PC/Mac •
It was my first year at Gen Con, four or five years ago, when we meandered over to the Harebrained Schemes booth to cover their miniatures/app-based game, Golem Arcana. While we touched on that, they were far more interested in showing us something that was only in the planning stages at that point: a return to digital of the classic miniatures game, BattleTech. We watched it grow year after year with our annual Gen Con visits only to hear last year that it had been picked up by Paradox, the company that can do no wrong. [Dave has been angling for a Paradox sponsorship for awhile now (unsuccessfully). He’s still completely unbiased. :insert rolling-eye emoji here: -ed.]
Yesterday, thanks to the hard work of our citizen journalists, we learned that it’s time to start flexing your mech-driving finger–not a real thing but I’m not smart enough to come up with a better visual–because BattleTech is coming to PC/Mac on April 24.
The PC/Mac version of BattleTech puts you in the galvanized shoes of over 30 different mechs in a turn-based battle against the AI or other humans via online multiplayer.
MAIN FEATURES
- COMMAND A SQUAD OF `MECHS IN TURN-BASED COMBAT: Deploy over 30 BattleMechs in a wide variety of combinations. Use terrain, positioning, weapon selection and special abilities to outmaneuver and outplay your opponents.
- MANAGE YOUR MERCENARY COMPANY: Recruit, customize, and develop unique MechWarriors. Improve and customize your dropship. As a Mercenary, travel a wide stretch of space, taking missions and managing your reputation with a variety of noble houses and local factions.
- TAKE PART IN A DESPERATE CIVIL WAR: Immerse yourself in the story of a violently deposed ruler, waging a brutal war to take back her throne with the support of your ragtag mercenary company.
- CUSTOMIZE YOUR `MECHS: Use your MechLab to maintain and upgrade your units, replacing damaged weapon systems with battlefield salvage taken from fallen foes.
- FIGHT YOUR WAY ACROSS THE PERIPHERY: As a Mercenary, travel a wide stretch of space, taking missions and managing your reputation with a variety of noble houses and local factions.
- PVP MULTIPLAYER & SKIRMISH MODE: Customize a Lance of ‘Mechs and MechWarriors to go head-to-head with your friends, compete against opponents online, or jump into single-player skirmish mode to test your strategies against the AI.
Sounds good? Yeah, I thought so, too.
BattleTech will be available in a $40 basic version or $50 digital deluxe version which gets you an art book, wallpapers, soundtrack, and forum goodies for that extra Hamilton. I’m hoping to get a review of this one up at some point, but it will have to be after the release as we can’t get a code until we buy it ourselves on the 24th (we’re too small for Paradox to pay attention to…stick that in your self-esteem pipe and smoke it). Oh, I also have to talk someone into writing it. This has Alex written all over it.
Gee, I wonder if the mercenary company will find it in their hearts to turn against the no doubt tyrannical ruler to help the people throw off the yoke of oppression.
Gosh I hope not. Been a while since I executed the role of dictator merc.