MechWarrior: Difference between revisions

'''''MechWarrior 3''''' (1999) takes place three years after ''MechWarrior 2'' and in the aftermath of Operation Bulldog (the setting of the first [[Mech Commander]]) on the planet [[Blatant Lies|named Tranquil]], where a task force code-named Damocles is assigned to take down several major installations of a Clan while the Star League deals with the rest of the Clans (this is the Counterattack and Great Refusal arc). Due to a surprise attack, half of the Inner Sphere force is destroyed before it even makes landfall on the planet. However, the mission must go on. The expansion pack, ''Pirate's Moon'', feature a new campaign letting you play as either a raiding pirate or a member of the Eridani Light Horse, the mercenary unit deployed to stop said pirates.

 

 

Early in 2010, '''''<nowiki>MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries</nowiki>''''' with the Clan and Inner Sphere Mech Paks were [[Freeware Games|put online for free download]] by MekTek, along with MekTek's own in-house Mech Pak, adding several dozen 'Mechs and weapons to the game. MekTek also made some modifications to the game itself, enhancing the HUD and 'Mech icons as well as making several Clan, IS, and MekTek Mech Pak 'Mechs and weapons available in the Campaign mode.

 

A game trailer was shown in 2009 for a reboot of the series for the 5th game, in the vein of the first 4 games, set in 3015, but as time went on, the IP rights holder and game developers couldn't find a publisher for such a game and have since retooled the game into a free-to-play MMO: '''''MechWarrior: Online.''''' Initially taking place in the year 3049 (before the Clan invasion era) that will allegedly update storyline-wise each day after the the currently set August 1 2012 release date (which will be August 1st, 3049 in game universe, meaning that the Clan invasion will not happen yet and Clan mechs will not be initially available). [http://mwomercs.com/ The website can be found here.]

 

Also of note is ''[[Mech Assault]]'', a [[Third-Person Shooter]] series set in the same universe, and ''Multiplayer Battletech: Solaris'' and ''Multiplayer Battletech 3025'', which were online multiplayer takes on the ''MechWarrior'' formula before ''NetMech'' (''<nowiki>MW2:31stCC</nowiki>''), ''MercNet'' (''<nowiki>MW2:Mercs</nowiki>'') and such became popular. Unfortunately, both titles have been entirely [[Lost Forever]] for years.

Fan made games and mods:

* ''[http://www.mechvm.org/ MechVM]'', a program that allows the ''MW2'' games to run on modern systems. [http://www.mech2.org/forum/index.php More info here].

* ''[http://www.mechlivinglegends.net MechWarrior: Living Legends]'' (MWLL), [[Game Mod|a total conversion multiplayer mod]] for ''[[Crysis (series)|Crysis]] Warhead''. Takes cues from all the ''MechWarrior'' games and is balanced for multiplayer. First game to feature ''useful'' tanks, aerospace fighters, [[Power Armor|battlearmor]] and VTOLs.

* [[BattleTech]] MUD, popular in the 1990s, a series of ASCII-graphics MUDs (MUCK, MUSH, MUSE, and MUX over the years) did real-time multiplayer combat.

For the ''MechWarrior'' tabletop roleplaying game <ref>Emphasis on character to character combat and interactions rather than the vehicle to vehicle combat of Battletech</ref> , see ''[[BattleTech]]''.

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* [[Ace Custom]]: Your 'Mech. Your lance's or Star's 'Mechs. ''Pirate's Moon'' gave Ace Customs to pretty much all the pirate Mooks as well, resulting in some unexpectedly tough fights.

** You'll come across a lot of these in Solaris battles in ''MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries''.

* [[Announcer Chatter]]: [[Ensemble Darkhorse|Duncan Fisher]] in ''MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries''

** And now in Living Legends, too! The MWLL team was able to hire the talented George Ledoux to reprise the role for the introduction of the Solaris Arena game mode in patch 0.5.0.

** A number of Mechs in ''MW4'' Mercs were significantly less threatening if you knew their weapons placement and nuked it five seconds into the fight. This was particularly useful on Solaris.

** In Pirate's Moon, the Awesome had an unfortunately positioned head hitbox just above its center of mass. Long-range snapshots with Gauss rifles or Clan [[ERPP Cs]], particularly from a slightly higher elevation than the target, would often take the 'Mech's head off

** The artillery beacon deals tremendous damage, but has limited ammunition and requires incredible timing against moving objects. God help you if you're overheated and a Longbow carrying 10 of these finds you.

** Long Tom artillery pieces, which are one of the heaviest weapons in the game, and you need to be damn good to hit anything further than 300m away with them, When you ''do'' hit targets though, they will feel it. The ''Living Legends'' version of the Longtom can one-shot ''any'' mech with a direct hit, but it has an extreme reload time, only one vehicle mounts it, and the design of the gun makes it impossible to hit anything closer than 400 meters away unless the Long Tom tank is parked on a hill.

** The online community for [[MW 4]]:V had a gentlemen's agreement to ban these 2 weapon in online matches as players using aimbots would simply spam auto-hits with these weapons, outside the game's draw distance.

** ''Ghost Bear's Legacy'' added the Arrow IV artillery missile. Extreme range, very damaging single-shot missile, almost always hits it target and very capable of killing light and medium Mechs in a single strike. Except when said target has another GBL add-on, the anti-missile machinegun. Meant to reduce the number of missile hits in standard volley shots, an AMS will make all Arrow attacks an utter waste - and there are a lot of Mechs that carry it. The Arrow IV missiles were improved in MW4, however, where they are considered too large for an AMS to destroy.

* [[Awesome Yet Practical]]: the PPC, especially in its ER version. Coolest energy-shot graphic effect in all games, not unreasonably large or heavy compared to the damage it does (other similarly damaging kinetic and missile weapons all take more inventory to fit and are heavier), ammo-independent and ''hurts like hell''. Oh, and it tends to disrupt electronics in the target. Massive heat buildup is the only thing preventing it from getting into [[Game Breaker]] territory.

* [[Beam Spam]] A very viable tactic was to use nothing but ER Large Lasers and heat sinks and blow the legs off enemy mechs. This becomes even more effective in games such as [[Mechwarrior]] 3 which allow the player to walk into water for a quicker cool down.

* [[Big Bad]]: Smoke Jaguar Galaxy Commander Brendon Corbett in ''MechWarrior 3''.

* [[Big Freaking Gun]]: The Clan rail gun in MekTek's free [[MW 4]] is considered one even by 'Mech standards. The Autocannon/20s, Hypervelocity Autocannon/20s, Ultra Autocannon/20s, LB-20 X-Autocannons, Gauss Rifles, and Heavy Gauss Rifles are all much smaller than the Rail Gun, but can be mounted on far more mechs, and are the largest conventional weapons in the games. The Long Tom artillery piece in ''Living Legends'' can one-shot an Assault 'Mech with a direct hit.

** Also Dominic Payne of ''MechWarrior 3''. Epona Rhi takes over for him when Dominic's not there for most of the ''Pirate's Moon'' expansion.

* [[Determinator]]: The Mechwarrior Guard Captain from the intro movie of [[Mechwarrior]] 4: Vengeance, when he sees why no-one has been answering his radio calls:

* [[Die, Chair, Die!]]: Various neutral buildings, bridges, trees, and civilian vehicles can be destroyed. The third game even lets you go so far as to destroy the terrain, kill people and cut power lines.

** The third game went so far as to let you blow gaping craters in ''the ground'' if you so wished, something none of the other games have managed to recreate since.

* [[Ejection Seat]]: In non-Mercenaries games, ejecting is only useful to stare at a cool visual of the landscape instead of an explosion and a mission failed screen when someone blows you up. In Mercenaries games, ejecting lets you avoid a game over at the cost of your Mech and all its equipment (usually avoided by reloading a savegame, but appreciated by the heavy role-players).

** More useful in ''Living Legends'', where ejecting deposits you a couple-dozen meters above the fight in a suit of jump-capable battle armor with some basic weapons. While the BA default armament isn't amazing, it's sometimes enough to finish off a crippled enemy. More significantly, it allows you a means to escape back to base and replace your 'Mech (or grab better BA weapons) without giving up a kill to the enemy pilot--killing a pilot in his machine grants a much larger reward than just destroying an empty 'Mech.

* [[Every Bullet Is a Tracer]]: High explosive autocannons, .50 cal machineguns, artillery shells..

* [[Explosive Overclocking]]: If you keep your heat levels too high by overriding the auto shut down, or in some cases just firing all of your weapons at once, your 'Mech will explode. This is derived from the tabletop game where having your heat getting too high led to risks of ammo explosions, and then of a reactor overload. In ''[[Mechwarrior]] 4'', the interface will get [[Interface Screw|progressively harder to read as you build up heat]]. In ''Living Legends'', overriding the shutdown (and continuing to build up more heat) will cause your mech to start taking massive amounts of damage from the mech ''melting''. It's not common to see a laser boat like the ''Awesome'' suddenly loose both of its arms in combat because the the pilot was blithely ignoring the computer screaming at him to shut down. Even more hilarious when something that mounts [[Made of Explodium|Gauss Rifles]] looses an arm from overheating - the Gauss Rifle will violently explode, likely destroying the mech instantly.

* [[Eye Beams]]: The ''Atlas'' in MW4 mounts an energy weapon in its head. Which means you shoot frickin' laser beams out of its eyes!

* [[Fan Remake]]: ''Assault Tech 1: Battlebech'', which has gameplay similiar to [[Mechwarrior]] 2 with updated graphics and gameplay mechanics.

* [[Fan Sequel]]: ''<nowiki>MechWarrior: Living Legends</nowiki>'', a ''[[Crysis (series)|Crysis]]'' [[Game Mod|mod]], made when it appeared that there wouldn't be any more ''[[Mechwarrior]]'' games. It combines most of the better parts from previous official ''[[Mechwarrior]]'' games.

* [[Fluffy the Terrible]]: Mr. Bubbles in ''Living Legends''. Mr. Bubbles is a [[Humongous Mecha|one hundred ton bipedal tank]] with ''three'' ten ton [[Gatling Good|rotary autocannons]] which can shred ''anything'' in the game in seconds.

* [[Fragile Speedster]]: Light and Medium 'Mechs are fast, but can not take heavy punishment. Assault and Heavy 'Mechs tend to be [[Mighty Glacier|the opposite]]. A special note goes out to the Sparrowhawk jet in ''Living Legends''. It has so little armor, that if you try to run over a player at max speed, you explode. Other vehicles don't even take damage from doing the same thing.

** The dynamic salvage system of the updated ''MW2: Mercenaries'' 1.1 patch (Win9x-only) allows you to salvage any 'Mech you can destroy without doing excessive damage (via headshot, for example). And one story mission begins with you 'Mechjacking a 100-ton ''Kodiak'' from the Ghost Bears and smashing your way back to your ship.

* [[Hartman Hips]]: Epona Rhi from ''MW3'', at least if her lancemate Alan Mattila is to be believed. Epona is not amused by the suggestion.

'''Epona:''' ''What?!'' What did you say? }}

* [[High-Pressure Blood]]: Cockpit kills in ''MWLL'' cause it to explode in a shower of blood the size of a small tank.

* [[Large Ham]]: Duncan Fisher in ''[[Mechwarrior]] 4: Mercenaries'' and ''Living Legends''.

* [[Lead the Target]]: Required when using any weapon except lasers and missiles that are fired after obtaining a lock, specially over great distances.

** While slow and can be killed in one hit, infantry and battle armor in ''Mercenaries'' equipped with their version of flamethrowers can force enemy 'Mechs to shut down, leaving them vulnerable to further damage. They can also be hard to spot in the heat of battle, allowing them to get in range despite their speed.

*** Some Battlearmor can outgun 20-30 ton BattleMechs, damage-per-second wise.

** The Harasser light-hovercraft in ''Living Legends''. Originally laughed at for its poor handling, poor armor, and poor weaponry. Then it was discovered that it can climb up almost vertical walls [[Car Fu|and punt tanks around like they're made of paper]]; a Harasser hitting an 80 ton tank at its max speed (162kph) will send the tank flying wildly back. ''Then'' MWLL version 0.4 refined the handling and gave it the hilarious [[Kill It with Fire|6xFlamer]] variant which can kill enemies by making them overheat.

** ''Mechwarrior 2'''s Firemoth barely counts as target practice when encountered in missions, as the AI [[Artificial Stupidity|uses it like any other Mech]], and any weapon at all will deplete its armor at alarming speed - when it doesn't kill it outright. However, the version that mounts eight light lasers can be frightfully effective if used by a competent player - get in close using its ridiculous speed and maneuvrability to avoid enemy attacks, unload alpha strikes at the enemy's legs and/or weak back armor until heat buildup threatens to shut you down, get the hell away before they have a chance to react. Rinse and repeat until enemy is dead. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTJmLcsAXXo Here's an excellent example].

* [[Lethal Lava Land]]: [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Inferno]] in ''Living Legends''. Rocky terrain, large lava flows sliding down mountains, distant volcanic explosions, a smoky atmosphere, and extreme heat which causes mechs to overheat easily.

* [[Lightning Bruiser]]: The Mad Cat MK 2, a 90 ton assault mech armed with a pair Gauss Rifles, has a base speed of 68 km/h (compared to an Atlas 54 km/h) and has jump jets.

** Certain missions in this game seem impossible at times thanks to enemies that wield weapons like [[Bullet Hell|Ultra ACs, LBXs]] and 'Mechs like the [[Demonic Spiders|Thor]] and [[Boss in Mook Clothing|Annihilator.]]

* [[No Backwards Compatibility in the Future]]

** The player in ''<nowiki>MW4: Mercenaries</nowiki>'' if he continues doing the ambush missions at the start of the game. {{spoiler|Be prepared to fight a Mauler, several Arguses, and swarms of tanks and helicopters. While you're in a light 'Mech. Two ways around it, though: you are given the rare option to flee without suffering a [[Game Over]], and it's entirely possible to do missions on some other planets first and thus be able to afford the heavier 'Mechs you'll need to win this fight.}}

** Watch the trailer for the ''[[Mechwarrior]]'' [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orhOvbfyyJw Reboot]. It appears that is ''exactly'' what the guy is thinking at 1:07.

** Not so, try hitting light mech's cockpits with 7-8 Gauss rifles at once, good times.

* [[One-Man Army|One Mech Army]]: In ''3'', the epilogue notes that you and your single lance of mechs (with the support crew) effectively managed to singlehandedly destroy the entire military infrastructure of Corbett's faction of Smoke Jaguar. Just the four of you managed to pull off what an entire task force couldn't manage otherwise. This is played with, though, as a massive army of angry Clanners (who are chasing you down after obliterating the ''rest'' of your task force) are hot on your heels.

* [[POV Sequel]]: In the expansion ''MechWarrior 4: Black Knight'', you are up against {{spoiler|Ian Dresari, the [[Player Character]] from 'Vengeance'}}

* [[Power Armor]]: The Battlearmor suits that appear occasionally throughout the series. The battlearmor is an available asset in ''<nowiki>MW4:Mercenaries</nowiki>'', but they're basically tiny, easy to shoot mechs. The Battlearmor that appears in ''Living Legends'' are demonic spiders from the pits of hell itself, who will hop onto your mech and slowly slice all your arms off while you scream for your teammates to shoot him off.

* [[Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner]]: In ''MechWarrior 2'', ''3'', and in ''Living Legends'', your 'Mech's computer has this to say at the start of every mission:

** {{smallcaps|"Reactor online. Sensors online. Weapons online. All systems nominal."}}

* [[Real Robot]]

* [[Red Eyes, Take Warning]]: The Atlas in ''Multiplayer Battletech 3025'' have glowing red eyes when they're powered up.

* [[Schmuck Bait]]: In the Blade Splint mission of ''MechWarrior 2'', there is an overly innocuous building that, upon closer inspection, has a description of "Don't shoot me" Doing so nukes the entire city, killing all mechs in the area, yourself included.

* [[Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness]]: Some of the mission briefings in ''4''.

* [[Shooting Gallery]]: A [[Humongous Mecha]]-scale version of this trope appears in a mission in ''MechWarrior 3''. An enemy training course is left on in one of the mission areas, and it's very possible to walk your lance into it without realizing it, then start shooting when you realize you're surrounded by 'enemy contacts.'

* [[Short-Range Shotgun]]: Averted by low caliber LB-X Autocannons in ''Living Legends''. The LB-X/10 has a relatively tight spread up to 500 meters, and the LB-X/2 and LB-X/5 have nearly no spread at all (since they're basically buckshot for killing ''jet fighters'')

* [[Shout-Out]]: See [[Classic Cheat Code]].

** The developers of MWO are apparently [[One of Us]] seeing as the concept art for the ''Catapult'' seems to literally have [[Macross Missile Massacre]] written on one of it's missile pods as shown here: http://mwomercs.com/media/artwork/1-battlemechs/1-catapult-concept

** The official website for ''MechWarrior Online'' has a short story for the ''Stalker'' 'mech.

* [[Shows Damage]]: The series uses this trope extensively:

** Type 2: 'Mechs start to emit smoke and sometimes even visible flames when they are heavily damaged.

* [[Suicidal Overconfidence]]: It doesn't matter how much of a powerhouse your current 'Mech is, enemy light mechs will still gun for you.

** Or if they are outnumbered, like in the first Halloran V mission where a lone light Owens 'mech charges your full lance. Of course, [[Player Character|Specter]] is amused.

** It's also fully possible to do that mission with a lance full of 100 ton assault mechs. The 25 ton Owens, outfitted with long rang missles, [[Too Dumb to Live|will charge right at you.]]

* [[Taking You with Me]]: Players sometimes attempt to [[Suicide Attack|selfdestruct adjacent to an enemy to inflict significant damage]]. In ''MechWarrior 4: Vengeance'', there was even a weapon, that when triggered, produces a more devastating explosion.

** They can also detect you through walls on Veteran and Elite difficultly in ''MW4'', where players are limited to line-of-sight radar.

** Hell, in most of the games, the AI Mechs will target and close with the player even when the player's Mech is [[Beyond the Impossible|powered down, behind several terrain features, and crouched among trees]]; this is made all the more galling when the player's teammates will be raining fire on them the entire time but unable to get the AI to stop charging the player's position. What's the point of going [[Radio Silence|Passive Sensors]] when the [[A Wizard Did It|AI uses magic]]?

* [[Tanks for Nothing]]: Tanks in the singleplayer [[Mechwarrior]] games are only useful as a distraction or maybe getting in the occasional cheap shot against Mechs.

* [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill]]: Alpha strikes, or firing ''all'' of a Mech's weapons, regardless of type, guidance or power, in a last-ditch attempt to cause as much damage as possible. Tends to kill everything - including occasionally the firing Mech, from excessive heat buildup.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:The Eighties]]

[[Category:Freeware Games]]

[[Category:Mecha Game]]

[[Category:Microsoft Studios]]