Mech Warrior 4: Mercenaries

by Microsoft

Product Features

• Battle your way through 40 missions, on several different planetary systems
• As you battle you'll collect C-Bills -- not only are they currency, but they judge your Mech's balance
• Use good judgement when choosing a contract -- choose a losing side and you may not survive. Choose one side to often, and you'll never be trusted by other factions
• Manage your money carefully -- weapons, repairs and transportation all cost money
• Salvage scrap and fight in coliseum battles for extra cash

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00006IJMS
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: November 7, 2002
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,561 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk

Opting not to mess too much with a successful formula in favor of delivering more of what works, Microsoft's PC sequel MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries is a well-mixed cocktail of action and resource management.

The idea is simple. The player kicks off with some substandard, big mechanical fighting machines, each of which also needs a suitably skilled pilot. By picking and choosing missions, be they safer but with a smaller cheque at the end or riskier with a greater reward, cash is accrued which can be invested into these fighting machines and their personnel. The game features over 35 mechs--up to eight of which you can deploy on a particular mission--and a mighty arsenal of weaponry to equip them with.

For the novice, it's a bit of a steep learning curve to navigate at first, but it's time well spent. The more experienced gamer will easily be able to jump straight into the action though, and if anything, it's even more frenetic than before. With guidance on where you need to be, the game simply lets you get on with the real fun of blowing away any enemies in sight and enjoying the explosions.

Over time, the mechs improve as cash is built up, and there's a broad selection of missions to take on. Furthermore, extra cash can be built up by fighting in a tournament against other giant mechs. Reality? Who needs it when you can have as much fun as this, and it simply gets better when you take the bounteous multiplayer maps into account.

The biggest drawback to the game though is its lack of ambition, as it's content to be highly entertaining without ever pushing the MechWarrior format. Forgive that though, and there's little doubt that even in its fourth generation, this is a franchise a long way from running out of steam. And the mercenary angle does it no harm whatsoever! --Simon Brew

Product Description

Control 100 ton Mechs while leading up to eight hired guns into the heat of battle in the quest for the all-mighty C-bill in MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries, the latest standalone installment of the critically acclaimed MechWarrior action-simulator franchise.

And this time around, honor doesn't even enter into the equation--it's all about money. Get your fledgling mercenary company sponsored by some of most notable and notorious mercenary groups in Battletech history and battle your way through the Inner Sphere in more than 40 new missions as you doggedly pursue more lucrative C-bill payoffs. With more than 35 Mechs, new weapons, and new electronic packages available for purchase, chances are you'll need every C-bill you earn.

In MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries, being a hero doesn't pay, being a mercenary does.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Good, November 13, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Mech Warrior 4: Mercenaries (CD-ROM)

Bought this yesterday, played for a few hours...

I'm a big Mechwarrior series fan, I ve been waiting for this one for a while. Overall, this is a very good game, but it has pro's and cons. I liked the addition of the money management, it's not enough to just slap a bunch of big weapons onto the mech - you have to be able to afford it. You also have to pay your lancemates, and they all require different salary (BTW, you get what you pay for). Fixing your damaged mechs also costs money(surprise!), as well as traveling from planet to planet. The tournament single player missions are also kinda cool, but don't expect a large payout - after winning the tournament my mech was so badly damaged that prize money was less than what it cost to fix it.

Now the bad: I guess I just expected a new Mechwarrior game, which this isn't. It should have been marketed (and priced) as an expansion pack. The terrains and environments are nothing special, actually the jungle is quite annoying, you have to blow up most of the trees before you can get a shot at your opponent. Nothing has been added to the gameplay itself (but nothing lost either).

The bottom line: If you are a die-hard fan of the Mech series (like me) or you never played Mechwarrior before, get this one. Otherwise wait for the price to come down a little. (I don't think expansion packs are worth $50)

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dated but awsome game., November 17, 2002

By 

L. Blasiman (Canton, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mech Warrior 4: Mercenaries (CD-ROM)

One of the first indications of the quality of Mechwarrior 4 Mercenaries is the opening movie. No it's not some slick CGI that we are used to, but a mix of canned gameplay footage with a good voice over telling the player next to nothing about what is going on. It sounds good, and looks good enough, but for an opening movie I would expect more. This sums up the overall game. It's great in it's own way, but is lacking the polish that we have come to expect. That said, the actual game is great fun and it's one solid experience. If only we did not have to wait for 2 years to get it.

The single player campaign is interesting but short. It balances between giving the player a lot of freedom but not total control. This way the player can still make choices but still has to work towards "unlocking" the next set of missions. The missions them selves range from the standard search and destroy, defend the base and escort the convoy. But to mix it up you can often take the other side in the conflict. For example, one mission will have you defend the peace talks between two warring governments. At the same time there is another mission that will have you instead attack the peace talks. You cannot do both and the results are different. Or you can just leave the planet and go on to another contract. It's fun to go back and see the different outcomes.
The economy from Mechwarrior2 Mercenaries is back and works well. It adds another layer of depth and strategy that also helps make you feel like a mercenary. However unless you are a really bad Mechwarrior that loses Mechs left and right, you will never really be hard pressed for cash.

Of course you will have to keep your unit well armed with the cash you earn with various Mechs. The selection of Mechs is impressive, and I really enjoyed some of the new designs. Some of the old ones have gotten a nice face-lift with higher detail and higher res skins. There is an equally large selection of weapons and many of them have been revised in some way. The autocannons have new sounds, pulse lasers fire faster, etc. Fortunately the balance has been kept. All this helps inject some fresh interest in a game that is now 2 years old.

However that is where the game is weak. The engine used is getting old. This is the first Mechwarrior game where the graphics have been less than state of the art. The developers promised that they were just now able to use the full potential of the engine. But it is still a far cry from competing with he latest Unreal and Quake powered games. That said, the graphics are at least good enough. Only in a few areas does the game really look bad. It does manage to look improved over Mechwarrior4. It has lots of nice particle effects and better textures. The Mechs still look pretty good and the sound is well done. However the simple water effects, plain skybox, elementary lighting, crude damage decals, and 2D tress all tell of an engine past its prime.

The game does a few things that previous Mechwarrior games never did. Such as giving the player command of 2 full lances (8 Mechs total) rather than the usual four Mechs. The pilots are rather generic but they at least have distinct voices that give you some illusion of character. The voice acting through out will not win any awards but does a good job of creating atmosphere that is just right for a Mechwarrior game. There is also more story content told by text in the form of news reports that help flesh out the story. This is a welcome change from Mechwarrior 4s silly little live action clips.

In the end if you are a Mechwarrior fan than this game should at least entertain you. Anyone familiar with the Battletech story line will be glad to see some important characters and planets later on in the game. But just don't expect Mechwarrior5 or anything too impressive from the engine. If you can look past that, the experience is well worth the money.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's all about the C-bills, June 30, 2004

By 

Mad Track (Cambridge, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mech Warrior 4: Mercenaries (CD-ROM)

Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries (MW4:M) is a stand alone expansion to Mechwarrior 4: Vengeance (MW4:V). Why is that so? Well, if you played MW4:V before, you'll automatically feel accustomed to the this game. The game engine, graphic, control, mechs, weapons, AI, and even multiplayer are based on the first game. However, the storyline doesn't follow. In the first series, you are a young noble fighting for revenge. This time you are a mercenary starting up your own company. The time period between the two games is the same, which is during the civil war between House Davion and House Steiner.

For those of you completely clueless, Mechwarrior is a game where you choose and pilot mechs (or large robots) with various speed, size and firepower to out-gun your opponents. There are no other PC game similar to Mechwarrior. On the other hand, there are a zillion games on real-time strategy (RTS) and even more on first person shooters (FPS). Mechwarrior stands out because even though it is like a FPS, the variation of mechs, battle strategy and firepower makes it unique.

In this game, the focus is C-bill (the cosmic form of currency). You need it to travel, buy and repair mechs, and hire lancemates. You travel around the universe seeking jobs for hire (and crushing those who stand in your way, obviously). Eventually, you might need to pick between the Davion or the Steiner House. Here are my conclusions.

Pros:
1) Battles are even bigger than before. For over half of your campaign missions, you have the option to command 2 lances (8 mechs total). That spells for large battles with a huge amount of chaos and fire power. If you like that, then that's a big plus.
2) More mechs, there are about 8 or so new mechs on top of the first game (I'm not including the Clan/IS mech packs). Most of the addition is in the assault (ultra-big) mechs. This added firepower allows even more mayhem on top of Pro #1.
3) Graphic, although a bit dated, is still pretty good. There are subtle touches added. For example, when using ballistic cannons, you can see the spent shells exhausting out of the torso/arms after firing. The larger the cannon, the larger the shells. That's a very realistic touch.
4) Solaris. This is a part of the campaign mode where you play first-person shooter, except in a robot. You enter an arena solo and you have to out-gun and out-last 7 or more opponents. Be careful, you could be disqualified if you're not careful.
5) Multiplayer, if you are a big fan of Mech Warrior multiplayer, then this is a plus. Connection is pretty good and stable.

Cons.
1) Because of the larger battles, you need a pretty beefy computer to handle the graphic smoothly. I occassionally get choppy gameplay on large battles and it really puts a hamper on my aiming.
2) Although there are some new weapons, I don't think it is enough. I still end up using the same weapons I used from the first Vengeance, which are the PPC's, Guass's, Scatterboxes, and Clan LRMs. The only new weapon that I occassionally use is the Arrow T-bolts missiles. That's not good enough.
3) Lancemate AI can be a pain. When you are paying 7 other lancemates to help, you want them to follow orders! I have countless time got mobbed by computer opponents because my lancemates refuses to follow me and cover my flank.
4) More variation. At the start of this game, you choose one of four different mercenary sponsors. I wish there could be some more differences aside from starting equipment. I end up with pratically the same thing regardless of who I choose.

Overall, a great game and I highly recommend. This is more of a action/FPS game than a simulation, but I think that helps appeal to more people.