Reviewed: April 22, 2003
Reviewed by: John Bowlin
Publisher
Microsoft Games
Developer
Cyberlore Studios
Released: November 12, 2002
Genre: Action/Sim
Players: 16
ESRB: Teen
7
7
8
7
7.5
System Requirements:
Microsoft has been putting out high quality games for several years now, and the MechWarrior franchise of giant robot warfare has been one of their best product lines ever since they acquired the computer version rights to FASA's legendary miniatures battle system, Battletech. For those unfamiliar with the Battletech universe, it is similar to various Japanese anime films that depict giant robot combat, such as Patlabor, Robotech, and especially Gundam.
The MechWarrior PC game franchise didn't really see its heyday until Activision's superbly crafted MechWarrior 2 series. One of the games in that series was MechWarrior 2 Mercenaries, and fans of the series can expect something very similar to that game with Microsoft's latest entrant into the sci-fi sim genre, MechWarrior 4 Mercenaries. While MW4Mercs bears the title of MW4, it works as a stand-alone game much the same way MW2Mercs did, and does not require MW4 to be installed to play it.
In MW4Mercs, you take on the role of a new commander of a small mercenary band of MechWarriors, code named Spectre. You will lead teams of MechWarrior into battle not as a regular in one of the major houses or clans, but as a member associated with one of the four major mercenary units - Wolf's Dragoons, Kell Hounds, Gray Death Legion, or Northwind Highlanders. Who you pick will change some of your perks and somewhat affect the story.
If you've played any of the MW series you will be familiar with the kinds of things you can do in your mech. The keyboard joystick and/or mouse controls are fully customizable. The game was definitely made with a good joystick in mind, and not having one at the time of playing this review did somewhat hamper my ability to get around in the heat of battle. Fortunately I was able to use the mouse in combination with a Microsoft Strategic Commander to good effect. It's handy to have several buttons within easy reach. Mouse and keyboard would work pretty well but you might find yourself wanting to reassign keys from their defaults, especially if you're accustomed to the now almost universal WASD layout for first person shooter type games. Make no mistake, though, this game is a simulation, and with that comes the complexities of sims that you do not normally find in standard action shooters.
As you successfully complete missions, you will receive money for them as well as possible salvaged parts and mechs. Sometimes you can earn bonus money if you did a particularly good job on a mission. In the campaign mode you have an economic goal of gaining wealth as well as a status goal of gaining a reputation in your particular mercenary league so you can get higher paying assignments and fame. Managing the finances of your unit is as important as the battles themselves. This aspect of the game is what sets Mercenaries apart from the other MW4 games.
The missions you go on can vary from routine patrol routes, to defense of a position, to escorting a convoy, to infiltration of a base, etc. The higher rating you get in your mercenary league, the more dangerous but also more rewarding missions you can take. You can also participate in arena combat to win prize money and fame. You also can just play "instant action" battles where you set up the conditions you want but it doesn't affect your campaign mode story or standing in any way. The missions could have used a bit more variety, but overall the missions were pretty good.
During the campaign mode you will have the option of choosing from different missions available on the planet you are currently on, or taking the drop ship to some other planet in search of other missions. Going to other planets naturally costs time and money. Different star systems of course have different types of planets and terrain available to battle on. Since this is a sci-fi sim, a few of those environments were unusual for a sim, such as combat in a spaceport or on a moon. Nothing we haven't seen before in a MW game, but well done.
In MW4Merc, like in previous MW games, you can customize the mechs that you acquire through the game. The difference in this game is that you have to use funds from your mercenary unit's stash. You buy parts and chassis and armor and etc and put it all together. There are, of course, weight restrictions and other factors such as speed and heat consumption to worry about as well.
For example, if you build a mech that has a lot of beam weapons in it, you might find yourself constantly overheating if you try to fire it as fast as you can. Building a mech that can dissipate heat faster can help in these cases. On the other hand, if you build a mech that relies on rockets or other ammo you may find yourself out of ammo or your ammo explodes on you, and neither one of those situations are fun either. Finding the right balance for the missions you're on is a big part of the strategy in and of the MW games.
During the battles you will have your own mech to worry about as well as worrying about telling the other pilots who are in your mercenary unit what to do. The other pilots sometimes have their own ideas about what to do and they don't always do exactly what you tell them to do, depending on whom you have in your unit. Generally though, they are pretty good at following most orders. Part of the game's strategy is to know when to do things yourself and when to send in the others to do what they do best.
Different weapons are useful for different situations. You might prefer a mech that has a lot of long range weapons for a defense mission so you can pound on the assaulting mechs before they get in too close to what you are defending. Or perhaps you need a really fast mech that has light, closer range weapons for those stealthy infiltration type missions. Finding the right mech for the right missions for each of your merc unit members is crucial. Fans of the MW series will recognize almost all of the weapons that are available in the game.
MechWarrior 4 Mercenaries has a flexible graphics engine that can adapt to low-end machines as well as look really good on high-end machines. The reviewer's machine was a meager Athlon 850 mhz with a GeForce 2 MX 64mb video card, pretty low end for today's games, but it ran the game smoothly at 800x600x32. The game will take advantage of FSAA and other high-end graphics card features if your card supports it. The configuration utility that comes with the game lets you change all sorts of graphics features, from lighting features, level of detail, sound effects, etc.
The sound effects in MW4Mercs were excellent. Especially the sound effects of various weapons and explosions and mech movement noises and such were very well done. The sounds really do a good job of drawing you into the game and making you feel like you are the one sitting in the pilot seat of these monstrous war machines. Nearby explosions would not only rock the screen, they roared in your ears. The voice acting of the main characters in the campaign mode was very competent. Also good were the announcers in the arena combat fights. The futuristic music fit well with the sci-fi theme of the game, but it wasn't really that memorable.
A run through the campaign will take at least 20 hours if you're very good at the MechWarrior type games. Probably more like 30 hours for most people. Then of course there is instant action games or playing through the campaign again using a different mercenary company. Of course, there is also online play that lets you play with up to 15 other people over the net. The game includes a built in matching service. Replay value is good, since the gameplay doesn't really get old. There is a strong community online since this series has fans going back a long time.
This game is pretty much a must buy for anyone who has played and enjoyed either the MW2 or MW4 series. The game is also a pretty good starting point for a newcomer to the series because it will let you get started on easier difficulty modes and learn your way around the combat sim aspect of it without having to worry too much about the finer details of commanding a mercenary unit. For veterans, it allows you to set the difficulty to much more realistic levels. The graphics and sound are competent but nothing revolutionary.
Overall this game is a fine addition to the long running series, but it doesn't do anything new or groundbreaking. It’s more of the same, and for many that's exactly what they are looking for.