Reactor Online. Sensors Online. Weapons Online. All Systems Nominal.
Well not really, but close! The beta of MWO (Mechwarrior Online), the handsome child of Pirahna Games, will be available today, Monday, Oct.29th at 12pm PDT to everyone.
We will be granted full access to this open BETA, of the new Free-to-Play sensation that is MWO. The game is still not a complete representation of the final product but is getting very close and is PC-only. If you have been secretly crossing your fingers and hoping they don't screw it up, then I suggest you come take a wee looksy at http://mwomercs.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoxFJ_kwH-U
video provided by ferretgr
The Mecca of Mech?
Everything you ever wanted in a Mech game is here, or is coming. We of course have beautiful and vibrant graphics thanks of course to use of Cryengine 3. Excellent physics and sound; creating believable Mech behemoths, that feel as heavy and huge as the real thing (whistles). There isn't a feeling out there to describe the joy one feels in their heart, as they hear the deep "buddb buddb" of their pulse lasers, and witness glory, as the glowing beams raise their adversaries armor plating past its melting point; in a bright glowing feast for the senses. Or watch the enemy's Mech recoil from the blast of a high velocity ballistic projectile and know that the sucker is experiencing shock and terror.
Part of creating the perfect atmosphere in a Mech game is having them feel like real giants, and having them react to the huge amounts of devastating weaponry we all know would be employed in battles such as this. This, Piranha does extremely well and I have experienced panic and doom first hand as my cockpit shook, alarms sounded, lights flashed, and the sound of armor twisting and tearing rang in my ears! Oh the horror! Rest assured these are only distractions and you are still very much in control of your Mech. They don't take that away from you till it explodes! Its just a matter of remaining calm.
A medium high speed Mecha called a Cicada, keeping watch.
Gameplay
Of course that is all pretty pretties, and not the foundation of the gameplay which is where the real meat is of course. We are talking now about Mech customization. To anyone who knows about the Battletech universe, this conjures up certain expectations which must be met! I am not an expert in the field, but have dabbled from time to time into this universe and from what we have seen today I expect you all to be quite satisfied. It unfortunately is not all there yet but will be coming soon, while most of it is there now, including the Endo-steel and Ferro-fibrous armors, XL-engines, Anti-missile systems and of course much more. There are the original chassis, so far we can only choose inner sphere ones and we are limited to either 2 or 3 types per weight class (light, medium, heavy, and assault) for the time being. Each chassis type does have different variants which masters of customization and/or commanders of the battlefield will need to learn very well. Though the amount of Mechs may seem limited now (well ten Mechs isn't really limited), remember, we are still in beta and more will come later. The only place the customization fails is the design of the editor itself. It is not intuitive, and with some possible beta bugs that may piss ya off from time to time. But when you figure it out, it ain't to bad and that is something they fix regularly. When you go in for the fist time ask a 2o2p guy for some help. If you visit the Mech forum on site here, there is voip service info. Join in the conversation, bunch of Mech vets in there who want to help. There is even an open-beta help channel in our raidcall. Check it out.
Now Pilot customization. Well more like a light rpg style advancement, heightens your ability to pilot certain mechs and their variants. You gain experience for each Mech variant you pilot and can spend that experience to make you more efficient on the battlefield. When you are a master of many variants of a certain Mech you will be allowed to specialize further. It is all fun and rewarding. May i suggest saving up for anything that helps with reducing heat production. Most people who have enjoyed the current wave of FPS's will be used to this type of advancement and those who aren't, don't worry, its very easy!
A medium weight Mech known as a Hunchback, being outfitted with medium lasers in the Mechlab.
Team work!
I can't think of a game that I have played, which has seemed more team centric then this. They said that unlike previous installments of Mechwarrior games, this one isn't just an arms race. They have been correct so far. Spotting targets and focusing fire are a dire necessity if you want to walk off the battlefield alive. An evening spent playing with a full team from 2o2p ended in many a match with eight casualties of the opposing team to our none! Your light (recon) mechs spot targets, lure adversaries into traps, or the firing range of your teams LRM Boats (long range missile endowed mecha). Your mediums are excellent Recon hunter/killers, and when properly outfitted have the speed and maneuverability as well as firepower options to really piss of the assaults. Heavys' are great specialists and Assaults are of course monsters that bring great amounts of firepower to bear at anything that crosses their path. When all working together, mixing recons, with hunter/killers, boats with brawlers, and communicating, your team will more likely come out victorious. This isn't a game where one person can dominate the battlefield. No, this game is all about team work. Bring it to bear bitches. Another note is that for now we only have four battlefields to play on. As time goes on we will get more but we are still in beta.
Free to Play is this games revenue model. I know it sounds scary, but while we have been in beta their free to play model has been up and running allowing gamers to buy benefits. You are probably thinking, "God no! What are these awful benefits they will give to adolescent punks who have parents with deep pockets" I am glad you asked. So far the answer has been paint jobs and somewhat faster progression. That means they can pay for reasonable experience point boost or they can pay with real cash for the Mech you are gonna get by earning the cash in game from a couple hours of kicking ass. It hasn't hurt my feelings yet. You will be amazed to see the game they have created with this model, and its open for them to expand upon. So far its been a good experience and I think you will agree.
Last but not least, resources, you are gonna need them. I imagine the MWO beta forums will open up monday as well. But as huge as they are, can be quite a bit daunting on the newcomer. Here at 2o2p we got a bunch of guys wanting to help you out in our Mech Forums. We have a VOIP client set up that we strongly recommend you joining to make MWO easier for you to play as well to meet friends as the games social networking feature is rather lacking. Don't worry about bothering anyone in VOIP, we want to hear you, whether you are just dabbling in mechlab or farting around with the basics. There is even a room set up in raidcall for open beta questions. Check it out. Also here is a youtube tutorial aimed at newcomers coming to the Open Beta. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mmtt6XiC3rA
So there it is, the open beta, a worthy time sink for anyone into large scale mayhem and destruction. http://mwomercs.com/
System Requirements
Minimum System Requirements
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66 GHz or AMD Athlon II X2 245e
GPU: Nvidia GeForce 8800GT or AMD Radeon HD 5650
RAM: 4 GB
OS: Windows Vista 32-bit
DirectX: DX9
HDD Space: 4 GB
Recommended System
CPU: Intel Core i3-2500 or AMD Athlon II X4 650
GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 285 or AMD Radeon HD 5830
RAM: 8 GB
OS: Windows 7 64-bit w/Service Pack 1
DirectX: DX9
HDD Space: 4 GB
