MechWarrior 4: Vengeance

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, and more) to battle enemy mechs, tanks and other vehicles. An expansion pack, MechWarrior 4: Black Knight, was released in October 31, 2001, and a subsequent stand-alone expansion, MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries was released in November 7, 2002.

Plot
The game takes place on the Inner Sphere planet Kentares IV and its moon. Players takes control of Ian Dresari, son of famed Clan War hero Duke Eric Dresari and heir to the throne of Kentares.

A civil war erupts on the planet after William Dresari, a cousin of Ian, betrays the family and seizes the throne for himself under the banner of Katherine "Katrina" Steiner, ruler of the Lyran Alliance and responsible for annihilation of loyalists to Victor Steiner-Davion, brother of Katrina. After a surprise attack by Steiner forces on the Dresari royal palace, leaving Eric Dresari, and the majority of the royal family dead, Ian meets up with his uncle, Sir Peter Dresari on the moon orbiting Kentares' to launch a guerrilla campaign to take back Kentares IV from Steiner. Ian fights alongside with fellow Resistance MechWarriors, Casey Nolan, Jen McQuarrie, and Jules Gonzales, and their commander Elise Rathburn in various missions. The Resistance abandons its base on the moon and sets up camp for the first time in Kentares artic regions. At one point during this campaign, Ian's uncle Peter is murdered by Duncan Burke, a high-ranking officer in Katrina's forces. Ian and the rest of the Resistance are devastated by the loss of his uncle and debate over whether or not to continue the fight for Kentares freedom. They decide to push forward and manage to capture a satellite network from Steiner. The rebel group moves into the mountains.

After destroying a disabled, but heavily guarded Steiner dropship, Ian and the Resistance move to the Hadra Peninsula, a remote desert region. Rumors of an abandoned prison camp reach the Resistance and efforts are made to locate and liberate the camp in order to enlist more personnel for the Resistance cause. Along the way, Ian is shocked to find that one member of his family survived Steiner's siege of the Dresari palace: his sister Joanna. After a short reunion, Ian and Joanna are separated once more as the Resistance plans to mobilize their forces to take the fight to Steiner. They make a brief detour to save a coastal town named Vale after Steiner threatened to bomb the town due to allegations of links to the Resistance. Not only does the Resistance save the population, but Ian manages to personally defeat his uncle's murderer, Duncan Burke, in a heated duel.

Pushing forward into urban environments, the fighting heats up and Resistance casualties mount. Joanna informs Ian of an old armory cache hidden somewhere in the city full of equipment enough to outfit four heavy Lances of mechs, valuable for assaulting the Dresari palace, now the headquarters for the Steiner occupation. Before the search for the cache could be conducted however, Joanna and her Lance are ambushed by Steiner forces, leaving her badly injured and in mortal danger. Ian has to make a choice, between rescuing his sister from certain death or securing the weapons cache for an assault on the Dresari palace. Whatever the player chooses, Ian and the Resistance fight one last battle against House Steiner, finally putting an end to the war. However, the fight is not yet over for Ian, as William shows up in a modified Daishi, challenging Ian to a duel. Ian defeats William and finally frees the planet from Steiner's grasp.

Depending what choice the player makes during the second-to-last mission, either Joanna or Ian will ascend the throne as Duchess or Duke, respectively.

Campaign
The 26 campaign missions are divided into seven "ops", each with different environments, and each 'op' containing about 3-6 missions. In the first few missions, only a few smaller mechs are available. As the game progresses, more mechs and weapons are at the player's disposal. These come in the form of salvage from previous missions. Between missions, the player can outfit mechs with different weapons and also assign mechs to one of their three Lancemate slots.

Instant Action
This mode lets players play with all mechs in the game. Players can pick a campaign mission or a wave-mission in which they can select up to four other mechs and fight them deathmatch-style. The map is randomly selected and the player is faced with three enemy mechs to fight. The player has to successively destroy all three enemies in a one-on-one fight.

Multiplayer
The game features several multiplayer modes - Deathmatch with several twists such as points awarded for damage dealt. Capture the flag and King of the Hill with two modes: Deathmatch and team-based. Escort mode pits two teams against each other, each with the goal of destroying the other's VIP. In Steal the Beacon, players fight for possession of a beacon, that, when carried, will award the carrier points.

Awards

 * E3 2000 Game Critics Awards: Best Simulation Game
 * MechWarrior 4: Black Knight Expansion - Sci-Fi Simulation Game of the Year, GameSpot's 2001 readers' choice awards.