MechWarrior 4: Vengeance

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MechWarrior 4: Vengeance
Developer(s) FASA Interactive
Publisher(s) Microsoft
Release date(s) November 24, 2000
Genre(s) Action / Simulation
Mode(s) Single player, Multiplayer
Rating(s) ESRB: Teen (T)
Platform(s) Windows PC
Media CD-ROM
System requirements 300 MHz CPU, 64 MB RAM, 8 MB video card, 650 MB HDD space

MechWarrior 4: Vengeance is a computer game developed by FASA Interactive and published by Microsoft. It was released on November 24, 2000. This game is the fourth game in MechWarrior series. It takes place in BattleTech universe where the pinnacle of all war machines are huge, heavily armed robots called Battlemechs. The player pilots one of the these 'Mechs and uses variety of available weapons (autocannons, lasers, missiles, ...) to battle enemy 'Mechs, tanks and other vehicles. An expansion pack, MechWarrior 4: Black Knight, was released in October 31, 2001, and a subsequent expansion pack, MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries was released in November 7, 2002.

Contents

[edit] Modes of Play

[edit] Campaign

This is the story based part of the game. It consists of 26 missions and has two slightly different endings. The player takes role of duke Ian Dresari who has to liberate his homeworld Kentares IV from occupation of Steiner forces. In first missions only few smaller 'Mechs are available. As the game progresses more 'Mechs and weapons are available. These come in form of salvage from previous missions. Between missions you can outfit your 'Mechs with different weapons and also assign 'Mechs to one of your three wingmen (called lancemates in BattleTech).

[edit] Instant Action

This mode lets you play with any of the 21 'Mechs in the game. You can play either one of campaign missions (even those which you cannot access in campaign yet) or wave mission in which you can select up to four other mechs and fight them in deathmatch style. There is also master trial mode in which computer randomly picks a stock 'Mech for you, it also randomly picks one of wave maps to play on and three stock 'Mechs as enemies. You have to successively destroy all three enemies in one-on-one fight.

[edit] Multiplayer

You can search for multiplayer servers by means of built-in ZoneMatch or the now obsolete MSN Gaming Zone. Multiplayer is similar to instant action in many aspects, but its gameplay can be more customized. It has nine game types and about dozen maps (more user-made maps can be found on internet).

Game types are following:

  • Destruction - simple deathmatch
  • Team Destruction - team deathmatch
  • Attrition - similar to deathmatch, but points are awarded for damage you dealt (not only kills)
  • Team Attrition - like above, but in teams
  • Capture the Flag - points are awarded for bringing flag from enemy base to yours
  • King of the Hill - points are awarded for staying in specific area of map
  • Team King of the Hill - like above, but in teams
  • Steal the Beacon - points are awarded for carrying the beacon
  • Escort - points are awarded for destroying enemy VIP (a small 'Mech)

[edit] Weapons and Equipment

A 'Mech has slots which can usually mount only specific kind of weapon. A weapon can be mounted if there are enough free slots and free weight. Weapons are generally very heavy and make up more than half of 'Mech's weight. Most weapons have Clan variants which have some advantages over regular ones.

[edit] Energy weapons

This type of weapons generate heat, but requires no ammunition. Larger types of energy weapons do more damage and have longer range. They include:

  • Lasers - fire a beam that takes several seconds to recharge. Heat buildup is minimal.
  • Bombast Laser - similar to standard lasers, but they are charged up before they are fired.
  • Pulse lasers - fire series of pulses in rapid sequence and take few seconds to recharge. Heat is accumulated with constant use.
  • PPCs - fire accelerated particles. Causes a high amount of heat and shorts out the electronics and sensors of a hit mech for a short time.
  • Flamer - somewhat like flamethrowers. heat buildup is minimal, but if this weapon successfully hits an enemy mech, it causes heat also to that mech.

[edit] Missiles

This type of weapons requires ammunition and generate small amount of heat. Larger types of missile launchers fire more missiles per salvo. They include:

  • LRMs - long range guided missiles.
  • MRMs - guided missiles which do more damage than LRMs, but have significantly shorter range, and are unguided unless equipped with a Clan STREAK system.
  • SRMs - short range missiles which do large amounts of damage, but are not guided (unless equipped with a STREAK system).
  • Thunderbolt Missile - a long range, unguided missile. It deals significant damage.
  • Artillery Radio - although this technically is not a missile it is considered a missile weapon. When activated it targets an area for friendly artillery to fire. After 7 seconds the area is bombarded by artillery shells. NOTE: This weapon causes massive splash damage and is only available in the Instant Action MechLab and on special campaign missions.

[edit] Ballistic weapons

This type of weapons requires ammunition and generate almost no heat. Larger types of ballistic weapons do more damage, but have shorter range. They include:

  • Autocannons - Ordinary cannons.
  • LBX autocannons - Cannons similar to shotguns which do more damage, but shots are weak at distance, and range is quite limited.
  • Ultra autocannons - Cannons shooting two autocannon rounds at once.
  • Gauss rifles - Cannons shooting magnetically accelerated KE-penetrators. There are standard versions, a light one (inner sphere, no clan version) and the heavy version, which deals significantly more damage at a lower range than the other Gauss Rifles (it is only inner sphere, no clan version)
  • Machineguns - Small bore guns that fire at a high rate. Deals a small amount of damage by itself, so they are meant for use in groups or as a support weapon.
  • Long Tom Artillery - Massive weapons, similar to off-map artillery. It deals a lot of damage, but rather hard to aim and generates high heat.

[edit] Equipment

A 'Mech can be equipped with various devices to increase its effectiveness in a battle. They include:

  • Jump jets - Some 'Mechs can mount these rocket boosters which greatly increase mobility, especially over rough terrain
  • ECM - Jammer decreasing distance at which can be your 'Mech can be detected, although if you are detected, missile lock-on time is reduced
  • LAMS - Laser Anti-missile system which shoots down some incoming missiles
  • Beagle Active Probe - Device increasing your radar range
  • Light amplification - All 'Mechs can equip this device making the pilot able to see in darkness
  • IFF Jammer (from the Inner Sphere mech pak') Mechs that use this are usually detected as neutral or friendly by other mechs until the mech equipped with this fires at a target.
  • AMS - Anti-missile system. Similar to the LAMS, but has limited ammunition and generates less heat.

[edit] Armor

A 'Mech is covered by armor protecting it from enemy fire. Armor can be added to offer more protection at the expense of additional weight. There are three types of armor:

  • Ferro fibrous - standard armor which protects equally against all kinds of weapons
  • Reactive - this type of armor protects more against ballistic and less against energy weapons
  • Reflective - this type of armor protects more against energy weapons and less against ballistic weapons

[edit] 'Mechs

'Mechs are classified into four weight categories. They are also either from Clans or Inner Sphere. Clan 'Mechs are generally superior to Inner Sphere 'Mechs of same weight.

[edit] Light 'Mechs

  • Cougar - 35 tons, Clan
  • Raven - 35 tons, Inner Sphere
  • Osiris - 30 tons, Inner Sphere

[edit] Medium 'Mechs

  • Bushwhacker - 55 tons, Inner Sphere
  • Chimera - 40 tons, Inner Sphere
  • Hellspawn - 45 tons, Inner Sphere
  • Shadow Cat - 45 tons, Clan
  • Uziel - 50 tons, Inner Sphere

[edit] Heavy 'Mechs

  • Argus - 60 tons, Inner Sphere
  • Catapult - 65 tons, Inner Sphere
  • Loki - 65 tons, Clan
  • Mad Cat - 75 tons, Clan
  • Nova Cat - 70 tons, Clan
  • Thanatos - 75 tons, Inner Sphere
  • Thor - 70 tons, Clan
  • Vulture - 60 tons, Clan

[edit] Assault 'Mechs

  • Atlas - 100 tons, Inner Sphere
  • Awesome - 80 tons, Inner Sphere
  • Daishi - 100 tons, Clan
  • Mad Cat Mk. II - 90 tons, Clan
  • Mauler - 90 tons, Inner Sphere

[edit] 'Mech Paks

In August of 2002 Microsoft released two add-ons to MechWarrior 4: Vengeance. Clan 'Mech Pak and Inner Sphere 'Mech Pak. Each pack contains four new 'Mechs and a few other bonuses. Many players were disappointed by the fact that new 'Mechs can be used only in instant action or multiplayer, and not in campaign.

'Mechs from Clan 'Mech Pak

  • Arctic Wolf - 40 tons, Clan
  • Cauldron-Born - 65 tons, Clan
  • Kodiak - 100 tons, Clan
  • Masakari - 85 tons, Clan

'Mechs from Inner Sphere 'Mech Pak

  • Dragon - 60 tons, Inner Sphere
  • Highlander - 90 tons, Inner Sphere
  • Hunchback - 50 tons, Inner Sphere
  • Zeus - 80 tons, Inner Sphere

[edit] Awards

[edit] Criticism and differences from previous games

MechWarrior 4: Vengeance is sometimes criticised for the changes made to it from previous games that affect gameplay or take it further away from the board games. These changes include:

  • Modified weapon ranges: Some weapons have had their ranges adjusted. For example, the ER Large Laser's range has been decreased from 1000m to 800m, reducing its effectiveness.
  • Modified heat values: Some energy weapons generate more heat than in previous games, and heat dissipates slower, making weapons such as Large Pulse Lasers less effective.
  • Reactor explosions: Unlike in previous games, an enemy 'Mech's reactor always blows when it is destroyed, dealing significant damage to nearby 'Mechs. This makes close-range combat very dangerous.
  • Leg damage: Instead of being blown off and disabling the 'Mech, when a leg has been "destroyed", it remains present and partially functional, allowing the 'Mech to continue movement but more slowly and with a limp.
  • Vastly simplified 'Mech bay: Players can no longer adjust many aspects of their 'Mech, such as what type of internal structure is used or where ammunition is placed. Weapons are mounted in locations, which range in size from one to four slots. Each weapon takes up a certain number of slots, and multiple weapons can be mounted in one location. Most locations are fixed and only take weapons of a certain type (ballistic, missile, or energy), though omni-points also exist which will take all weapons. Furthermore, certain equipment was only able to be loaded on certain mechs, taking away a great deal of battle customization.

Additionally, many visual elements can be considered inferior to the previous title in the series, MechWarrior 3, including:

  • Blurrier, lower resolution textures on some objects
  • Much less detailed cockpits, with blurry low-resolution textures instead of detailed and complicated control boards.
  • In MechWarrior 3, when a location is damaged, the armor will be shown as twisted and burnt with internal parts exposed. In MechWarrior 4, damaged areas turn black as if scorched, with no detail at all. In MechWarrior 3, when a limb is destroyed, wires and other parts will hang out of the damaged joint. In MechWarrior 4, little if any detail is shown.
  • Most of the camouflage patterns in MechWarrior 4 are brightly colored, giving the game an arguably cartoonish feel. Few patterns look anything like actual camouflage.
  • No deformable terrain.

[edit] External links


v • d • e
MechWarrior video games
MechWarrior • MechWarrior 2 • MechWarrior 3 • MechWarrior 4 • MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries
MechCommander • MechCommander 2
MechAssault • MechAssault 2 • MechAssault: Phantom War
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