Lasers are good, but when anime has taught me something, all you want a blade the scale of a truck. Released in the present day, Flashpoint is the primary of three deliberate expansions for Harebrained Scheme’s stompybot mercenary supervisor Battletech. There’s three new mechs (together with the melee-loving Hatchetman above), a brand new mission kind geared in direction of lighter mechs, sunny tropical planets and a significant extension to the post-story endgame. The titular flashpoints are a set of mercenary mini campaigns with selections to be made, and doubtlessly large rewards. Plus, an enormous new patch is out.
Accompanying the discharge of the brand new growth is an enormous patch. Version 1.three provides a slab of latest options, the most important of which is Career Mode. Skipping the primary story, it provides you a ship, a random set of mechs and pilots then dumps you in some backwater system and asks you to make your personal fortune. If you may have the Flashpoint growth, it’ll embody these new eventualities as properly, giving free-wheeling mercenaries lots to do. Oh, and Career mode is about to Ironman mode by default, so that you’re simply going to should reside with these costly errors and dangerous dice-rolls.
On prime of the brand new mode, there’s new merc contracts being provided by pirate clans, new gear to be discovered (together with some LosTech gear) and a rework to the faction system. As you enhance your rep with one faction, you’ll change into more and more disliked by their enemies. Potentially limiting, however the people who like you’ll provide extra profitable (and troublesome) jobs, and promote you higher stuff from their new faction-specific retailer. There’s even a couple of new occasions to boost your space-travel. This is all separate from Flashpoint and free for everybody – you’ll be able to see the full patch notes here.
Joining the Hatchetman are two extra mechs – the squat and durable middleweight Crab, and the extra specialised Cyclops, a heavy however calmly armoured command unit. HBS reckon that there’s loads to do in Flashpoint, and estimate that getting via the brand new eventualities will take round thirty hours. If that determine is correct, that’s not half dangerous for the primary of three expansions. The second, due out in Summer, goes to be targeted on city fight. By the time they’re completed with this game, it’s going to be a formidable bundle, particularly contemplating the size of the free updates.
Flashpoint is out now, and you will discover it right here on Steam, Humble and GOG for £13.94/€17.99/$17.99. Alec is engaged on a full evaluation, however you’ll simply should be affected person – this appears like a hefty chunk of mech-war to get via.
