Developer Piranha Games has been releasing regular updates for MechWarrior Online since the game went into open beta in late October. But now, Shacknews has learned of three new features that will be rolling out leading up to the game's official release late this summer.
You're stomping around merrily in MechWarrior Online's new Spider mech, jumpjetting away and running circles around slower mechs, what could be better? Well, double XP wouldn't be bad. As luck would have it, the free-to-play mech 'em up is doubling all XP earned this weekend, jolting players further along their tech trees.
Free-to-play stompy robot sim MechWarrior Online is bolstered with a new mode today, Conquest. It seems to be your standard competitive team-based capture-and-hold mode, only with, you know, giant stompy robots. Lovely jubbly.
Sure, stomping around inside a storeys-high robot is pretty good, but wouldn't painting a storeys-high robot pretty colours be even more fun? Robot fanciers rejoice, for MechWarrior Online's latest patch added the ability to customise your pretty metal toys, if you can live with your lovelies being dinged and damaged out on the battlefield.
The on then off open beta for MechWarrior Online is finally on again, this time slated for Monday. Hopefully, developer Piranha Games has fixed the stability issues that will have delayed it for almost two weeks.
Though MechWarrior Online will be free-to-play when it launches, players have already coughed up more than $5 million to play the beta version through its Founder's Program. Things are looking good for the stompy robot sim, then, and publisher Infinite Game Publishing is pretty excited about its slate of "premium" free-to-play games.
Read more: High hopes for MechWarrior Tactics and Sins of a Dark Age »
Good little MechWarrior that you are, you're may be reading this from your repurposed fighter jet seat, headset atop your melon, dual joysticks in hand and pedals underfoot, eagerly waiting for MechWarrior Online's open beta to launch today. Ah. Problem. You've clearly missed, as we did, developer Piranha's announcement on Friday that it has delayed the open beta to whip the stompy robot sim into better shape.
If you haven't been one of the lucky ones honing their mech skills in preparation for the launch of MechWarrior Online later this year, then you'll want to jump into the open beta when it kicks off October 16.
Years and years ago, MW2 didn't automatically translate into "Modern Warfare 2"; PC gamers were using that shorthand to refer to the fine giant robot action-sim MechWarrior 2. While I didn't devour the lore to name all the Clans or the five Houses within the Inner Sphere, I did spend a lot of time alternating between TIE Fighter and MechWarrior 2 (especially MW2: Mercenaries).
Besides the slick opening cinematics that had mechs jump-jetting around each other or Kodiaks hiding in the snow, the MechWarrior series struck a great balance between simulation and action. As much as I respected the like of Jane's Combat Simulations, I confess that it was easier for me to manage a giant robot brimming with autocannons and particle projector cannons (PPCs) than to try to fly an F-15 or an AH-64 Apache.
A few matches of MechWarrior Online at a community event last week prompted the above reminiscing. While I generally associate the phrase "free to play shooter" with Counter-Strike knockoffs, I found myself pleasantly surprised at how this free to play shooter managed to conjure up memories. I had to unlearn a lot of habits that modern first person games instilled in me, and remembered what the heck I did in the mid-'90s.
Just as MechWarrior Online boasts an icy map where the cold messes with your mech, so it's also getting a roasty-toasty level with hazardous heat. A gold star to all of you who guessed this one. Developer Piranha Games is showing the free-to-play PC mech sim's latest level, Caustic Valley, off in a new trailer.
Watch: It's getting hot in here, so take off all your sinks »
One of the perks of being a mech pilot is travelling the galaxy and visiting many planets, seeing the sights and taking in the culture before loading up your missiles and heading off to explode men. Add a pin for Frozen City to that big map on your bedroom wall, as MechWarrior Online developer Piranha Games has revealed the icy environment and its chilling effects on combat.
MechWarrior Online is beginning its closed beta this week, and developer Piranha Games and Infinite Game Publishing have announced a "founder's program" to give eager players early access to the game.
The founder's program is being called "Operation Inception," and it will go on sale June 19. Players can buy one of two tiers of early access, which will grant separate rewards. The $30 Veteran Founder's Package gives you $40 of in-game currency, a one-month premium membership for bonus XP and C-Bills, a Founder's Tag to set you apart, and early access to the game and Founder's assets on July 17.
As every mech pilot knows, customizing and tweaking your mech is half the fun of stomping around in a towering killbot. Piranha Games has lifted the wraps off MechWarrior Online's customization, which'll let pilots mess with everything from weapons and engines to armor and paintwork.
You've read the developer diaries, you've scoured the interviews, and all you want from MechWarrior Online now, other than the game itself, is a release date, a detailed look at how its free-to-play model will work in practice, and a look at the game in action. While we can't give you all that, today we can offer that last part with the first official gameplay trailer.
Piranha's free-to-play stompy robot game MechWarrior Online is aiming to offer multiplayer mech melee in size 12v12, assuming it can deliver a "solid play experience" at that scale. This revelation and more come from a new community Q&A, covering topics including cosmetic customization, mercenary contracts, and influencing key historic battles in the world's story.
"Again, the revelation that you were a sailor, was not revelatory."
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