BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Revenge

Last updated

Battletech:
The Crescent Hawks' Revenge
BattleTech - The Crescent Hawk's Revenge Coverart.png
Developer(s) Westwood Associates
Publisher(s) Infocom
Producer(s) Scott Berfield
Tony Van
Designer(s) Tony Van
Programmer(s) David R. Dettmer
Barry Green
Artist(s) Chuck Austen
Scott Berfield
Joseph B. Hewitt IV
Jenny Martin
Rick Parks
Aaron E. Powell
Don Woo
Composer(s) Paul S. Mudra
Dwight Kenichi Okahara
Series BattleTech
Platform(s) MS-DOS
Release 1990
Genre(s) Real-time tactics
Mode(s) Single-player

BattleTech: The Crescent Hawks' Revenge is a real-time tactics game based in the FASA BattleTech universe. It is a direct sequel to BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception , though the gameplay is considerably different from that of the first title, which was primarily an adventure/role-playing game. Developed by Westwood Associates for Mediagenic, and produced by Scott Berfield, the game serves as a prototype for what later became Dune II , the first real-time strategy title on the PC.[ citation needed ]

Contents

Gameplay

BattleTech: The Crescent Hawks' Revenge uses a proto-real-time strategy engine[ clarification needed ] that allows players to pause the game every time orders are issued to a unit. Players can also speed up or slow down time, allowing them to play the game at any desired pace. The combat is modeled modestly well after classic BattleTech rules, much more so than the later MechCommander, making The Crescent Hawks' Revenge one of the few BattleTech games to closely follow the rule set of the board game.

The main part of the game is a linear campaign of missions, where the player is presented with a tactical battle that can last anywhere from 5 to 50 minutes. The first mission involves a simple battle between a Jenner 'Mech and a Locust 'Mech, serving as a tutorial and story kick-off. Later missions give the player control of four 'Mechs in their "command lance" and two additional lances.

Battle scene BattleTech The Crescent Hawk's Revenge screenshot.png
Battle scene

The 'Mechs in the command lance can be controlled individually or given orders together as a lance, while 'Mechs in the two other lances are controlled by issuing orders to the entire lance only. This is another major strategy milestone, as The Crescent Hawks' Revenge had the concept of allowing the player to control both individual units and groups of units using the same control scheme.

The campaign is noted for its variety, where the player is tasked with objectives ranging from defending a crashed dropship, to stalling enemy units for a set amount of time, to protecting a convoy that is attempting to load up with ammunition. Campaign missions sometimes have multiple endings, and the outcome of a battle can influence the following missions.

However, the campaign is also noted as being very difficult, with some early campaign choices making subsequent missions much harder without the player realizing it. While the game attempts to present the player with multiple ways to complete some missions, the methods often vary wildly in difficulty, and the player would not know this until after trying all options.

Plot

The story follows the protagonist of the previous Crescent Hawk game, Jason Youngblood, as he heads to the home base of the infamous Kell Hounds mercenary organization. The Hawks are attacked en route, crashland, and spend a good portion of the early game protecting their crashed dropship and helping the Kell Hounds repel the Kurita attack.

After repelling the attack, the Crescent Hawks go on a long series of missions to rescue Jason's father from his Kurita captors, at which they are successful. Jason is reunited with his father, who has been missing since the beginning of The Crescent Hawk's Inception.

The game then has a major timeskip to the period of the clan invasion. The Crescent Hawks join the Kell Hounds and fight alongside them in repelling the clan invasion, often alongside their former Kurita enemies. The Crescent Hawks, Kell Hounds, and Kurita forces are successful in defending the Kurita capital, and the game ends with the Hawks earning the respect of their new Kurita allies.

Notably, there is also a story crossover between the Crescent Hawks and the original MechWarrior game. In a short one-shot mission, the Crescent Hawks attempt to save the Blazing Aces, the mercenary group from the original MechWarrior game, from a Clan attack. They are unsuccessful at saving the main character, MechWarrior Gideon Vandenburg, who dies during the attack. However, Gideon has secretly hidden most of the Ace's 'Mechs from the clan, and the Blazing Aces survive despite their leader's death.

Reception

Computer Gaming World in 1991 stated that BattleTech was an excellent conversion of the board game "without having to get out the tape measure and stack of charts", with good VGA graphics and sound card audio. [3] In a 1992 survey of science fiction games the magazine gave the title three of five stars, [1] and a 1994 survey of strategic space games set in the year 2000 and later gave the game two-plus stars out of five, stating that it "has strong role-playing elements, but still retains the tactical flavor of mechwarrior combat". [4] The game was reviewed in 1991 in Dragon #167 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 4 out of 5 stars. [2]

In a 1999 retrospective, Computer Games Strategy Plus named The Crescent Hawk's Revenge as a runner-up for its "10 Essential Real-time Strategy Games" list. [5]

Reviews

Related Research Articles

BattleTech is a wargaming and military science fiction franchise launched by FASA Corporation in 1984, acquired by WizKids in 2001, which was in turn acquired by Topps in 2003; and published since 2007 by Catalyst Game Labs. The trademark is currently owned by Topps and, for videogames, Microsoft's Xbox Game Studios; Catalyst Game Studios licenses the franchise from Topps.

<i>MechCommander</i> 1998 real-time tactics video game

MechCommander is a real-time tactics video game based on FASA's BattleTech/MechWarrior franchise, developed by FASA Interactive and distributed by MicroProse in 1998. An expansion pack, Desperate Measures, was released in 1999.

MechWarrior: Dark Age was a tabletop wargame by WizKids set in the BattleTech universe that uses the Clix system. The game's miniatures are pre-painted models of infantry squads, vehicles, and giant walking war machines known as BattleMechs or more simply "'mechs".

<i>BattleTech: The Crescent Hawks Inception</i> 1988 video game

BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception is a turn-based adventure/role-playing video game released in 1988 by Westwood Associates and based on the BattleTech franchise. It was one of the first commercial ports of the licence, and featured some of the franchise's worlds, institutions, political figures, and weapons, particularly the three-story tall BattleMechs. It was followed by a sequel, BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Revenge, though that game featured significantly different gameplay, falling into the real-time tactics genre rather than adventure/role-playing.

<i>Chromehounds</i> 2006 video game

Chromehounds is a 2006 mech simulator video game developed by FromSoftware and published by Sega for the Xbox 360. The game is set in an alternate universe where mecha known as HOUNDs battle for control of Neroimus, a fictional region near the Black Sea. Chromehounds features a system for personalized customization of the player's mecha and an online campaign mode where players wage war in a persistent world over Xbox Live. The game's online servers were shut down in January 2010.

<i>MechWarrior 4: Vengeance</i> 2000 video game

MechWarrior 4: Vengeance is a vehicle simulation game, developed by FASA Interactive and published by Microsoft. It was released on November 22, 2000. It 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 these "'Mechs" and uses variety of available weapons to battle enemy 'Mechs, tanks and other vehicles. An expansion pack, MechWarrior 4: Black Knight, was released in 2001, and a subsequent stand-alone expansion, MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries, was released on November 7, 2002. Two smaller expansions, Inner Sphere 'Mech Pak and Clan 'Mech Pak, were also released in 2002.

Real-time tactics (RTT) is a subgenre of tactical wargames played in real-time, simulating the considerations and circumstances of operational warfare and military tactics. It is differentiated from real-time strategy gameplay by the lack of classic resource micromanagement and base or unit building, as well as the greater importance of individual units and a focus on complex battlefield tactics.

<i>MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat</i> 1995 video game

MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat is a vehicle simulation game developed and published by Activision, released in 1995 as part of the MechWarrior series of video games in the BattleTech franchise. The game is set in 3057, and is played as a tactical simulation that incorporates aspects of real-time first-person combat and the physical simulation of the player's mech. It is a game recreation of the "Refusal War." The player can join one of the clans, Clan Jade Falcon or Clan Wolf while engaging in up to 32 missions.

<i>MechCommander 2</i> 2001 video game

MechCommander 2 is a 2001 real-time tactics video game based on the BattleTech/MechWarrior franchise, developed by FASA Interactive and distributed by Microsoft. It is a sequel to MechCommander.

<i>MechWarrior</i> (1989 video game) 1989 video game

MechWarrior is the second video game released in the BattleTech game series. MechWarrior was the first video game to offer the player a chance to pilot a BattleMech from the view of a pilot. With this game the player has a great deal of freedom when compared to many of the follow-up MechWarrior games, which include choosing missions, buying & selling mechs and parts, hiring lance-mates, and traveling throughout the Inner Sphere. Underneath the major game mechanics, the player had the option of following a role playing style story arc that would unfold over five in-game years.

<i>MechWarrior 3</i> 1999 video game

MechWarrior 3 is a vehicle simulation game, part of the MechWarrior series. It featured a new 3D accelerated graphics engine at the time of its release. The game contains over 20 missions, with access to 18 different mechs. A novelization called Trial Under Fire was written by Loren L. Coleman.

<i>MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries</i> 2002 video game

Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries is a vehicle simulation video game for Microsoft Windows, released in 2002. It is a standalone expansion of MechWarrior 4: Vengeance, based on the BattleTechMechWarrior game universe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BattleMech</span> Fictional war machine in the BattleTech franchise

BattleMechs are large walking war machines that feature prominently in the fictional universe of BattleTech. 'Mechs, which are generally either bipedal or quadrupedal in configuration, are controlled by human pilots and can thus be classified as mecha.

<i>MechWarrior 3050</i> 1996 video game

MechWarrior 3050, also known as BattleTech in its original Sega Genesis release and in Japan as BattleTech 3050 (バトルテック3050), is a 1994 mech-based video game developed by Malibu. The first BattleTech based game to be released for the Sega Genesis, it was later ported to the Super Nintendo by Activision as MechWarrior 3050. The Super Nintendo game was localized and published in Japan by Ask Group.

<i>BattleTech: The Animated Series</i> American TV series or program

BattleTech is an animated television series based on the BattleTech fictional universe, produced for syndication by Saban Entertainment in 1994. Written by Robert N. Skir and Marty Isenberg, the series ran for 13 episodes and focused on the character of Adam Steiner, a military officer in the distant future who struggles to liberate his home planet from an attacking faction.

<i>MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries</i> 1996 video game

MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries is a video game released in September 1996 as a stand-alone expansion to MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat and the last BattleTech game made by Activision. In this game, the player takes control of an Inner Sphere mercenary squad, with control over finances and free choice of missions.

<i>MechWarrior 2: Ghost Bears Legacy</i> Expansion pack to MechWarrior 2

MechWarrior 2: Ghost Bear's Legacy is an expansion pack to MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat.

<i>BattleTech</i> (video game) 2017 video game

BattleTech is a Mecha turn-based strategy video game developed by Harebrained Schemes and published by Paradox Interactive. It was released on macOS and Windows on April 24, 2018, with a Linux release on November 27, 2018. The developers set aside US$1 million to create the game, and turned to Kickstarter to secure funding for additional features, including a single player campaign, an expansion of that campaign, and a player versus player multiplayer mode.

<i>MechWarrior: Tactical Command</i> 2013 video game

MechWarrior: Tactical Command is a real-time strategy game based on the BattleTech universe developed for iOS. It was developed by Singaporean studio Personae Studios and released on September 27, 2013. The mobile game supports all iOS 5.0 and above devices including the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.

<i>MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries</i> 2019 video game

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries is a BattleTech mecha game developed by Piranha Games released on December 10, 2019, on Microsoft Windows. It is the first single player MechWarrior game since 2002. It was initially available as an Epic Games Store exclusive title, which, like other games with Epic Games Store exclusivity deals, was met with criticism. On May 7, 2020, it was made available through Xbox Game Pass for PC. On May 27, 2021, it was made available on additional platforms including Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Steam and GOG, in addition to the DLC pack Heroes of the Inner Sphere, Call to Arms, and Rise of Raselhague. It features ray tracing powered by Nvidia RTX as well as DLSS.

References

  1. 1 2 Brooks, M. Evan (November 1992). "Strategy & Wargames: The Future (2000-....)". Computer Gaming World . No. 100. p. 99. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  2. 1 2 Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (March 1991). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (167): 47–54.
  3. ↑ Lambright, J. D. (February 1991). "Infocom's BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Revenge Unleashes Its "Lethal Heritage"". Computer Gaming World . No. 79. p. 20. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  4. ↑ Brooks, M. Evan (May 1994). "Never Trust A Gazfluvian Flingschnogger!". Computer Gaming World. pp. 42–58.
  5. ↑ Bauman, Steve (15 November 1999). "10 Essential Real-time Strategy Games". Computer Games Strategy Plus . Archived from the original on 1 March 2005. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.