Sunday, August 2, 2009

Battletech - MechWarrior 4 Downloadable Full Free FPS PC Game

This PC multiplayer shooter game still is not free YET but this downloadable full free FPS PC shooter game WILL BE released as freeware on the 25th anniversary of the franchise. Either that, or some company's going to lose face big time for reneging on their announcement...

[EDIT: The game is now officially freeware. Check out THIS POST.]

(Links to the official sites---the founder and the publisher's--- of the downloadable full free FPS PC shooter game are found after the jump.)

-----------------------------------------


The enemy was coming, climbing the hill that separated us at a ground-eating pace. The computer identified his BattleMech as an Owens, and by his energy emissions, it was---in all probability---carrying a couple of Medium Lasers and Long-Range Missile modular launcher pods. I moved my 'Mech deeper into the grove that I had chosen as my screen.

I knew the stand of trees could not hide me; his electronics was as good as mine and, judging from his purposeful stride, my presence had already lighted up his electronics.

He topped the hill.

I fired my LRMs while quickly maneuvering for a clear shot with my lasers. My 'Mech jerked as two salvos of smoke-trailing destruction kicked from my launchers, streaking towards the lone silhouette standing on top of the promontory. The angry swarm wove around the intervening vegetation, steel locusts hungry for ferro fibrous-covered fodder.


He automatically took evasive action, his LAM system furiously providing point defense---THERE! I grabbed the clear shot, and three shafts of coherent light stabbed out, daggers of energy that slivered and melted reactive and reflective armor…



Welcome to the world of MechWarrior, where soldiers strap into ambulatory weapons delivery systems known as BattleMechs.

Based from FASA's pen-and-paper tabletop strategy Battletech game franchise, MechWarrior focuses more on the men and women who pilot the juggernauts of destruction that walk the 30th century.

In both the multiplayer shooter PC game and pen-and-paper versions, the franchise had players tweaking their engines of destruction, replacing modular weapon systems with ones of their liking. This freedom of modifying existing 'Mech builds (within specified weight limit restrictions), held great appeal and the franchise was wildly successful in its heyday.

However, in January 2001, the company closed. What seems surprising (and painful to BattleTech fanatics) is that the company didn't fold due to financial reasons. The founders closed down the company as they felt the pen-and-paper industry was going downhill. Microsoft and Activision still continued to make games a few years after that but FASA ceased the production of
BattleTech boxed sets.

In December 2007, however, one of its founders, Jordan Weisman, announced that his venture, Smith & Tinker, was resurrecting the MechWarrior franchise. On July 9, the company's site announced that they will be releasing the multiplayer PC shooter MechWarrior 4---and all its expansions---for free.

Curious, I've downloaded the demo version of MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries and gave the PC FPS game a go. For its time, the free FPS offers superb graphics and an insane amount of customization. In it, players can swap weapons systems, add in different systems (point defense, jumpjets---yes, Justin! Jumpjets!---IFF jammers, etc), and choose types of armor and engines, to name a few of the plethora of tweaks available.

It might seem a minor thing compared to the whole picture, but I really like this game's audio effects for the laser weapons of the 'Mechs --- every time I fire a Large Laser, I can almost feel the very air being seared as those powerful beams of light lance out.


These are just light 'Mechs but the feel of pounding the earth and tearing apart trees as you bound through the landscape is very satisfying. Awesome? Very.

>>>MechWarrior 4 to be released for free! - The Smith & Tinker news post
>>>BattleTech.com
>>>More free PC FPS HERE
>>>Free PC RPG games HERE
>>>Freeware strategy games HERE

>>>Having problems installing the game? Here's a guide on how to install Mechwarrior 4 using Mektek's MTX software


0 comments: