BATTLETECH: Urban Warfare belongs to the city, belongs to the night
BATTLETECH: Urban Warfare is the expansion I've been waiting for. It takes the turn-based strategy mech combat out of the countryside and drops it into the city. Urban Warfare introduces the most changing and fluid state the battlefield has seen. Buildings are blowing up. Mechs are falling off of them. Piles of rubble provide cover. Line-of-sight rules are updated. Electronic countermeasures will throw off your indirect-fire missile salvos. The ECM-centric Raven will say hello in Urban Warfare, and the Javelin will bring close-range knockout power.
"The truth is, we've wanted to build city combat environments and gameplay for years," said Mitch Gitelman, Co-Founder of Harebrained Schemes and Game Director for BATTLETECH.
Two new Flashpoints—consecutive, high-intensity short-story missions—make their way into Urban Warfare. And three new enemy vehicles (thanks, I hate it) will further complicate the ECM playing field.
And a new encounter, Attack and Defend, has a steady stream of enemy forces trying to overwhelm the base you're defending, even as you're trying to knockout the enemy base the bad guys are pouring out of. Defending stationary structures can go wildly in either direction, I've found. Sometimes the enemy is hapless in their attacks. Other times, they drop in hot and end your mission in 1.5 rounds. Attack and Defend sounds like a small nightmare.
Vanilla BATTLETECH launched with notable problems, but developer Harebrained Schemes got down to the nitty gritty during the post-launch period and sanded down the rough edges. Through it all, BATTLETECH became my favorite strategy game of 2018. I can say that with very little reservation. The Flashpoint DLC freshened up the battlefield with tropical environments, and heated up the galaxy map with the titular Flashpoint scenarios.
BATTLETECH: Urban Warfare launches June 4 on PC. It'll be $20 sold separately, but is otherwise included in the $50 season pass.
BATTLETECH: Urban Warfare Brings Tactical 'Mech Combat to Massive Cityscapes
New destructible city environments, electric warfare, BattleMechs, Flashpoints, and more coming June 4th, 2019
STOCKHOLM - April 23, 2019 - Paradox Interactive and Harebrained Schemes today unveiled details for the next big thing to hit BATTLETECH this summer. Urban Warfare will bring 'Mech combat to the vast cityscapes of 3025. With electronic warfare, large-scale building destruction, environmental mechanics, new enemy units and more, the urban sprawl will be a whole new battlefield on June 4th, BATTLETECH: Urban Warfare is available for preorder now at the SRP of $19.99 and is also available in the BATTLETECH Season pass.
City combat is center stage in this expansion, introducing new street features including blocked lines of sight, collateral damage rules, and all sorts of new destruction. Weigh the hazards and benefits before going into urban battle, though—explosions, floods and more await. With new urban challenges, the return of lost technologies, new ‘Mechs, vehicles, encounters and flashpoints, Urban Warfare takes the BATTLETECH experience to new, gritty heights.
“Urban Warfare delivers one of the biggest 'Mech combat player fantasies there is: Fighting it out on the streets and rooftops of epic sci-fi cityscapes,” said Mitch Gitelman, Co-founder of Harebrained Schemes and Game Director of BATTLETECH. “The truth is, we've wanted to build city combat environments and gameplay for years, so we're thrilled to be finally bringing this experience to BATTLETECH.”
Key features:
Urban Warfare – Street brawls introduce new tactical gameplay challenges as ‘Mech combat moves from wide-open natural landscapes to vast urban sprawls. Every building in the new urban biome is fully destructible, so you’re never more than a few salvos away from a new line of sight, or the defensive cover of high-rise rubble. Abandoned explosive fuel trucks, destroyed coolant exchanger buildings, and broken electrical transformers that disrupt targeting will drastically change the battle as you go.
Electronic Warfare – The return of these lost technologies will forever change the 31st century battlefield. ‘Mechs equipped with Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) and nearby friendly units are obscured from enemy targeting systems, and immune to indirect fire. Meanwhile, ‘Mechs equipped with Active Probe can reveal, locate, and target enemy units that would otherwise be hidden.
Two New BattleMechs – The experimental Raven 1X sports an advanced electronic warfare package combining ECM and Active Probe systems into a lightweight component. The Javelin is a compromise between speed and firepower, with close-range knockout power.
New Flashpoints – A wide variety of new branching short stories that link together mercenary missions, crew conversations, special events, critical choices, and rare bonus rewards.
Three New Enemy Vehicles – The Tank sports a variety of weapons to fight at all ranges with speed and agility, the Packrat is a battlefield support vehicle equipped with a prototype version of ECM, and the Rotunda is a reconnaissance vehicle equipped with a prototype version of Active Probe.
New Encounter – Attack and Defend is a challenging new mission type where your mercenaries must destroy an enemy’s base to stop a steady stream of attackers before they can overcome your forces and knock out your employer’s base.
