MechWarrior 5: Clans is Piranha Games' latest entry in the long running series, and although it shares its number with its predecessor MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, it's significant enough of a leap for the series for the game to stand on its own merits. While Mercenaries tasked players with heading up a mech mercenary company in an open ended galaxy, the procedurally generated nature of the game meant that few individual moments could distinguish themselves. In contast, MechWarrior 5: Clans is a focused and linear campaign where the developers have had a hand in every encounter and could provide an intentionality with every moment that its predecessor lacked.
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MechWarrior 5: Clans is also a leap for the series as a whole thanks to a shift in focus toward the franchise's rich lore that's backed by decades of supporting material. The BattleTech universe has a detailed history spanning centuries but the video games never quite managed to deliver a cinematic telling of those events. In an interview with Game Rant, Piranha Games CEO Russ Bullock spoke about this new focus on narrative.
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Interview: MechWarrior 5 Clans CEO and Narrative Director Talk Making The Series' Most Ambitious Entry
Game Rant sits down with Piranha Games CEO Russ Bullock and narrative director Chris Lowrey to discuss the making of MechWarrior 5: Clans.
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MechWarrior 5: Clans Is The Series' Most Story-Heavy Game
According to Bullock, MechWarrior 5: Clans is a quantum leap for the series because of its unprecented focus on cinematic storytelling. Previous MechWarrior games would typically begin with a cinematic and perhaps the campaign would feature some voices, but even fans of the series will likely agree that they never played them just for the story.
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I’m the kind of guy who’s going to go watch Dune Part Two, and I don’t want anyone to talk during it. Sometimes you’re watching a movie with your family, and I’m the one who hits pause if someone wants to ask a question. I’ll say, “Are you done? Are you done? Okay, let’s watch it!”
When it comes to MechWarrior 5: Clans, it’s a five-player co-op game, which I think is awesome. But I also hope that players will first play it single-player. Play through it on your own, take it in, absorb the story. Because that’s really where the grit is—the quantum leap forward for MechWarrior. There’s never been a MechWarrior game in the history of the franchise that had narration and storytelling like this.
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Bullock compares MechWarrior 5: Clans to the experience of watching a feature film like Dune Part Two in that it's best to absorb the rich plot industurbed despite the game having multiplayer co-op functionality and squad-based gameplay design specifically with that in mind. With all the work that probably went into developing the game's co-op, it speaks to how important the game's narrative is when the CEO suggests avoiding it for the first playthrough.
MechWarrior 5: Clans' Gameplay Is Quality over Quantity
This emphasis on narrative has gameplay benefits as well. Mercenaries may have allowed players to free pursue contracts and build reputations with various factions, but gameplay was limited to procedurally generated content that often felt samey or incosequential. Bullocks says that since every mission and enemy placement in MechWarrior 5: Clans is done by hand, there's overall higher quality moment-to-moment gameplay that frequently carries emotional weight.
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Every encounter is essentially unique. Clans is a fairly long game too—probably upwards of a 30-hour experience. You could spend close to 20 hours just on these bespoke missions. You could take any one of them out of the entire product and say there’s nothing like that in Mercenaries. Every single mission is a completely different experience from something you’d get in Mercenaries.
So, to answer your question, yes, every single encounter is different from Mercenaries. What happens is we can do anything we want with the encounters. We can bring the mechs in from the cliff face, from the water, or however we want. In contrast, Mercenaries had to live within a rule set because the levels were generated, so you had very little opportunity for custom spawning.
As Piranha aims to introduce the MechWarrior franchise to the modern gaming audience, a linear campaign is also an accessible way to onboard newcomers. Players can invest in the universe's lore, customize their mechs in between missions, and move toward a more clear end goal. Because of this, MechWarrior 5: Clans is a perfect starting point for new fans who can then check out its predecessor to dive deeper and make their own MechWarrior stories.
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MechWarrior 5: Clans
In MECHWARRIOR 5: CLANS, players take on the role of a newly graduated pilot from the Smoke Jaguar cadet program, thrust into the heart of the Clan Invasion of the Inner Sphere during Operation Revival. This pivotal moment in the MechWarrior universe sees players leading a five-mech "Star" squad across numerous planets with diverse biomes, engaging in an expansive campaign filled with immersive gameplay and intricate combat encounters.
Armed with customizable BattleMechs featuring cutting-edge technologies, players explore a wealth of tactical options and strategic possibilities. The game leverages the power of the Unreal Engine to deliver stunning environmental details and visceral destruction, making every battle against the tyrants of the Inner Sphere an epic experience.
As the first Clan-based MechWarrior game in nearly three decades, it combines a captivating narrative with well-crafted characters and moral dilemmas, culminating in a dynamic and adaptive combat experience enhanced by a revamped MechLab, Hardpoint, and OmniPod system.
Experience the Clan Invasion from the perspective of Clan Smoke Jaguar as you lead your Star through engaging missions and combat, with cinematics unlike anything seen before in MechWarrior
Strategic adaptability is key to victory and more accessible than ever with the new Battle Grid, Command Wheel, and Streamlined Controls
Customize your 'Mechs with advanced Clan weapon systems, equipment, and upgrades for mission-specific battles, and advance your pilots with the new pilot progression system
Experience MechWarrior like never before with a fully standalone campaign featuring detailed environments and dynamic destruction using the latest Unreal Engine and new Tech Updates
Play with up to 4 other players as you protect and lead your Star through complex missions and thrilling combat
