![]() ![]() Although, as you might expect, the Black Knights won't seem quite as dastardly as they're made out to be, but rather like a typical battle-hardened regiment of soldiers. After fighting for the good guys of the Inner Sphere in the last few MechWarrior games, it's nice to play as the gun-for-hire again, just as you did in MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries, the follow-up to Activision's classic mech sim. The "Black Knight" in the title refers to the notorious mercenary group that you will help lead throughout the expansion pack's new campaign. New environments like this blasted cityscape make for good battles. On the other hand, Black Knight actually has a lot in common with CyberLore's previous expansion packs, which were technically good but stayed very true to their predecessors. ![]() Even so, Black Knight is a departure for the company in some ways-it's a graphically impressive fully 3D game, rather than a simple-looking real-time strategy game. It's been making them since before they were in style. Clearly, CyberLore knows its expansion packs. CyberLore has built up an unusual portfolio for itself over the years, which includes the official expansion packs to the popular strategy games Warcraft II and Heroes of Might and Magic II, as well as its own critically acclaimed strategy game, Majesty-and the expansion pack to that. Interestingly, MechWarrior 4: Black Knight was developed by CyberLore Studios, rather than by the same team that did the original game. These additions are sound-they extend and expand on the original game's context in meaningful ways-though they might have given a stronger impression if Black Knight weren't a full year older than, and just as expensive as, its predecessor. Black Knight, which requires that you have MechWarrior 4 installed, does introduce a challenging single-player campaign with a dynamic mission structure a number of new mechs, including the imposing Black Knight itself and some interesting new multiplayer modes to bolster MechWarrior 4's already good multiplayer options. Nevertheless, the game was successful enough to justify the new expansion pack, MechWarrior 4: Black Knight-which, unfortunately, doesn't tie in with the forthcoming movie starring Martin Lawrence. The expansion offers five new mechs, including the Black Knight itself. The game balanced action-packed combat with simulation elements, a combination that pleased many players but still didn't appeal to some of BattleTech's hard-core fans. But its graphics weren't its only strong suit, as MechWarrior 4 excelled as a multiplayer game. The latter game did an excellent job of bringing the world of BattleTech to life-it managed to render mechs with an acute attention to their monstrous proportions. Microsoft has already delivered a couple of solid MechWarrior games, including this year's well-received real-time strategy game MechCommander 2 and last year's MechWarrior 4: Vengeance. The license to BattleTech bounced around over the years until Microsoft finally claimed it-a seemingly permanent resolution. ![]() Years ago, these gigantic bipedal tanks were ripped from the BattleTech pen-and-paper role-playing game and have since become the subject of a slew of action-packed simulations. The futuristic yet rugged form of the BattleMech has long since become an icon in PC gaming. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |