BATTLETECH coming early 2018
BATTLETECH is a turn-based take on the classic third-person ‘Mech combat genre, due for release in early 2018. The game is developed by Harebrained Schemes, founded in 2011 by BattleTech co-creator Jordan Weisman and game designer Mitch Gitelman, both veterans of the MechCommander series of real-time strategy games. After successfully rebooting the Shadowrun franchise, the pair have teamed up with game director Mike McCain for BATTLETECH.
BattleTech began life as a tremendously successful Kickstarter campaign, which earned more than $2.7 million dollars from backers in November 2015. Since then, the team pushed back the game’s release date slightly. To fill the gap, it’s brought on Paradox Interactive as a publishing partner.
Harebrained Schemes has also doubled down on what made isometric role-playing games Shadowrun Returns and Shadowrun: Hong Kong so successful, by leaning into this new game’s story.
“I actually think there’s more than a little Firefly DNA in the game,” Gitelman told Polygon in a recent interview, invoking not only a fan-favorite science fiction franchise but one of the best ensemble casts ever assembled for a television show.
In BATTLETECH, the action will take place in 3025 year when the galaxy is trapped in a cycle of perpetual war, fought by noble houses with enormous, mechanized combat vehicles called BattleMechs. The players take command of their own mercenary outfit of `Mechs and the MechWarriors that pilot them, struggling to stay afloat as they find themselves drawn into a brutal interstellar civil war.
Key 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. Oversee your team of technicians, engineers, and support personnel.
- 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 should you choose to provide it.
- 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 all kinds of 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 match-made opponents online, or jump into single-player skirmish mode to test your strategies against the AI.
