SOMEONE SAY...TECHS-MECHS?

So there have been several new videos and  Piranha Games' upcoming BattleTech universe reboot, MechWarrior Online, and I have to be honest...they make me happy in my pants.   Those that know me know that I'm normally not one for playing online games, but with the announcement of TES:Online and now this?  This heathen may become a convert. 


I've long been a BattleTech fan, since back in high school, playing the old tabletop game with hand-painted miniatures on hand-crafted hex terrain my friend and his father had made together.   I played the original 1990 game, MechWarrior, with its flat 3d graphics (revolutionary at the time) and original cast of "unseen" mechs, including the Marauder, Locust and Warhammer.   In college, in 1997,  I played the shit out of Mechwarrior 2, which was absolutely mindblowing in its depiction of tactical 'mech combat.   When I got my original XBox, the first game I got for it was MechAssault.    Hell, I even read some of the damn novels!

Sadly the series kind of fell out of gamers' favor for a long time.   Not counting a DS title, we haven't seen a legitimate BattleTech/MechWarrior title come out in eight years, since 2004's MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf.   We still have some 'mech combat games in the form of Front Mission, Armored Core, and Steel Battalion, but in my opinion there's just something about those games that never really lived up to the deeper, more complex world of BattleTech.   They never really grabbed me, I guess, and I could never pin down why.   Maybe it was the foreign barrier?   Those titles were all distinctly Japanese, while BattleTech is from a more American perspective and attitude toward science fiction.   Whatever it was, my interest in mech-to-mech combat fell dormant. 

But these new videos from Piranha, and the screenshots....Mother of God.   They just rekindle that old feeling like a spark to dry tinder.   The combat looks incredible, the graphics look gorgeous, and the 'mechs look like they have some real weight and bulk to them.  I am hoping they have adapted the controls for a modern age; no one plays with joystick and keyboard anymore.  MechWarriors 2, 3, and 4 are really hard to readjust to nowadays.   Plus, I worry a bit about being a little "out of the loop" on things in the MechWarrior world.   As much as I loved it, it's been 8 years since I've even tried to remember the Houses and Merc factions, and I'm sure there are tons of new 'mechs I've never heard of.   To be honest though, this excites me!  I can't wait to dive back into this world headfirst and start blowing up some enemy 'mechs!


Check out these videos on the official Piranha Games site