If you’re over the age of 25 and owned a game-capable PC during the Nineties, the likelihood is you have a fondness for Mechwarrior. The futuristic sci-fi franchise which emulated massive mechs battling it out in giant landscapes with an array of plasma, rail gun and rocket weaponry was one of the big multiplayer hits of the past decade thanks to Microsoft putting their whole weight behind making the last entry in the series, Mechwarrior 4, immensely versatile when it came to online play – due in part to their online portal, MSN Zone. That phenomenon seems like something stuck thoroughly in the past today, but Piranha Games are seeking to revive this property in all its past glory with a new free-to-play MMO powered by CryEngine 3.
Mechwarrior Online will be, as the name suggests, entirely multiplayer-centric with players able to build, customise and fight inside their bipedal tanks. The simulation style of the original PC-only games will be preserved, with players fighting inside intricately detailed 3D cockpits and having to manage heat and power levels to maintain combat proficiency. There won’t be a traditional persistent world to occupy, however elements of the map will be able to be fought over, either by clans or guilds encouraging a great sense of community play. It sounds a lot like the system employed in another mech-sim, Chromehounds, but with (as yet) unrevealed enhancements.
Unfortunately no player count for matches has been mentioned but there will be different classes of mech available, including Scout, Attacker, Defender and a Commander who is able to observe and orchestrate battles from a zoomed out birds-eye view to order his fellow units around effectively.
Mechwarrior Online is still fairly early on in development but the team behind the revival seem to be making great progress with new interviews appearing on their official site and regular reveals regarding the free-to-play venture.
