MechWarrior is a franchise I have loved for quite some time through multiple games and plenty of reading material. Believe it or not, a new MechWarrior game is in production and we have the details and the new trailer for it below.

A few months ago, a series of three teaser trailers came out, showing clips of a giant robotic foot, and then two actual robots amidst a ruined cityscape. People immediately came to the conclusion that the MechWarrior franchise was back. Soon after, a full three-minute IGN exclusive trailer revealed it to be true, the MechWarrior franchise, after 7 years, is back!

First, a bit of background: The MechWarrior franchise is the video game incarnation of the Battletech board game, a game that remains active with a loyal fanbase to this day. The universe, at least at the point in the timeline this game takes place in, 3015, is one nearing the end of a 150 year long war raging across what is known as the Inner Sphere, the core of humanity, surrounded by the backward fringe worlds of the Periphery.

The Inner Sphere itself is comprised of the five successor states, feudal nations each ruled over by a great house. Worlds are run by Barons, Dukes, and Lords, and humanity is in a dark age. Technology has regressed steadily for centuries, as eons of warfare have left cities and the industry of the future laid to waste. The remaining battlemechs tend to be owned and piloted by the aristocracy, with mechwarriors serving as futuristic knights, each serving their feudal lords or fighting as mercenaries.

The new game, a reboot of the franchise, will put you in the role of one of those aristocrats, Adrian Khol, whose family is killed in the fighting between two of the great houses, Davion and Kurita, on the border world of Deshler. From the information that's been released, and what we've seen in the trailer, it seems that the game will feature some pretty cool gameplay, a notable step up from the old series. Rumors of four player co-op, cross platform multiplayer between PC and 360 players indicate a promising multiplayer experience.

Check out this trailer:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orhOvbfyyJw

One of the biggest things addressed in the reboot is the balancing of the mech classes, whereas the old games rendered lighter mechs useless as you acquired larger ones, this reboot promises to reward players for choosing a type and sticking with it.  With each class of machine having a role as part of a larger team, lightweight mechs combined with unmanned drones gathering and relaying battlefield intelligence, heavy mechs loaded with long range missiles providing fire support while lumbering assault mechs lead friendly units into battle, soaking up and unleashing hellish amounts of devastation. The trailer itself shows the protagonist using a parking garage for cover against a missile barrage, and collapsing a building beneath an enemy's feet to destroy them.

The best news of all for this game, is the driving force behind it is none other than Jordan Weisman himself, one of the founders of the original Battlemech franchise, who will undoubtedly ensure the game stays true to the universe, and will be filled with the dark and brutal warfare and setting of the timeline.

How happy are you that MechWarrior is coming back?

As you can tell, I sure am. What an improvement over the beyond dumbed-downed MechAssault games on the X-Box which took away ALL of the features, controls, combat and customizability from the PC-based MechWarrior games before it.

MechWarrior is currently in development for the Xbox 360 and PC platform with not set release date as of yet.