In-game host searching provided a seamless entry point to online mayhem, despite the usually clunky Microsoft Gaming Zone service. Best of all, the multiplayer experience was right up there with the best of them. Enemy dropships required quick annihilation, conveys had to be escorted, buildings needed demolishing - and all before dinner! You never really knew what to expect. Often, the mission objectives were so varied, they felt like you were part of some futuristic task force, steaming across alien landscapes with rockets blazing. This was not a level-clearing game by any means. Mechwarrior 4 also featured inventive, ever-changing gameplay. Particle effects from your weaponry were just awesome to behold, especially the glowing flare of ballistics. Sound effects for all these collisions were almost perfect, especially the crimping sound of metallic objects that slowly gave way to the brute force of your war machine.
Mechs would glide right over small shrubs, slow appropriately if they collided with a larger tree (and then bend and break it over), and crash harshly into another mech or wall. Collision detection was also second-to-none. Damage effects heightened the sense of realism when craters, smoke-stains, and dents appeared on your enemies after your repeated bashings. One of the coolest graphical features was how mechs gradually became crippled, limping from a leg wound with smoke billowing in ever growing clouds behind them. No other mech game has captured the scale and power of these mechanical monsters before, and many gamers considered it the best in the series. The game was certainly worth this time investment.
Perhaps you played through the campaign mode, challenged everyone you know to a multiplayer game, and generally lived and breathed the series for an extended period of time. The first is if you just couldn't get enough of Mechwarrior 4. Whether you should consider the expansion really depends on two scenarios.
Yes, there's a lot to explore as a member of the Black Knight legion, and after all, this IS Mechwarrior 4, one of the best games released last year. Repurpose the original code, slap together a new box with nifty graphics, put a colon in your name, and you might just lure your original audience back for more.Ĭase in point: Mechwarrior 4: Black Knight, an incredible add-on pack with some cool new mechs, new skirmish maps, and a terrifically challenging campaign. We can all blame Command and Conquer and its 4,000 expansions for this, or just about any of the mildly successful shooter or strategy games. Crank out a few extra missions, throw in some new units, add a multiplayer map or two and - kaboom! - the franchise lives on.