'MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries' Revives The Series' Single-Player Offerings In Dec 2018

A new trailer for MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries showcased enhanced damage models, destructible environments, and non-mech vehicles.

Piranha Games revived the MechWarrior franchise with MechWarrior Online (MWO) in 2013. Although many followers would argue that it never quite delivered on its earlier promises, which included following a canonical timeline, house (faction) wars, and lance (squad) management, bringing back the core gameplay and mechs was enough.

In late 2016, Piranha Games made good on those early promises by announcing MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, the first single-player MechWarrior game in 15 years. Following in the footsteps of MechWarrior games before it, the “Mercenaries” subtitle denotes a game that is scenario and skirmish-based, rather than strictly story-based. Classically, a numbered MechWarrior game, which was a narrative-driven single-player game, would be followed by a “Mercenaries” expansion. Piranha Games has done the opposite, presumably leaving the more iconic release for later.

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That isn’t to say, however, that MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries won’t have a campaign. Piranha Games previously announced that it would span several decades of the canonical BattleTech timeline. According to lore, the timespan of the game’s campaign sees the introduction of many of the universe’s iconic technologies, which the player will use to grow their mercenary corporation. One part of the game is fighting and commanding your lance in sandbox-type missions. The other part is managing your mercenary corporation’s resources and house affiliations.

At this year’s Mech_Con, Piranha Games’ annual MechWarrior fan convention, the developers dropped a new trailer for MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries and announced that it will be arriving in December 2018. Classic MechWarrior fans will notice the return of non-mech vehicles, including helicopters and tanks; semi-destructible buildings; and a retro interface. If you’re already an MWO player, you’ll notice that the models for the mechs are borrowed from MWO, but the opening sequence of the trailer shows off the much more detailed damage graphics in development for the mechs. The developers previously said that MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries would have more complex damage calculation, as well.

You can learn more of MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries before its 2018 debut at its new website or by watching its 2016 announcement trailer. And it’s not the only MechWarrior game in development: The turn-based strategy game BattleTech is also currently under development.