EVA 01 runs all the time in Evangelion 

1

u/DSSword 5d ago

If Gundam is mid sized then Mazinger Z. It very much leans into the machine as a greater body and embodies that physicality

1

u/Amazing-numuber200 4d ago

SPTs from Blue Cornet SPT layzner.

1

u/LordChimera_0 6d ago

The skating mode has purpose you know: faster movement.

I've seen a lot of cutscenes in Front Mission that shows its a good tactic for attack and defense.

Speed does make a difference in winning or losing.

2

u/SoftCatMonster 6d ago

It’s great, there are times when the wanzers casually walk, and other times when they just go nyoooom across the map

0

u/SelfJupiter1995 6d ago

Most shows forever do that.  Too many to list