During Mechcon 2016, a brand new game was announced this week that is sure to make fans of one long running series very happy. Piranha Games has announced that Mechwarrior 5: Mercenaries is going to be launching in 2018.

The head of the studio took the stage in order to announce the upcoming title and gave a few details about what players can expect in a few years when the game launches. During the event it was pointed out that this is a completely standalone singleplayer game.

Mechwarrior 5 is going to be developed by a team that is completely different from the one that is currently working on Mechwarrior Online. The team has announced that this upcoming game will have “intense PvE ‘Mech combat in an immersive, career-based Mercenary campaign driven by player choice.” While you’re going to have to wait a little while in order to get your hands on this game, you can check out the reveal trailer below.

Man, I love this renaissance of space flight based games that we have been getting lately. For years, your only choice was EVE Online if you wanted to play something along those lines, but then along came Star Citizen, and it opened up a veritable flood of these games.

Anyway, something along those lines was announced for the MMO genre. It’s called Transverse, and it’s a space flight based MMORPG coming to us courtesy of the creators of MechWarrior Online. The developers promise us incredibly detailed ship and station construction, massive solar-system-wide player events and real-time, physics-based combat. But it doesn’t end there, as they also promise that the game will include fluctuating, real-time economy fueled by industry drives trade in a dynamic resource ecosystem, and player-generated contracts and missions.

You can check out the first trailer for the game above, and make sure to stay tuned to GamingBolt as we will have more for you on the game as it develops.

The video game industry is going through an era of rebirth. Long forgotten IPs are being resurrected, often winning over critics and old friends. The numbers in the last few years alone are staggering.  Blizzard finally released the much anticipated StarCraft II after more than a twelve year wait, and Diablo III followed soon after.

Capcom resurrected the Street Fighter and Marvel versus Capcom series, both long dormant after Street Fighter III and Marvel versus Capcom 2, respectively. Hi-Rez Studios revived the Tribes franchise after more than ten years of inactivity with Tribes: Ascend. Square Enix released the first proper Deus Ex game in eight years. Activision remade GoldenEye.

"You’ll pick one of the various ‘Mechs, tweak its armor, weight, weapons, and inner workings, and use it in combat against other ‘Mechs. It sounds simple, but MechWarrior Online is an extremely complex game."

And that’s just the beginning. Arc System Works recently announced a new entry in the Guilty Gear series, Microsoft is working on another Killer Instinct, and Square will soon be releasing the next chapter in the Thief series.

In that light, it only seems fair that MechWarrior gets its turn. After all, the last game to bear the title released in 2002, but despite numerous legal difficulties and studio closures, the MechWarrior series finally has a new curator in Piranha Games, a studio that features key members of FASA Interactive, the studio responsible for developing several entries in the series, and MechWarrior Online, the latest game to bear the storied title.

In many ways, MechWarrior Online is similar to the other games in the MechWarrior series. You’ll pick one of the various ‘Mechs, tweak its armor, weight, weapons, and inner workings, and use it in combat against other ‘Mechs. It sounds simple, but MechWarrior Online is an extremely complex game.

"Each ‘Mech comes equipped with a set number of hardpoints, or areas where you can attach weapons or other useful tools, such as anti-missile systems or scouting drones. Each hardpoint will only allow certain types of weapons, so you can’t attach a gauss cannon to a hardpoint that is designed for missile launchers, or vice versa."

Like other games of its ilk, customization is a key part of MechWarrior Online. You’ll spend many an hour tinkering in the ‘Mech lab, trying to build a ‘Mech that fits your style. Knowing your style is important, because MechWarrior is all about choices. While the game does allow you a large amount of customization, there are limits built in. For instance, you can’t change the general build of your ‘Mech. An Atlas will always be an Atlas, and a Trebuchet will always be a Trebuchet. You won’t be swapping out cockpits or trading in your legs for a set of tank treads in MechWarrior Online.

Similarly, each ‘Mech comes equipped with a set number of hardpoints, or areas where you can attach weapons or other useful tools, such as anti-missile systems or scouting drones. Each hardpoint will only allow certain types of weapons, so you can’t attach a gauss cannon to a hardpoint that is designed for missile launchers, or vice versa. Still, you’re allowed a large amount of customization per ‘Mech, and each style comes with many different variations, so if you want to build a ‘Mech with nothing but long range missile launchers you’ll probably be able to, provided it can carry the weight and has the requisite slots to equip them.

You’ll also have to balance the heat the weapons generate when fired so your ‘Mech doesn’t overheat and shut down in the middle of a firefight. If this sounds complicated, it’s because it is, and you’ll likely spend hours in the ‘Mech Lab trying to find the right combination of speed, firepower, mobility, and armor for your metal behemoth, at least once you have enough money to buy your own ‘Mechs and parts.

"Unfortunately, MechWarrior Online does an extremely poor job of teaching you how to play. The in-game tutorial only covers movement, which is frustrating considering the sheer complexity of the game and the number of commands a perspective pilot needs to know to be effective in his or her ‘Mech."

You see, MechWarrior Online is a Free to Play game, and like most Free to Play titles, there are two forms of currency in the game: C-Bills, which can be earned by simply playing the game and Mech Credits, or MC, which are purchased with real money. Most ‘Mechs can be unlocked with C-Bills, but there are several premium models that can only be purchased with MC. While you can eventually upgrade a ‘Mech you bought with C-Bills to a premium ‘Mech, it takes a very long time.

Since each variation is unique, you’ll have to grind for extensive periods or open your wallet to grab the designs that are locked behind the game’s paywall. Thankfully, there are always trial ‘Mechs available for use, and the number of premium ‘Mechs is relatively small. Unfortunately, there’s no option to try a new ‘Mech before you buy it unless it’s a trial ‘Mech, and the information the game lets you view on ‘Mechs you have yet to purchase is limited at best, making purchasing a ‘Mech with weapons you don’t recognize a risky proposition.

Once you select a ‘Mech, you’ll want to learn how to use it. Unfortunately, MechWarrior Online does an extremely poor job of teaching you how to play. The in-game tutorial only covers movement, which is frustrating considering the sheer complexity of the game and the number of commands a perspective pilot needs to know to be effective in his or her ‘Mech. The game launcher does link to a number of YouTube videos (which I highly recommend watching if you’re going to play the game) that cover just about everything there is to know about MechWarrior Online, but it’s a poor substitute for a proper tutorial.

"Client crashes and disconnects are frequent and while I rarely experienced them, I played more games where I had teammates disconnect than I did where we had a full team. Unfortunately, there’s no way to reconnect to a game if you are disconnected from it."

This set-up is all the more baffling considering the in-game tutorial doesn’t even teach you how to do simple, essential tasks, such as toggling the ‘Mech’s various vision modes, grouping weapons, bringing up a large view of the game map, or manually engaging the a Mech’s shut down or override commands.  Unfortunately, this problem extends to the ‘Mech Lab as well, meaning you’ll have to check out those YouTube videos or do an awful lot of experimenting to get things done.

Thankfully, however the game plays very well – when it works. Client crashes and disconnects are frequent and while I rarely experienced them, I played more games where I had teammates disconnect than I did where we had a full team. Unfortunately, there’s no way to reconnect to a game if you are disconnected from it. To compound this problem, ‘Mechs that the client still considers “in game” are unusable until that game ends, meaning that if you are disconnected from a game, you’ll have to wait until that game finishes before you can use the ‘Mech you were using again.

When everything does come together, however, MechWarrior Online is a load of fun. Weapons feel and sounds powerful, the ‘Mechs move exactly like you’d think they would, and there’s a surprising amount of strategy involved. The game really sells the feeling of being a ‘Mech pilot, and the level of immersion on display helps bring MechWarrior Online to life in ways few games accomplish. There’s something for each player to take away from each match, so there’s always a reason to come back to try and better yourself as a pilot.

"Ultimately, MechWarrior Online is a game that is at odds with itself. Technically, it stills has a long way to go."

Matches consist of two teams of twelve ‘Mechs squaring off against one another across two modes: assault and conquest. Conquest requires you to capture several key points across the map in order to gain resources, though you can win by wiping out the enemy team, while assault is essentially MechWarrior Online’s form of team deathmatch, with a twist: each team has a base, and capturing your enemy’s will result in victory, no matter how many ‘Mechs they have left on the field. There’s also a Training Grounds mode, which will allow you to test out your ‘Mechs and scout the maps, making it equally useful for testing that autocannon build you’ve been dreaming about, or finding the best way to flank the enemy base.

Ultimately, MechWarrior Online is a game that is at odds with itself. Technically, it stills has a long way to go. As a game, however, it’s well-designed and more than worthy of bearing the MechWarrior title. With a little work, MechWarrior could become the catalyst for revival that the series needs. There’s a really excellent MechWarrior game buried here, and a promising future for the franchise to boot. You just have to dig around a bit to find it.

This game was reviewed on the PC.

The Jenner JRC-F, which provides a 10 percent XP boost for each match, has also been added to the Champion Mech line-up, and if that weren’t enough, new Cobra Camo patterns, Faction Medallions and a new challenge event with Medium vs. The World have also been announced for May 24th.

Both mechs are currently available, with details regarding the Medium vs. The World challenge event available at the official site.

Four more trial Mechs also join the fight, namely the Jenner JR7-F(C), Hunchback HBK-4G, JagerMech JM6-S and Highlander, along with three new cockpit items. If that weren’t enough, you can also personalize the cockpits with statues of Dragon, Awesome and Cicada.

This isn’t including the Buccaneer Premium Pattern which adds, among other things, taunts. Because there’s nothing like goading a mechanized monstrosity while piloting your own mechanized monstrosity.

Check out the official site of the free to play, multiplayer game for more details.

About the game:

Set in the year 3049 during the early stages of a massive interstellar war, MechWarrior Online puts you in command of the most powerful war machine to ever walk the field of battle, the mighty BattleMech.

Command your Mech and customize it to suit your battlefield role; upgrade systems, replace weapons, and tweak armor with endless options.

Free-to-play games have really rose in popularity this generation and this game promises to be one of the best ones yet when it comes to balancing.

“Are you prepared to conquer new worlds and annihilate new ‘mechs? Are you ready for serious in-game events, contests, twitch streams,and leader-board challenges to prove you can conquer your enemies? Mechwarrior Online is searching for pilots who are up for the challenge!”

You can sign up here. Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Piranha Games and Infinite Game Publishing have put the Death’s Knell mech into the MechWarrior Online store. The mech is now available and has 176 points of armour and four medium lasers, two in each arm.

Starting today, players will also be greeted by the familiar and long-awaited Bitching Betty startup sequence, “Reactor Online. Sensors Online. Weapons Online. All Systems Nominal.”

The official female cockpit voiceover from the original MechWarrior games first returned to MechWarrior Online late last year, but the famous greeting is newly available, adding another authentic element from the series, which continues to evolve with fun and valuable content updates.

“Whether I choose to pilot a familiar or totally new Mech, such as Death’s Knell, hearing Bitching Betty at the start really brings back fond memories while I get pumped for the action on the battlefield,” said Bryan Ekman, creative director, Piranha Games.

“We are excited to see how players utilize this speedy and deadly Mech, which excels at taking the fight to the enemy, and escaping before they can retaliate.”

Check out the video below.

Forget that it beats out all other Light Mechs, the Spider Mech features eight jumpjets and an awesome turning radius. It might not match the other mechs for firepower but this is a foe that strikes in the heat of battle, when you least expect it.

Along with the Spider Mech, Piranha also introduced the new Decay Target pilot module that helps keep an enemy mech in your sights for about 1.5 to 2 seconds longer.

This week’s patch also includes the Sensor Range pilot module, which increases your sensor range by 15 to 25 percent.

Piranha has also announced a new 3-day in-game event starting January 18th at 10 AM PST, which will run till January 21st, 10 AM PST.

For the first time ever, it will be a Double XP event, and players can even use this to stack other XP boosts and benefits to quickly level through the weekend.

Piranha Games creative director Bryan Ekman stated that, “With the new 8-player group vs. group action and ECM, the competitive element in the game has been upped in a major way. Blending new content with the rich history of the BattleTech universe, we are excited to introduce Ilya Muramets CTF-IM Cataphract, the first PGI-crafted character, a resilient and balanced Hero Mech representing the Capellan Confederation.”

While the electronic counter measures insure that opposing have a hard time both detecting you and getting a missile lock, the Ilya Muramets offers flexibility and durability boasting a good mix of energy and ballistic hard-points. For more information on the newest Hero mech, click here.