MechWarrior 4: Black Knight Expansion

...poorly trained monkeys IMHO. Well of course it makes sense that Ian would assassinate his beloved sister and only living close relative. After all saving cities, orphanages and kittens all day must eventually have made him cranky(!?). It is non-contiguous with the characters in 'Vengeance'. Even the voice actors weren't the same except for a brief clip of Karl.

The voice acting was a disgrace. Well maybe not considering that all but one of the voice actors, including this production, have credits numbering in the ONES! Talk about "phoning it in". It sounded like most of them did that quite literally. I had a problem with the voice acting in Vengeance but compared to BK it was an academy performance.

I inherited the expansion recently. I often wondered before why Microsoft didn't make a "Mechwarrior 5". Guess after this they may have just wanted to bury it in time. Too bad for the fans, I guess.

The thing is; this was an Activision game before Microsoft acquired the rights. Activision is making some of the best games out there now. They could have really rocked this genre rather than sitting in an MS bin for the last 5 years.

Functionally the game is fine. There were a few additions that helped improve the feel of the game over MW4. Nothing can forgive the storyline production but because the game is functionally okay, I'll give it a 2 (rather than a 1).

It's months after Mechwarrior IV Vengeance. While Kentares IV seems distant, your Merc Company is soon called upon to confront Ian Dressari (the very same YOU played in Vengeance) and end his reign.

Whatever ending you choose in Vengeance, it ended up with your sister in charge. Suddenly she died under suspicious circumstances and servants close to the Dressari family are quick to point out Ian Dressari was behind it, wanting the family throne for itself. A bloody civil war starts leaving thousands homeless, or dead. The Black Knight Mercenary Company steps in to deal with the situation.

Which follows is a story full with treachery and a noble quest to free the beleaguered people of Kentares IV from Ian Dressari. With the aid of old familiars from the original you are sure to bring him down.

The expansion basically gives a few more maps and 'Mechs to play with.