There’s now a new and extended gameplay trailer for Hawken going the rounds (shown below). As always it’s looking good and pretty meaty but we’re still surprised at the amount of tearing still present. The team are also hiring pretty aggressively now too, so it seems that this game will be getting bigger by the looks of it. Either way this is still on track to being one of our most anticipated mecha games of this year. Here’s hoping these guys can pull it off!

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Two new trailers have been released for MechWarrior Online in a move that will surely leave fans salivating every waking moment until the game opens up this summer. The first continues the hardcore soundtrack responsible for breaking thousands of necks as viewers headbanged in excitement during a Mech launch sequence, while the second features the developers talking about the game types that will be available at launch and how they’re designing the game so that the Mechs will fulfill certain roles on the battlefield. The two game types seem to be just the standard deathmatch and a variant with a limited number of spawns, which is admittedly somewhat disappointing.  Better news is that the developers are well aware that past games have overwhelmingly favored the heavier assault-class Mechs, leaving humble scouts such as the Jenner at a severe disadvantage. While no concrete information was given, the devs claim the smaller, faster Mechs will have an important place on the battlefield. Here’s to hoping that the game comes with the infamous Narc missile, which allowed the other players on your team to get faster and more accurate lock-ons on targets you marked.

There was also a trailer released for MechWarrior Tactics, which I forgot to mention last time around because I thought it was the same thing as MechWarrior: Tactical Command for iOS. Mea culpa. How did we go from having no MechWarrior games in development to having three different ones so quickly? Is this what the Mayans predicted for 2012? Anyways, MechWarrior Tactics is a hex-based, turn-based, browser-based strategy game hewing more closely to the original Battletech tabletop game than the action-oriented MechWarrior interpretations, and allows players to put in their commands asynchronously–you can log in quickly, move your Mechs, and then log out without needing to wait for the other player’s response. If you’re interested, make sure you reserve your handle at the game’s official site — it’s a different registration than the one for MechWarrior Online.

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Not only is MechWarrior Online still in development, the latest teaser trailer contains a weapons-grade payload of multiple fangasms. I won’t spoil it, but if you’ve been a fan of the MechWarrior series for a while now, you’ll be instantly having flashbacks of hitting Group Fire and preemptively mashing down the Reactor Shutdown Manual Override button. It’s been a long time, but it feels like we never even left the cockpit.

The newly mecha-curious among you will be pleased to know that it’s not all Old Guard fanservice. If the actual game looks half as good as this cinematic, this is quite possibly going to be the most beautiful free-to-play game out there. And it’s not just pixel counts on textures, either–the attention to detail on the DropShip’s prepping of the ‘Mech while it undergoes its startup sequence shows that someone truly cared. That Atlas isn’t unceremoniously dumped from a polygonal hanger bay, it’s got a proper launch sequence  that can set a man’s soul aflame. The Atlas itself is redefined with the sillier elements cut out, striking an imposing figure as the Inner Sphere’s personification of death. Someone has done their homework; this could very well be a product that can compete directly with the mecha output of Japan.

The game is still slated for this summer, and if you’ve been following along at home with the amazing curiosity that is the official MechWarrior Twitter account, you might have a good idea why. Due to MechWarrior’s origins as the tabletop RPG BattleTech, the universe has an amazing amount of definition that makes even the venerable Mobile Suit Gundam saga jealous, and the Twitter account has been reporting on events in that universe in real time. This August will be the BattleTech universe’s August of 3049, a pivotal moment in BattleTech history where the shit hits the proverbial heatsink. If you’re new to the series, don’t look it up; i’s much better to experience the terror firsthand. But if you find yourself in the Free Rasalhague Republic when the game opens, run.

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No doubt gearing up for this year’s GDC, a new gameplay trailer has been released for Hawken. It’s still looking nice but there’s an awful lot of tearing going on. We also love the new HUD a lot and it seems very reminiscent of Armored Core V’s approach too (this being obviously a good thing). We’re still keen to get our hands on with this as it looks to be very gritty and visceral. Roll on the game’s December release we say!

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Day One Studios, creators of the two MechAssault games on the original Xbox, have announced a spiritual successor going by the name Reign of Thunder. While the game is missing the BattleTech license, it appears that the MechAssault “feel” of fast third-person action is still present, with the promised addition of tons of customization options.

Day One Studios says “mech fans have been asking us for years to return to the genre and we’ve been listening”, which is perhaps an overstatement. The games reviewed exceptionally well, but the BattleTech fans who thought they would be getting a nuanced game in the vein of MechWarrior were sorely disappointed. With a MechWarrior reboot and Hawken still on the horizon, as well as a certain “core” mecha series adding an unprecedented amount of online content, there may not be room for another freemium mecha game based on a series with simple, action-oriented game mechanics.

If there’s a silver lining, it’s this: the press release claims the game will also incorporate the ”customization and RPG elements of the early MechWarrior PC and board games” in addition to the instant action feel of MechAssault. If that wasn’t just hapless PR speak, this project could turn out to be something interesting, though Day One Studios still has everything to prove.

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For those that have been wondering what has happened to Hawken, well there’s now the chance to sign-up for what looks like a closed beta test. We’re assuming that this closed beta will be PC based (via Steam?) but this is entirely conjecture on our part. There’s also a Twitter feed you can follow for the beta test. What we do know is that some people will be playing the game on “12.12.12″. Catchy.

Update: Looks like this will indeed be a PC only title, published by Meteor Games. It also sounds like it will be freemium.

The new browser based Web Power Dolls will be getting a new mecha, as designed by ToMo. Above is a sketch of a lighter weight mecha with more hard points. Its primary functions are for quick surprise attacks and reconnaissance. For those unfamiliar with the Power Dolls saga, it’s been a pretty successful series of PC based mecha turn based strategy games that were birthed in the mid-90′s (with a tie-in anime OVA to boot). Whilst this new game is browser based, it’s still being handled by the same Kogado Studio. This new mecha will be in-game around the 8th February apparently. We’ve included the current game’s promo video below too.

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Towards the end of last year an alpha test was carried out on Mobile Suit Gundam Online. Today, we received the results. Of those that signed up, 1,269 opted to play in the Federation whereas 1,320 chose to join Zeon. Despite the slight numerical advantage, the Feddies were more often than not victorious over the Zeeks (Go Feds!). There are also a fair few comments from the testers asking for various features, though whether any of these come to fruition remains to be seen. Another test phase is planned for the end of February apparently and no final release date has been set.

4Gamer has a new piece on the forthcoming Mobile Suit Gundam Online and it seems that they’re really going more for the co-op action route, a la Monster Hunter, rather than an old school MMO. This is mostly down to the combat being pretty standard TPS Gundam fare, with mobile suits broken down into class types (such as assault or sniper for instance). The fact you can also have a suitably massive number of players, 52 per side to be precise, is also pretty damn awesome really. In addition, there’s also a commander mode available that looks and sounds awfully like Armored Core V’s setup (which in turn is influence by Chrome Hounds obviously). Still no word on pricing or release date as yet but it’s looking to be a pretty cool game.

4Gamer has a nice new piece on a forthcoming online Gundam multiplayer game that will feature brawls with over 100 mobile suits. Entitled Mobile Suit Gundam Online, the game will be released on PC and players will have to pick between either Federation or Zeon units. This alone means that the game will be set resolutely within the UC timeline. Whilst this sounds to be more combat orientated, we’ve already been down this road before (in the form of the ill-fated Universal Century Gundam Online) so we’re a little worried this may not do all that well. What is encouraging, apart from the non-crazy specs, is that a large alpha test is planned with at least 3,000 players in the next week or two. Hopefully this help to assuage many of the issues that are inevitable with games like these prior to its release.