It was over there years ago when a three-minute concept trailer promising the return of the stagnant MechWarrior franchise caught our interest and excitement. That game has undergone substantial changes since its idea phase but lives on as MechWarrior Online, a multiplayer battle arena where pilots sit in the cockpits of giant, bipedal weaponized robots.

MechWarrior is back and we're happy to say that it's awesome. Or that it features the mech called the "Awesome." Both, actually.

Over the past week, we've devoted ourselves to playing hours upon hours of MechWarrior Online's closed beta on a daily basis, trying out every mech, every system and every feature currently available in the beta of the Piranha Games developed title. As a free-to-play online multiplayer game, MechWarrior Online can easily be compared to World of Tanks. In fact, it's exactly that on its most basic level, but appropriately more tactical, detailed and robotic.

Where the standard battle mode in World of Tanks pits 15 vs. 15 tanks in a World War II deathmatch where one team wins by destroying all enemy units or capturing the enemy base, the one mode available in the MechWarrior Online beta is the same, except 8 vs. 8 (two lances vs. two lances) and taking place in the year 3049.

For longtime fans of the franchise, we're happy to confirm that MechWarrior Online is absolutely the long-awaited and worthwhile successor to MechWarrior 2-4 and its 100% true to the canon. Its control scheme, HUD and even mech customization will all be rightfully familiar to MechWarrior veterans. Players will feel each step and each weapon blast as they enjoy the simulator-esque mech experience that other mech games simply cannot deliver. It's this gameplay that Piranha Games has absolutely nailed so far and is the key aspect of MechWarrior Online that the closed beta showcases so well.

How To Mech

Large mechs move slowly as small mechs dance around them in circles offering support to friendlies or distractions to enemies, occasionally colliding and knocking each other down (this part is very glitchy but is currently being worked on). Storms of incoming long-range missile fire light up the sky while some of the bolder pilots get in the faces of enemy mechs with flame throwers to overheat their systems. Snipers using long-range ballistic and energy weapons stand upon mountaintops while players who've mastered the controls use jumpjets to move their mech into strategic positions. Precision targeting can cripple the legs of mechs, hindering their movement, or blow off entire limbs containing weapons. There are mechs and builds for every role and it's up to you to define yours.

The core mechanics of MechWarrior Online are successfully implemented, but the user interface both in the mech and in the menus need work before the game reaches its full potential. And by potential we mean MechWarrior Online has the chance to be a genre-defining experience if Piranha Games is able to continually evolve the game with the help of players just like World of Tanks has done with frequent major updates. Let's break down the nitty gritty details.

In its current beta state, MechWarrior Online features nine mechs and four maps (there are more on the way). The maps are completely random in how they're selected during matchmaking but each is very detailed, very large and perfect in emphasizing how the environment affects gameplay - From the cold temperatures of Frozen City which keep mech heat levels down and laser fire up to the Caustic Valley where the closer you are to the volcanic mountaintop, the more susceptible you are to overheating and shutting down.

While the maps are detailed, they lack interactivity. Piranha smartly designed gameplay so mechs can traverse smaller objects smoothly without hindering player movement, but walking through trees has no effect on said rooted objects, nor does unloading a pile of short-range missiles into the side of a building. As a game that's still early in its continuous development cycle, we hope to see map objects eventually become a factor in the CryEngine 3-powered gameplay and it is something that's being worked on. Who wouldn't want to destroy some bridges that enemy mechs are walking along?

As for the mechs themselves, as soon as players enter the game, they'll have access to four trial mechs, one for each of the four classes (light, medium, heavy and assault). They're free to use and freely repair and rearm themselves after each match. By participating in matches with the trial mechs, players earn C-Bills (the in-game currency) which can be saved up until the player has enough to buy a mech of their own. After the initial grind, purchasing a mech opens up the real meat of the game. Using owned mechs allows players to earn more C-Bills per match, earn experience to unlock skills, and allows players to customize the mech design.

[HTML1]

The MechLab will quickly become a player's best friend as they configure the loadouts of their mechs. From armor distribution and heat management, to weapon swapping and sacrificing components for more ammunition, the MechLab is where each player can build a war machine to match their gameplay preferences. But there are restrictions.

-

Next: Customizing Your BattleMech

-

Customizing Your BattleMech

There are only nine mechs currently, but each mech comes with a variety of variants, some more than others. Each variant comes equipped with different hardpoints, meaning some versions may only allow for energy weapons (lasers, flamethrowers) while others may carry only a few energy slots, but more missile (short-range and long-range) or ballistic hardpoints (cannons, gauss rifles, machine guns). When purchasing a new mech, players must therefore be very mindful of what hardpoints each mech variant has, as that will limit the customization.

Customization doesn't end there; Players can save up to buy new engines, equip an anti-missile system, and even purchase protection for ammo storage. And of course, players can fine-tune armor points, redistributing it on any part of the mech or trading that weight for more weapons/ammo.

In short, MechWarrior Online has the mech customization and mech gameplay down well, and some great maps to go along with it, but it's wrapped in some menus and interfaces which need a little work. It starts with the MechLab where players must select a part of the mech before being able to alter modules on that component. Selecting components in the main window is impossible at times, especially when going from center torso to the limbs, so using the selector in the bottom left will be necessary. There are no options to strip all of a mechs parts and armor off, or to compare weapon damage between types. Outside of the weight of the weapon and how many slots of the mech it takes, players are not provided in-game information on the specific differences between a small laser and an ER Large Laser for instance, outside of gauging the overall "firepower" meter for changes.

Matchmaking in the beta test is currently randomized meaning that players don't know where they'll be fighting beforehand and cannot pick mech loadouts accordingly. We expect this will change on game launch when a second mode is planned to be added as well. Adding to matchmaking issues however, is the 'social' interface where players can manage friend lists and form groups with friends who are online. To add a friend to a group, players need to manually type in their entire name, or switch tabs to add their name from a list. It's needlessly unintuitive, as is launching matches. Clicking 'launch' puts players in groups to "ready" but switches the social window to a news feed so players can no longer see their status vs. group mates without manually going back. Launching the group requires requires going to group options instead of just clicking the usual launch button and all of these minor quirks add up to something not user friendly.

More Info, Better Warfare

In-game, there are a few features not fully implemented yet, the most notable of which is the Battle Grid, a battlefield map which displays the locations of friendly mechs and tagged enemies. The idea is that light recon mechs can forge ahead and share real-time intel on enemies with the rest of the team. Tagging enemies doesn't always do what players would expect and in some cases, even if you see a mech in the distance, you cannot target it. The map itself, is too cluttered with arrows and lines hindering its readability. There's no way to tell from the map or from the HUD indicators what mechs each ally is piloting unless you're up close and looking at them. The same goes for locating friends in your party. There's also no way to see armor percentage on your own mech even though teammates can.

From the Piranha Games dev blog, we know the Battle Grid will play a key role in informational warfare, allowing a player on each team to opt into the commander role, issuing orders (that works now but clicking on the map also fires weapons if left-click is mapped to firing). It's just not there yet but there are eventually going to be added features, including modules which grant abilities like air strikes, UAV drones, remote sensors, etc., which will completely alter the team gameplay dynamics.

-

Next: The Progression System

-

Progressing The Progression

In the beta, players play to earn C-Bills to buy mechs and components, and experience points to unlock skills. Both aspects offer incremental rewards but both pose an issue by design. Experience points earned allow players to unlock eight different basic abilities under the mech skills which lead to higher level elite skills that require more experience points in exchange for greater rewards. The skill unlocks however, are specific to that mech variant and not the mech itself, meaning that players who wish to unlock the elite-level skills, must unlock the exact same eight basic skills (over and over again) for each version of the same mech. As an example, there are six Hunchback (medium-sized mech) variants and players must get enough experience on all of them individually before the Elite level skills open, even though it's the same robot and the same set of skills. Essentially, players have a disincentive to purchase mechs with more variants since earning skills becomes a lengthier (and tedious) process.

As for the C-Bills, the closed beta of MechWarrior Online doesn't delve into what will make the game even more unique than it already is and by that we mean the real-time nature of it and the meta game experience. Each day in our reality is one day in the year 3049 for the game's universe. When the game launches (exits beta stage), players can join a House of the Inner Sphere, a mercenary group or solo it up lonewolf style, all while taking part in battles across the stars for control over planets. This will give a needed sense of purpose to the battles (and ideally, map selection) so players know what they're progressing for outside of getting that next mech and repeating the grinding process.

The year is very important in the BattleTech universe as it precedes a major event where the Clans invade the Inner Sphere. For the game this means events will take place on key planets and a large variety of new, unique BattleMechs will likely be added to the game. Both the idea of fighting for control over planets, and having more mechs and abilities in game will keep players playing and hopefully expand the number of game modes.

None of that is currently in the game and while the MechWarrior Online closed beta offers a great showcase of gameplay and potential, the one 8 vs. 8 game mode on repetition is not going to keep players invested for the long-term. As it stands, MechWarrior Online offers great, high quality gameplay and it's not just an easy recommendation, it's a must-play. And that's without many of the features yet implemented.

Design tweaks to the user interfaces, improved progression and the addition of more mechs and maps will go a long way to making MechWarrior Online the next big thing in free-to-play multiplayer gaming. For newcomers, the game needs to find the right balance of mech and player skill progression along with offering tutorials to help players through what's arguably a steep learning curve versus most free-to-play games.

The Good

• Mech selection
• Mech customization
• Informational Warfare
• Level Designs

The Bad

• Unable to change weapon groups, view map to plan ahead or look around when game is loading and counting down
• Environmental objects aren't interactive (updates to trees and small objects on the way)
• Experience progression design (could be altered as modules release in future patches)
• Certain user interfaces
• Needs more game modes (at least one new mode is on the way)

It's important to note that many of the game's key features haven't been activated yet as the team focuses on fine-tuning gameplay and customization balancing. The version of MechWarrior Online we've been playing is still in closed beta and many of our callouts are currently being addressed and/or mentioned already in the developer Q&A sessions. If you couldn't tell from our preview, we were pleasantly surprised by what's already available and are excited to get into the more ambitious parts of the game still on the way.

Sign up now at mwomercs.com and you can help shape the future of MechWarrior Online.

-

Follow Rob on Twitter @rob_keyes.