Nearly two and a half years ago, a MechWarrior trailer foretold the long-awaited return of the franchise. We now know that game as MechWarrior Online, a play4free MMO that will release this summer. For fans of the core MechWarrior games, this was excellent news. For fans of the arcade MechAssault console games, we now have good news for you as well!
Last week the website http://reignofthunder.com ran a countdown timer which over the weekend revealed a brand new MechWarrior-esque game from Day 1 Studios, the team behind F.E.A.R. 3 and of course, the developers behind MechAssault and its sequel on the original Xbox.
The game is officially titled Reign of Thunder and it will be free-to-play. Like MechAssault, the game will be simplified and put into third-person for a more arcade experience. The game will add customization features, and support factions/clans. Denny Thorley, President of Day 1 Studios:
"We are committed to bringing incredible quality to the free to play space and look forward to establishing a development partnership with our early players to make Reign of Thunder truly amazing."
Creative Director and Executive Producer, TJ “PAINGOD” Wagner shares the team's excitement about returning to the franchise, working again with Mechs and what their goals are with the game:
"It feels great to return to the Mech genre and community we’ve played games with and made games with, for almost two decades. Combining the customization and RPG elements of the early MechWarrior PC and board games with the fast paced arcade action of the MechAssault series and making it all Free-to-Play is an exciting opportunity to be part of. I’m dying to get Thunder in the hands of new and old Mech pilots alike and battle it out. The best part is that time is very, very near."
Watch the Reign of Thunder announcement trailer below:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bfTc_0WMVY
The video is difficult to watch and we can thank the game's frantic and explosive gameplay for that. The game is still in development but it does look very dated and choppy from the glimpses shown here. For veteran MechWarrior fans, this may not be your cup of tea, but we haven't seen updated gameplay for MechWarrior Online so we cannot compare just yet.
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Source: Day 1 Studios