We were recently invited to a demonstration on the newest title in the MechWarrior franchise – MechWarrior 5: Clans – where we were treated to a short gameplay demo, presented by developer Piranha Games’ CEO and Campaign Director Russ Bullock. My experience with the series so far solely revolves around my time reviewing MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, so I took to chance to sit back, watch, and listen – and what we were shown was looks very intriguing indeed.
We were shown a demo previously shared at GDC, following a mission as five Pilots (named as Jayden, Liam, Ezra, Nasir and Mia), battle enemies planet-side. One thing that immediately caught my eye was the presentation – using Unreal 5, even in Discord-quality streaming it was plain to see the upgrade over Mercenaries. The hue of the red rocks, the quality of the destruction, and more than a few eye-searing explosions looked excellent.
Gameplay also looked a lot more new-player-friendly. One thing I struggled with as a new Mercenaries player were the in-depth options and controls; it was all a bit too much to just hop in and blow shit up, requiring us to really dive deep in and spend time learning nuances. Of course, there’ll still be plenty for in-depth players to fawn over we’re sure, but Clans looks to be far more user friendly. Played solo, we can direct co-op AI with a radial wheel, or change up aspects of our own Mech with ease.
A top-down view makes issuing some commands much simpler, almost having a RTS-like look to it. From the demo, this looked to be super smooth to control; just pop up, point and click, then right back down to the 3rd person action.
Combat had a good sense of heft to it, with the Mech’s trudging along with purpose, and artillery fire really looking like it was doing some damage. The enemies were plentiful, but so were the explosions!
Up to five-player co-op is here too – and for me, that’s where my interest in ultimately piqued. Grabbing a few of the Tavern crew for some highly explosive carnage, inevitably getting shot down first and having to get them to pick me up before I get blown to smithereens… good times, I’m sure. Progression is locked to the host, so players can’t transfer items and mechs between games, but they effectively take over the AI mechs so no-one should come in under-powered.
Players will be able to upgrade their Mech with various parts and weapons throughout the game. It looks to be worth spending at least a little time planning and preparing your loadout,
This Clans outing is a far more story-focused affair than Mercenaries too, with the campaign a more linear, tightly presented affair as opposed to the former releases’ more free-flow and procedural nature. Again, another notch in the win post for me as a new player, letting me get involved without (I hope) too much hassle.
All in all, it was a brief look at the game, but I came away far more intrigued than I’d expected to as someone not all that familiar with the series. With a release at some point this year, we don’t have too long to wait to see how the full release fares – and to blow some shit up!
Want to keep up to date with the latest Xt reviews, Xt opinions and Xt content? Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
