Given the success of Microsoft’s first big Xbox One title early last year (we’re talking about Titanfall, of course), we’ve been thinking about another of the company’s beloved franchises lately: MechAssault.
There was always something beautiful about the mechanics (no pun intended) of the MechAssault series. Piloting a massive machine that is somehow rooted in reality but not exactly a common sight in our world’s militaries is an incredibly satisfying feeling. Adding missiles, guns, and other armament to it certainly doesn’t hurt, either.
Now would be a wonderful time to bring back the series. It reaffirms Microsoft’s commitment to gaming in a way that shows some love to not only those gamers who have been with the company since the early Xbox days, but also carries the appeal of a new type of military experience for new players who may not have played the series before.
Of course, MechAssault was also one of the flagship titles for Xbox Live, and it would only stand to reason that Microsoft would hype up its multiplayer offering as hard as it can, though if the experience is a bit more put together than Titanfall‘s, that would be great.
At E3 2013, Microsoft unveiled Killer Instinct as a (severely-limited) free-to-play title for Xbox One owners. They could follow suit with MechAssault, though we think the game would do much better as a standalone title, perhaps to bridge the gap between the Summer gaming lull and the crazy holiday season.
Releasing the game in August or September would tide over some gamers and potentially give 343 Industries more time to work on Halo 5: Guardians, which was recently rumoured to command a September launch date to avoid the stiff competition of the holiday gaming rush of Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed, and whatever other behemoth game hits the console scene.
Of course, without an appropriately massive launch window, MechAssault could just as easily be lost among the non-gaming rush that is the late-Summer season. Perhaps a reboot of this magnitude would prove to be better suited to a March 2016 launch? Though, that sounds like it would put it ripe for the picking against Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, and we all know how bad that could be for Microsoft.
We have an inkling that we’ll be seeing a new take on the MechAssault franchise at some point in the near future. E3 2015 makes the most sense, though Microsoft has gone ahead and made some pretty major announcements ahead of the annual Los Angeles show in the past.
If (or when) we see something new in the MechAssault universe, we’ll of course be the first to let you know.