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Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries
Developer(s)	FASA Studio
Publisher(s)	Microsoft Game Studios / Studio MekTek Inc.
Engine	Mechwarrior 4
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Release	November 7, 2002 (2002-November-07) (US) November 15, 2002 (2002-November-15) (EU) April 30, 2010 (2010-April-30) (Free, on MekTek.net)
Genre(s)	Vehicle simulation game
Mode(s)	Single player and Multiplayer

Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries is a vehicle simulation video game for the PC released in 2002. It is a standalone expansion of Mechwarrior 4, based on the Battletech Mechwarrior game universe. It was announced on July 9, 2009 that Mechwarrior 4 Mercenaries and the Clan and Inner Sphere expansions will be re-released for free. As of April 22, 2010 the free release of MechWarrior 4 has been cleared by Microsoft.

On April 30, 2010, MechWarrior 4 Mercenaries was released to the general public by MekTek as a free download. However due to the massive influx of 100,000 downloads and web site accesses, MekTek.net and related services crashed. MekTek recovered the MekMatch match making service on May 1, 2010 and the forum was restored on May 2, 2010.

The MechWarrior 4 games are no longer available for free. MechTek has stated they are moving away from the BattleTech franchise, and a new group interested in maintaining free versions of the MechWarrior 4 software has had difficulties securing permission to do so.

Plot

In the game, the player takes the role of Spectre, a male mercenary BattleMech pilot travelling inside the fictional interstellar region of the Battletech universe called the Inner Sphere during the FedCom Civil War (specifically during the time period from January 1, 3066 to late July 3067).

The player's mercenary company initially takes on localized threats in certain planets far from the civil war. As the player's team takes on more missions, the assignments get tougher; at one point, a strike team from Clan Jade Falcon may challenge the player to a duel. The Jade Falcon Star Colonel in charge will join the player's team as a bondsman if the Falcons are defeated in one mission.

Depending on how the player handled allegiance between House Steiner and House Davion, the player would end up with one of three mission paths, each with their own ending. All of them are interspersed with a small epilogue that hints at the Word of Blake Jihad, the opening stages of which began a few months after the events of the game.

Davion Ending: The player ends up assisting Peter Steiner-Davion in defeating the Lyran loyalists. The final mission sees Spectre taking part in the assault on the Tharkad palace where Nondi Steiner awaits with her bodyguard lance. The backdrop of this ending is canonical.

Steiner Ending: By siding with Steiner, Spectre must assist an agent from the Rabid Foxes special operations unit in obtaining information on Katherine "Katrina" Steiner-Davion's whereabouts. Ultimately, Spectre must deliver this information to Khan Vlad of Clan Wolf. Doing this requires Spectre to undergo a Trial of Position where he must defeat five consecutive Clan Mechwarriors in the planet Carse to finally join Clan Wolf. This ending has partial canonity as Katherine was indeed handed over to Vlad in exchange for his promise not to attack the Inner Sphere.

Rogue Ending: This ending is actually an offshoot of the Steiner ending. Prior to the final mission, Spectre's tactical officer, Castle, pleads the case for abandoning Katrina Steiner and the losing side of the war. On her recommendation, an alternative opens up. Instead of undergoing the Trial of Position, Spectre elects to take a contract on New Canton to defend a base under attack by the Capellan Confederation. Success results in Spectre's unit taking the base for themselves.

Gameplay

The player is a pilot of a BattleMech or Mech, the premiere war machines in the Battletech universe. Mercenaries has the player piloting a Mech and running a mercenary company at the same time. The company is sponsored by one of four mercenary outfits in the Battletech universe - the Kell Hounds, Gray Death Legion, Northwind Highlanders, and Wolf's Dragoons. Each faction has their own special attributes, such as the Wolf's Dragoons being equipped with Mechs that have Clan technology.

In the campaign, the player controls up to two full four-man teams called lances. The other team members can be issued commands such as attack or power down.

Missions are played in various environments, from deserts to urban areas. Completing them plus special objectives helps the player earn more money to buy weapons and Mechs for his unit. The resource management extends to maintaining the Mechs and hiring new pilots with the requisite salaries. The game time will be measured in weeks.

The player has some control over which missions to accept and in what order. In addition, how each mission is performed has an impact on the timeline, an the player's reputation is measured in terms of Nobility or Infamy points. For example, killing civilians and neutral targets results in infamy points, which in high numbers can limit the player to brutal and "unethical" missions. Also, the player must choose how to balance his or her allegiance to the different sides of the war (Steiner vs. Davion). This is important as allegiance will eventually affect available contracts and even influence the ending of the game.

The game offers options to toggle unlimited ammunition or no heat buildup. In the Mech customization menu, the mercenary company's available Mechs can be upgraded with new weapons or equipment such as antimissile systems, extra armor, heatsinks, or ECM jammer pods. The configurations of each Mech can limit what weapons can be inserted, with appropriate weight and heat control penalties. Since Mechs tend to overheat (mostly if hit by heat-based weapons or insufficient heatsink count), the player can arrange the weapons into specific combinations called "chains". It is may possible for entire limbs to be blown off a Mech, resulting in loss of weapons or reduced movement.

The Arena matches, which take place in the gaming planet of Solaris, has the player-character competing with a variety of enemy Mech pilots in "last-man standing" combat. If all other enemy Mechs are destroyed, the player wins the match and is rewarded money. Many of the opposing pilots have names and backstories, which are revealed by the arena announcer who provides constant real-time commentary on the matches. Arena battles are divided into four weight classes and take place in several different arenas. If the player wins all of the matches in each weight class, he or she advances to the championship round, which is open to all weight classes. Competing in the can boost the player's reputation and increase the likelihood of gaining various mission contracts.

Features

For game modes, there is a main campaign and access to all but four missions for 'instant action' play (specifically the final missions for each ending path as well as the Solaris Grand Championship ). Instant action can be mission-based or wave-based. The single-player game includes 19 different maps. Mercenaries also has sophisticated online play options.

Servers host up to 24 players and/or bots at a time. Originally, the 'Zonestats' online ranking system recorded the victories and other statistics of other players, but it is now defunct. MekTek Studios has plans to provide a replacement for 'Zonestats' as an addition to its 'MekMatch' system.

While the game can be played strictly as single player game either in the campaign or instant action mode, the vast majority of the gameplay is done in the multiplayer online mode. Several hundred maps and missions are available for download. Online action play involves both human players and computer-controlled mechs, and includes in-game text communication that allows players to chat with teammates or all players in the game. The game offers a number of game types including Battle, Mission, and Team Battle; each lasts for a predetermined amount of time set by the host. Each game type requires a different set of skills, and maps sometime determine the specific model, weapon type, and armor layout of mechs selected. Games can also be played in Heat or Non-Heat mode; Heat mode activates a cooling requirement for each individual's mech.

References

1. "MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries Tech Info". GameSpot. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
2. "MechWarrior To Be Distributed Free On BattleTech.com". 2009-07-09. Retrieved 2009-07-09.
3. Jeff Haynes (2009-07-09). "MechWarrior 4 To Be Re-Released". Pc.ign.com. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
4. "Free MW4 "Very Shortly"". Bluesnews.com. 2009-09-04. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
5. "Free Release Update". Mektek.net. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
6. Mitchell, Richard (2010-04-22). "Mechwarrior 4 free release cleared by Microsoft". Joystiq.com. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
7. "MechWarrior 4 Free Release". Mektek.net. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
8. "Mechwarrior4 Free, the long awaited moment". Mektekdev.com. 2010-04-30. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
9. "Mechwarrior Is Back". Battletech.catalystgamelabs.com. 2010-04-30. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
10. "Server and hardware problems". Mektek.net. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
11. MechWarrior 4 Free Update
12. http://www.mektek.net/forums/topic/208502-before-posting-on-mechwarrior4/
13. "Free MW4 "Very Shortly" - Blue's News Story". Bluesnews.com. 2009-09-04. Retrieved 2011-06-07.

External links

• Mektek.net — Current official website of the video game
• Studio Mektek Inc. — Current publisher of the video game
• MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries website at Microsoft Game Studios website — Former official website of the video game
• Template:AMG
• Template:GameFAQs
• Template:GameSpot
• MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries at MobyGames

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