Simtex has been responsible for some pretty good stuff in the past couple of years. They published the space strategy game Master of Orion through Microprose, a game that, while only about a year and a half old, has already attained classic status. A few months ago they produced another strategy monster for Microprose, Master of Magic, which blended elements of Master of Orion's game play with some of Civilization's strong points, adding a unique dual plane fantasy setting to conquer. They are now hard at work on another title, Mech Lords, which will be published by New World Computing. The lead designer of all these projects is Steve Barcia. We were able recently to sit down with Steve and learn a few things about this new game that should be heading your way around September.
What's in a name? A game by any other name would smell as sweet, but it may not sell worth a damn. Mech Lords has a potentially misleading name. Yes, mechs are an important part of the game, but this is not an action simulation attempting to cash in on the mech mania currently running unchecked (and largely unsupported by software) through the industry. Mech Lords is a traditional strategy game, more akin to Steve Barcia's previous projects than the "kill the big tin can" action sims. At no time during a game of Mech Lords will you jump into a cockpit lined with HUDs and confusing instruments and attempt to blow things up. You should probably be aware of that, lest you become horribly confused.
Mech Lords is a strategy game concerning the leadership of a futuristic feudal society. A governing Senate keeps the peace between rival houses. You are a noble in one of these houses. Which one? You get to select that at the beginning of the game, and each house has its own rules, advantages, disadvantages, and codes of acceptable behavior. (Some houses would strip you of your nobility if you were to carry out an insidious act like assassination, while other houses don't really give a damn as long as you don't get caught and tarnish the house's reputation.) Anyway, the duke of your house is dying, and dying without an heir. Obviously, your goal in the game is to become your house's next duke. To do this you'll have to win a majority vote, and therein lies the challenge. To complicate matters, your family has a long-standing bitter feud with the controlling family of House Harkonnen, and . . . wait, sorry, wrong feudal science fiction scenario.
As you probably figured, you aren't the only one vying for the title of duke. Two other nobles from your house oppose you, and they'll use every political trick in the book û from bribery to blackmail û to secure votes. Naturally, you'll have ample opportunities to pull off some dirty deals and political low blows yourself.
The action of the game takes place along the outer rim of the houses' territories, making Mech Lords a game of colonial expansion as well as political ambition. The game progresses through scenarios, which you must complete successfully to distinguish yourself as the best choice for duke. These scenarios involve the colonization of new worlds and the profitable exploitation of said rocks. This is where the mechs come in. You start the game with nothing but tanks and a primitive worker drone, but investing in the miracle of science yields new technologies which lead to the construction of gigantic robots to do the work around the colony more efficiently. Of course, they make great armies for attack and defense, too. You can expect Mech Lords to contain a very healthy dose of the production phase that make Master of Orion and Master of Magic so addictive.
The scenarios in Mech Lords aren't just attempts to out-produce your rivals. Many of them have other goals, such as preventing a certain house from establishing a base on planet X, that make your colony a means to an end instead of the end itself. Some missions don't even allow you to build colonies. For example, a mission where your goal is to abduct the leader of a rival house would be a "strike only" mission, which gives you only a military force to play with. To hell with growth and production, just go trash your enemies!
Judging by our early look, Mech Lords is going to be another terrific strategy game from Steve Barcia and Simtex, one that should help solidify their already shining reputation. It promises to have some of the familiar and loved elements of Master of Orion and Master of Magic, while at the same time offering players a more politically charged environment. And hey, big nasty robots!
