MechWarrior: Difference between revisions

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'''''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.

The fourth game, '''''<nowiki>MechWarrior 4: Vengeance</nowiki>''''' (2000) is set during the Steiner-Davion conflict. Taking place on the planet Kentares IV and its moon, the plot's premise is similar to that of the first game, albeit much more involved. You play as Ian Dresari, trying to regain your birthright after a cousin affiliated with House Steiner betrays you. The expansion pack, ''Black Knight'', continues Dresari's story as the [[Title Drop|Black Knight Legion]] arrives. A standalone expansion, ''[[Name's the Same|Mercenaries]]'', puts the player in control of a warrior known only as "Spectre", [[Captain Obvious|who, incidentally, is a mercenary]].

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.

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** 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

* [[Awesome but Impractical]]:

** 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.

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* [[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.

** ''Living Legends'' has the "Anaconda" variant of the Huitzilopotchli [[Anti-Air]] tank. Instead of mounting lots of autocannons, it mounts ''six'' Clan Large Pulse Lasers. It can leg most mechs in two alpha strikes, or fire almost continuously when chainfiring.

* [[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.

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* [[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.

* [[Enemy Detecting Radar]]

* [[Enemy-Detecting Radar]]

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

* [[Exploding Barrels]]: Fuel tanks, APU's, and Drop Ships deal significant damage and overheat nearby targets when they explode. 'Mechs also do this when they get destroyed.

* [[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!

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* [[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.

* [[Lethal Joke Character]]:

** 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.

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** 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].

** The Sparrowhawk in ''Living Legends'' used to be a joke vehicle, but after the flight model was changed to make heavier aircraft less maneuverable, the Sparrowhawk effectively [[Took a Level In Badass]]. If a Sparrowhawk gets on your tail when you're in a [[Mighty Glacier|Shiva]] or a [[Jack of All Trades|Sulla]], you have ''no hope'' of escaping from the Sparrowhawk as it pounds your engines into dust.

** The Sparrowhawk in ''Living Legends'' used to be a joke vehicle, but after the flight model was changed to make heavier aircraft less maneuverable, the Sparrowhawk effectively [[Took a Level in Badass]]. If a Sparrowhawk gets on your tail when you're in a [[Mighty Glacier|Shiva]] or a [[Jack of All Trades|Sulla]], you have ''no hope'' of escaping from the Sparrowhawk as it pounds your engines into dust.

* [[Lethal Joke Item]]: The machine gun, even the heavy version, in ''MW4'' is weak compared to other weapons, but if you load enough of them up on a Daishi, or even better, an Annihilator, the dakka goes through the roof and things get a lot more fun.

* [[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.

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** 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]]

* [[Oh Crap]]:

** 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.

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** 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.

* [[Overheating]]: You ''explode'' if your 'Mech's heat level doesn't drop fast enough.

* [[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.

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* [[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."}}

* [[Psycho for Hire]]: Duncan Burke in Vengeance.

* [[Real Robot]]

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

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* [[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''.

* [[Shifting Sand Land]]: Sandblasted in ''Living Legends'' - complete with fake Egyptian pyramids, fake ruins, lots of sand dunes, and a very light sandstorm. Deathvalley has lots of sand, but it has no dunes, being more rocky.

* [[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'')

** Played very, very straight with the LB-X/20, however, which is useless beyond about 200 meters, but utterly lethal within it.

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

** [[Top Gear|Larsen Biscuits]] billboards appear in ''Living Legends'' Solaris Arena maps.

** 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.

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** 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]]?

** Base turrets in ''Living Legends'' have hitscan weapons, even for weapons that aren't ''normally'' hitscan. They look at you, then you instantly take damage, often before the turret actually "fires" the weapon effect.

* [[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.