''Multiplayer BattleTech: 3025'' is a PC

MMORPG A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a character (of ...

developed by

Kesmai Kesmai was a pioneering game developer and online game publisher, founded in 1981 by Kelton Flinn and John Taylor. The company was best known for the combat flight sim '' Air Warrior'' on the GEnie online service, one of the first graphical M ...

during the same period as Microsoft's '' MechWarrior 4: Vengeance''. The game occupies the fictional 31st century universe of

BattleTech ''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 ...

and focuses centrally on the large robotic war machines called BattleMechs ('Mechs) and the individuals who pilot them. The game was released as a

beta Beta (, ; uppercase , lowercase , or cursive ; grc, βῆτα, bē̂ta or ell, βήτα, víta) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In Modern Greek, it represents the voiced labi ...

in 2001 and shut down with little explanation on December 6, 2001.

History

''Multiplayer BattleTech: 3025'' is the third online incarnation of the BattleTech series. The first was '' Multiplayer BattleTech: EGA'', available on the

GEnie Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic m ...

game service, followed by '' Multiplayer BattleTech: Solaris''. Kesmai originally farmed out development of the title to Israeli developer 2 AM, but the resulting product was considered a failure and resulted in the game being pulled back into Kesmai studio under the lead of

Nick Laiacona Nick may refer to: * Nick (given name) * A cricket term for a slight deviation of the ball off the edge of the bat * British slang for being arrested * British slang for a police station * British slang for stealing * Short for nickname Place ...

and Matt Shaw. During this period Kesmai focused on reengineering the 3D combat portion of the game to use the studio's internal K3D rendering engine. Development continued after Kesmai's purchase by

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted th ...

and included an overhaul of the galactic conquest portion of the game.

Gameplay

Players of ''3025'' connected to an

MMOG A massively multiplayer online game (MMOG or more commonly MMO) is an online video game with a large number of players, often hundreds or thousands, on the same server. MMOs usually feature a huge, persistent world, persistent open world, alt ...

-style

server Server may refer to: Computing *Server (computing), a computer program or a device that provides functionality for other programs or devices, called clients Role * Waiting staff, those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending customers and su ...

, selected an affiliation in the form of a

Great House A great house is a large house or mansion with luxurious appointments and great retinues of indoor and outdoor staff. The term is used mainly historically, especially of properties at the turn of the 20th century, i.e., the late Victorian or ...

, selected a planet, then descended to the surface to engage in a virtual four-on-four battle with opposing players. The results of such battles were planets being won and lost for the five major houses, shifting the borders of various factions in the Inner Sphere. ''3025'' used many more of the original ''

'' rules than the '' MechWarrior'' series.

Reception

A Game Pressure review described the game as a

with 150 types of combat robots and MMO-typical gameplay, experience tracks and in-game factions, but only awarded 2.3 out of 10 points.

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

editor Trey Walker raised doubts whether Electronic Arts (E.A.) would continue developing the game in late October 2001 and noted that E.A. had announced massive layoffs of staff who worked on online content while keeping quiet on the future of BattleTech: 3025 and on the criteria they would use to determine whether they would work towards an official release version.

References

{{BattleTech BattleTech games First-person shooters Multiplayer online games B 2001 video games Video games based on miniatures games Video games developed in the United States Video games set in the 31st century Video games set on fictional planets