BattleTech: Urban Warfare goes to town this June

BattleTech is planning a city break this summer with the Urban Warfare expansion. Up until now, lance battles have mostly taken place in the wilderness, with the occasional trip to a gloomy outpost, but with Urban Warfare you'll be able to kick the oil out of mechs on city streets and rooftops surrounded by destructible buildings. Check out the trailer above.

Urban environments aren't just a nice change of scenery; they'll also present new tactical challenges. Buildings offer plenty of places to hide and lots of cover, but you can also kick them down and deny the enemy safety. Health and safety is clearly not a big concern in these cities, either, as there are explosives scattered around, just waiting for to be set off.

As well as being able to use the tried and tested 'hide behind a wall' method, you might want to try the new ECM tech, once lost but recently rediscovered, which will make you and nearby friendlies invisible, at least to enemy targeting systems. Of course there's a counter, so you'll need to watch out for mechs equipped with probes. This tech sounds like it should come in just as handy outside cities, too.

There are two new mechs, one of which packs both the ECM and probe, and it's not just mechs with some tricks up their sleeves. You'll have to fight three new enemy vehicles sporting prototype ECMs and probes, as well.

The last expansion introduced branching story missions, Flashpoints, and Urban Warfare adds another to the list, along with a new kind of encounter where your lance will have to take out an enemy base while trying to protect their own from enemy attackers.

It's quite a bit more than a new biome, then, though that's still definitely the highlight. I'm sick of trees. Give me a skyscraper to punch.

BattleTech: Urban Warfare is due out on June 4.

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.