All Mechwarriors stand by. This is not a drill. Repeat, this is not a drill. The very first pre-orders for MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries have been announced, a new gameplay trailer is live, and the first single-player MechWarrior game for PCs in almost twenty years has an official release date!
Set during the 3rd and 4th Succession Wars (roughly 2866 – 3030AD), MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries models itself after the classic gameplay of MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries. Players will find themselves running a mercenary company, and can choose their destiny as they make their way through a multi-year campaign involving some of the greatest battles of the Inner Sphere. Along the way, players can get help from AI-controlled lancemates, or populate the other three slots in their formation with fellow players.
The other big news of the day was the announcement of the first pre-orders. Let’s let Russ Bullock himself do the honors here:
Pre-orders break down into three tiers: Standard ($49.99), Collector’s ($79.99), and Ultimate ($119.99). Each one includes a digital copy of MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, digital manual, digital soundtrack, beta access, and access to the MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries Discord channel. Players of Mechwarrior: Online will also receive a significant amount of in-game currency, premium time, skill points, decals and cockpit decorations, and a Marauder II mech. Higher tiers receive significantly more MW:O items. For the very long-time MW:O supporters who bought a Founder’s pack for MW:O way back during its beta days, the amount of in-game currency is doubled.
Look, your humble scribe is hardly a disinterested person in this news. I have a Founder’s Hunchback sitting in one of my many MW:O mechbays. My game collection includes every MechWarrior and Battletech game except for the very first one, and that includes the two Xbox MechAssault games and the Nintendo DS spinoff. I’m a fan, and have been excited about this game since PGI announced it in 2016. In this writer’s personal opinion, the gameplay trailer looks really promising. Hare-Brained Schemes’ Battletech game has revitalized the strategic Battletech games, and I hope that MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries will do the same for the MechWarrior franchise that I fell in love with playing as Clan Jade Falcon in MechWarrior 2.
Players interested in more information on MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries can check out the official website, follow Piranha Games on Twitter, and secure their pre-orders here.
