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| Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | FASA Studio |
| Publisher(s) | Microsoft |
| Designer(s) | FASA Studio |
| Engine | Mechwarrior 4 |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Release | November 7 2002 (US) November 15 2002 (EU) |
| Genre(s) | Vehicle simulation game |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries is a vehicle simulation video game for the PC, based on the Battletech Mechwarrior game universe. The original Battletech game is a turn-based board game where the player controls battles between mechs: large, powerful, piloted robot-like vehicles. Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries, released in 2002, is currently the last game in the MW4 series.
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 Chaos March during the FedCom Civil War (specifically during the time period from January 1, 3066 to late July 3067). The player makes a living earning cash and useful salvage for completing mission contracts for various factions. With these resources, the player can purchase weapons, BattleMechs, and 'Mech repairs, as well as hire additional MechWarriors for his or her crew.
The player has some control over which missions he or she accepts, and in what order. In addition, how each mission is performed has an impact on the timeline. For example, killing civilans 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.
Alternate endings
Depending on how the player handled allegiance between the two main factions of 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 final 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 called Rabid Fox (likely from the special operations unit Rabid Foxes) 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. 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. 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 and his mercenary unit taking the base for themselves.
Gameplay
The Mechwarrior series involves controls on the more complex side of vehicle simulation games, compared to simpler console games like MechAssault. Controls include:
- various weapons and weapon control options
- movement controls
- throttle and heat controls
- commands for lancemates (allies).
Before entering a battle, players may customize their 'Mech with weapons, armour options, engine options, cooling efficiency and so on. On the field of play, the pilot has a complex head-up display that shows radar, location of targeted enemy, weapons in range, ammunition remaining for each weapon, current mech damage status, friendly and enemy units, and much more.
Tactics and tactical issues include typical FPS issues, such as circlestrafing, sniping, and spawn camping.
Features
For game modes, there is a main campaign, and access to most missions for 'instant action' play. Instant action can be mission-based, or wave-based. Mercenaries also has sophisticated online play options. The single-player game includes 19 different maps.
The standard game has a total of 36 mechs. Other (non-drivable) vehicles in the game include jets, helicopters and tanks. All mechs are customisable in the game.
Servers host up to 24 players and bots at a time. MW4 has a built in chat function. Originally the 'Zonestats' online ranking system recorded the victories and other statistics of other players, but it is now defunct. Mektek offers a replacement service.
Modding
Mercenaries has been modded extensively. Two of the main groups (mod teams) customizing the game are "Mektek" and "NBT". Mechstorm has released several versions of its High Definition Patch, which adds much higher-resolution graphics and new audio to the game. Mechstorm has also released their own mod for the game, "[http://www.mechstorm.net/projectdocs/netmech/netmech.htm Netmech".
Later developments
In March 2003, it was announced that Mechwarrior 5 had been canceled. There has yet to be any official word on future titles in the series. However in October 2007 the startup company Smith and Tinker, created by Weisman, acquired the right to the Mechwarrior series as well as other notable FASA franchises (namely Crimson Skies and Shadowrun). It is currently unknown what future plans the company has for these properties.
See also
External links
- Mechwarrior League Online Community Mechwarrior Mercenaries Online Community and Forums
- Microsoft's official MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries website
References
| BattleTech | |
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| Tabletop games | |
| Supplements | |
| MechWarrior series | |
| Other video games | |
| Other | |
 Category | |