This game is rated ESRB: Teen for Blood and Violence.
MechAssault is a third-person mech shooter developed by Day 1 Studios and published by Microsoft, released exclusively for Xbox in November 2002. Set within the BattleTech fictional universe, it was the first BattleMech game built specifically for console play, designed from the ground up rather than adapted from existing PC titles. Players pilot large combat mechs in the trademark heavy-weapons style of the BattleTech setting. The game was conceived when Day 1 Studios approached Microsoft about creating an original BattleTech experience tailored to controller-based gameplay. Its commercial and critical reception led to a sequel, MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf, released in December 2004. The title holds historical significance as the entry point for the long-running BattleTech franchise on console hardware, introducing the property to a new generation of players through the Xbox platform.
MechAssault takes place in the BattleTech universe, a science-fiction universe that often centers around pitched battles between human-piloted walking, heavily armed and armored machines, called BattleMechs. The plot of the game centers around an inhabited planet called Helios in the dominion of the Inner Sphere, a powerful coalition of feuding factions in control of large areas of space. The player is a BattleMech pilot (referred to throughout the game as simply "Captain" or, "MechWarrior") in the employment of an elite mercenary organization called Wolf's Dragoons. The player's ship is hired to investigate the cessation of communications from the planet Helios. The Dragoons' ship, the Icarus arrives at the planet and is shot down upon entering the atmosphere, causing the ship to crash-land on the surface of Helios. It is later discovered by the player that a rogue technology-worshipping cult known as the Word of Blake has invaded and conquered Helios, and is under the rule of an iron-fisted fanatic called Commander Strader. The game follows the player as, commanded by elite officer Major Natalia and assisted by inept techie Lieutenant Foster, they fight the military forces of the cult, assist in the liberation of the planet from Word of Blake rule, and assassinate Commander Strader.
