Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Still no in-game images yet, but we’ve just learned that Mechwarrior Online will use CryEngine 3. “It is definitely the best choice for us,” said Russ Bullock, president of Piranha Games. “Both the character animation pipeline with the procedurally and physics based animations and the destruction system fit our goals perfectly and allow us to develop a truly unique AAA experience based on the award-winning BattleTech Universe.” Perhaps not too much of a surprise choice, either, given that Crysis mod. I also rather like the description of the “four pillars” of the game: “Mech Warfare, the embodiment of Mech to Mech combat. Role Warfare, the ability for player’s to customize their experience to suit their own style of gameplay. Community Warfare, the ability to let the players take part in epic combat for territorial control. Information Warfare, an element on the battlefield that incorporates information technology to help control the fight.” If they can nail all of those then it could be a fine, fine mech game.

It’s back after a seven year hiatus. IGN has the full scoop, and they report that developers Piranha Games have some ambitious plans, including 4-player co-op. They’re also going to try and make the full range of mechs significant within the game via recon and intelligence missions: “it’s not just a race to the heaviest, most powerful mechs. The designers want to reward you for picking a mech and sticking with it — you will gain experience and become better at piloting your chosen mech, and that will translate into better accuracy and damage with weapon systems. This way, a player could specialize in a light mech throughout the entire game if they choose. It also means there are multiple playthroughs with different mechs.” No release date as yet.

Lengthy CG -but-clearly-target trailer below.
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