MechWarrior 5 Announced! (December 5, 2016)

ChrisReid

Super Soaker Collector / Administrator
The MechWarrior series will be getting a new single-player sequel! MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries was just announced at Mech Con 2016. It will be made by Piranha Games, the studio behind the MechWarrior Online multiplayer-only shooter that's been running for the past couple years. This is a significant development for a couple of reasons. The MW franchise was a contemporary of Wing Commander with the main games being released for PC between 1989 and 2002. It suffered a similar fate to WC with the general decline in popularity of simulation games in the early 2000s. A few spinoffs were released over the years, but this recent revelation should mean that the 'core' series will resume in 2018 after more than 15 years on hiatus. Obviously Wingnuts are hoping for a similar revival at some point in the future, and this is an opportunity for a successful precedent that could help make the case for WC.












So is that just a pipe dream? Now that Electronic Arts has the renewed Star Wars license as well as its home grown Mass Effect series, it may not seem likely that Wing Commander would be primed for a reboot. But hope remains for some kind of third party arrangement. In fact, Piranha - the same Piranha making MechWarrior 5 - was actually in negotiations with EA back in 2014 to produce a new Wing Commander game! Ultimately, this didn't pan out, but the interest is certainly out there, and it's only a matter of time before some opportune set of circumstances works out. If MW5 is a success, then we're one step closer. For now, here's a preview video of the robots in action:



While the battlefields of the Inner Sphere burn with an array of devastating weaponry, none is more formidable than the BattleMech. These immense fighting machines, piloted by elite fighters known as MechWarriors, dominate the wars of the future with enough firepower to annihilate entire cities.
In MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries you will adopt the role of a rookie MechWarrior pilot thrust into combat as the Third Succession War continues to fracture the Inner Sphere. Take contracts from the factions of your choosing and engage in tactical, first-person, PvE ???Mech combat through an immersive, career-based Mercenary campaign driven by player choice. Victory, prestige, and profit will not only require skill on the battlefield, but in the acquisition, maintenance, and enhancement of your BattleMechs.

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Original update published on December 5, 2016
 
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Heh, good time to be a Battletech fan, it seems. Probably more excited for Battletech than this this, but I'm interested to see where it goes.
 
I've never played any MechWarrior games, so there's nothing in this news for me as such, but... I find it tremendously interesting (and yes, kind of exciting) that the game is actually called MechWarrior 5. I mean, I suppose this is not an entirely new trend - you could make the connection to Windows 7, of all things, as starting this new tendency for long-running series to continue their numbering instead of trying to "refresh" themselves by dropping the numbering altogether. But this is not just about a fashion in naming schemes. This is very much a product of the nostalgia drive we've seen in games for a few years now. Tim Schafer's Broken Age Kickstarter campaign really launched this tendency, but initially it was mostly remakes and spiritual sequels like Star Citizen. MechWarrior 5 goes a step further, by claiming to be a direct continuation of the series. I mean, that number in the title is like a massive declaration of intent in terms of the game's design. Will they be successful? And if they are, will they then make another attempt to secure the rights for Wing Commander?

(probably not, obviously - they'll have their hands full with MechWarrior)
 
I am VERY VERY happy about this. MechWarrior Online has very solid gameplay but it is a) online and b) free-to-play. I want some epic single player mech pilot experience ;-)

The issue here is that the developer as made some very controversial things in the last years, both in regards to MechWarrior Online as well as other projects (that space-game Kickstarter) and MechWarrior in general. Not to mention that they already tried MechWarrior 5 once and it died. And got turned into MWO eventually.

I have high hopes this time, since all the technical foundations are already there. And they are even setting it in the best era of BattleTech. Let us hope it rocks!
 
Well one problem with MWO was that the crysis mod, MW Living Legends was so much better in every conceivable way.
 
Interesting. I would never have expected this... especially after picking up Mechwarrior 2 for the PS1 a few months back. Maybe I need to bang that out, now that its fresh in my memory
 
I stopped playing with Mech Warrior 3 (which I found awesome, as was Mech Warrior 2 and all its spin-offs/expansions) ; though I bought MEch Warrior 4: Vengeance, I never really got into it. As a whole, after Tukyavid, I thought the stroy went downhill. Anyway, the trailers looks promising and I'll be watching it.
 
Never played MW2 (went to the other side of the Mech world with the Earth/Starsiege series).

Has anybody updated MW2 (as in, to run on modern systems...I did a quick search and it looks like it requires a few tricks to install..just like C&C Red Alert)?

Or can it be purchased? I searched but didn't see it on GOG or elsewhere...just those crap "AbandonWare" sites.
 
Well there are a lot of versions of MW2, The dos versions are easy to run in dosbox.

Unfortunately it isn't available due to some crazy copyright issues. i got my jewl copy of mw2 on ebay

as for ra, the dos version does run but i highly recommend openra which has great multiplayer
 
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I've never played any MechWarrior games, so there's nothing in this news for me as such, but... I find it tremendously interesting (and yes, kind of exciting) that the game is actually called MechWarrior 5.
MechWarrior 5 goes a step further, by claiming to be a direct continuation of the series. I mean, that number in the title is like a massive declaration of intent in terms of the game's design. Will they be successful?

I do hope they succeed, but a bit doubtful.

Numbers following the games or movies, honestly I think, don't really show the developers/producers' commitment very much. It's just one of many marketing ways. It became clear to me when I went to movies for Terminator 3 and later thought James Cameron should've gone with that 'Happy Playground Ending' in T2. As long as they think nostalgic feeling equals easy money, it'll be a disappointment all over again.

Third Succession War Timeline means that the story takes place in early 31st Century, even earlier than the very first 1989 MechWarrior game's. Among the four of those large military conflict between Houses of Inner Sphere, third war was the least brutal and climatic and the longest. It feels like devs decided not to take chances by going for future BattleTech events like Word of Blake Jihad and went way back to old period so they don't have to bother anymore. Of course, Piranha Games can make their own choices, but if they are going to make the game that way, paying extra effort is a must.

They are still working hard on it, so I'll wait and see how things turn out. Will fans remember this game as much as they do ones made by Activision, or at least Microprose?

"Look at it this way, kid. We've just got a pay raise."(last quote from MW5 Youtube footage)

"Look at the bright side, kid. You get to keep all the money."(from MW2 Mercs intro cinematic)
 
Well there are a lot of versions of MW2, The dos versions are easy to run in dosbox.

Unfortunately it isn't available due to some crazy copyright issues. i got my jewl copy of mw2 on ebay

as for ra, the dos version does run but i highly recommend openra which has great multiplayer

I figured it would be a DOS version. Good to know about availability.

I'd never heard of OpenRA! Thanks! It looks pretty cool! I actually spent a crapload of time a few years back getting the original RA installed (the 16-bit installer was a bitch and had to find a workaround).
 
Same here! :) And Hyperblade came with it too - I enjoyed this game more than it probably deserved. (Of course, I bought the card for WCP - good times all around!)

Hyperblade is a game I absolutely adored and was sad to see it never went past the one game. (I think a console port was planned and canceled?)
 
Oops, sorry, I didn't return earlier.

I'm very happy to read that you liked Hyperblade as well. IIRC, my favourite team was Warsaw Ambush and then Munich Sturmnacht, for the name alone :).

Merry Christmas!
 
I was musing about this the other day, a friend of mine and I were discussing MechWarrior and what in it is fun/iconic. I noticed how ever since Mech2, the start-up sequence for the BattleMech has become sort of the a hallmark of the game, you know the one: Reactor, online. Sensors, online, Weapons, online; all systems nominal. It caused something of a fracas in MW:Online when they replaced the word "nominal" in the startup sequence for "functional" IIRC. It's funny that it actually sounded so grating for those who expected "nominal". I noticed they changed it back for 5...funny what becomes "iconic" in a game series.
 
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