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	Title: (Sneak Preview) Infocom's BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Revenge
	Authors: Wyatt Lee and J. D. Lambright
	Source: Computer Gaming World, v10(10)
	Date: November 1990
	Transcription by Steve Derby
-->

<img class="float-left-half" src="/public/img/articles/cgw-sneak-preview-crescent-hawks-revenge/crescent-hawks-revenge-art.jpg" alt="BattleTech art">

*Pacifica, October 3028: Jason Youngblood, son of famed
Phoenix Hawk pilot Jeremiah Youngblood, has just received word
that Morgan Kell (legendary leader of the famed Kellhounds) has vital information
concerning the whereabouts of his father, a prisoner of war in the
Draconis Combine (House Kurita). Jason, a MechWarrior trained in the
Lyran Commonwealth (House Steiner), intends to land at the Kellhound base
and initiate his plans for a rescue mission.*

**Infocom's** *BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Revenge* sounds like a role-playing
game, but is actually more like a tactical-level wargame with six scenarios
strung together via a storyline set in the BattleTech universe (designed by **FASA**
for its boardgame and novels). Those who are accustomed to playing the
boardgame or slugging it out in miniatures battles using the BattleTech rules
should feel right at home with this game. Those who are looking forward to landing
on planets, encountering fascinating aliens, discovering unique artifacts and
solving puzzles had best stay away. The story does not progress via conversational
encounters, exploration or skill enhancement.

Rather, it consists of commanding one's squad of 'mechs (those multi-ton
humanoid engines of destruction — inspired by Japanimation like *Super
Dimension Fortress Macross* and *Fang of the Sun Dougram* — that look like
giant robots, but are piloted by a gifted warrior elite) in firefights with differing
mixes of opposing 'mechs and combat objectives. These battles alternate with
colorful static screens which feature full-screen portraits of men, 'mechs and locations,
along with short paragraphs of text that advance the story. Hardcore 'mech
pilots can jump over these static screens if they desire, so the primary focus of the
game is duplicating the multi-unit actions of the boardgame on the computer
monitor.

## Take Command

The game begins with a "story so far" overview. Next, the player gets a choice
of four 'mechs from a pool of six different machines (a Wasp, Commando,
Hermes II, Phoenix Hawk, and a Griffin). To insure flexibility, the player must
choose four *different* types from the six 'mechs available in this pool at the start
of the game.

Controls are joystick, keyboard, or mouse-driven using a cursor on the battlefield
and menu on the side of the screen. The player uses these controls to
direct movement, weapon fire, unit speed and the entire squad's formation. The
controls are pretty similar to those utilized in *BattleTech: The Crescent
Hawk's Inception* (*Inception*), but things can get fairly complicated when
the player is trying to control up to three 'mechs at a time. In the early versions
*CGW* received, one had to click onto a specific unit (moving the cursor by joystick,
keyboard or mouse), and then move to the menu to command the unit.
This meant that the command sequence would often be interrupted (slowed down)
when the battle got hot and the messages from other 'mechs started to come
in fast and furious.

There are some significant differences between *BattleTech: The Crescent
Hawk's Revenge* (*Revenge*) and its predecessor (*Inception*), however. Movement
must consist of moving the cursor and clicking on four different "legs" of
movement during the turn. In Inception, the player had considerably more control
during each phased movement. If one is not careful, particularly in the first
scenario, one can move past the target 'mech and miss the shot without realizing
it. Second, combat takes place in a real-time setting, unlike the phased movement
(preferable to role-players and wargamers) utilized in the first game. Third,
since the game does not emphasize the "role-playing" experience of the game, it
does not offer the option of allowing the computer to fight for the player which *Inception*
provided. Fourth, *Revenge* is a linear entertainment in which the
protagonist's goals are clearly outlined for him. There is none of the "wasted
time" dedicated to discovery and exploration that was required in *Inception*. The
best news is that *Revenge* has superior VGA graphics and characters that do not
look like cheap imitations of Japanime'; is much faster-paced than *Inception*; and
is the kind of game that offers replayability where *Inception* did not.
*Revenge* also offers some on-screen hints whenever the player fails.

## Verify Situation

Just before the action begins in *Revenge*, Jason Youngblood's ship is
strafed by Kurita fighters and, as a result, forced to crash land into a lake, rather
than reaching the Kellhound base he was bound for. As Jason, the player finds
that two of his available 'mechs have already filled with water and sunk to the
bottom of the lake. So, he only has two 'mechs potentially available for his use.
While he is still trying to get out of the water, he observes another 'mech who
has already been damaged by enemy fire. Jason must help out the damaged
Jenner in his battle with a Kurita Locust, because the Kurita 'mech will immediately
start firing at Jason's ship, should the Jenner be defeated. Should this
occur, the game is quickly and unsuccessfully completed. Thus, the basic challenge
of the first scenario is to destroy the Kurita 'mech or cause it to retreat.

<img class="float-right-narrow" src="/public/img/articles/cgw-sneak-preview-crescent-hawks-revenge/crescent-hawks-revenge-screen-shots.png" alt="Battletech: The Crescent Hawk's Revenge screen shots">

Next, one offloads the two 'mechs from the ship and attempts to secure the road
to the Kellhound base where are hero originally intended to land. Now, the
player controls three 'mechs. Because of the real-time constraints, however, he controls
these 'mechs loosely. It is difficult to get all three 'mechs to triangulate on one
target because, at least in the unfinished version *CGW* was experimenting with,
the computer tends to "take over" command of those units one is not actively
commanding at a given time. Obviously, this has both advantages and disadvantages.
With the computer commanding the units, one can be relatively sure
that all units stay in the action, but coordination becomes a nightmare. Basically,
both the second and third scenarios are essentially "run and gun" road battles to
protect the base. The "good guys" chase off a larger force which includes a Whitworth
and an APC, among others.

In the third scenario, the small 'mech force faces a much larger force of three
Rommel tanks (extremely tough opponents) and a couple of 'mechs. By this
time, the player has learned one of the most important lessons of the game, the
"good guys" are always outmanned and outgunned. The primary objective of the
third scenario is to keep the tanks from crossing the bridge and reaching the
base.

The fourth scenario offers a slightly different challenge, an escort mission.
There are two essential phases to this scenario. The hero begins in the city and
loads two different types of weapons into his cargo carrier in order to deliver them
back to the base. One essentially controls two urban 'mechs in a running battle
against Kurita infantry, while attempting to protect the delivery at any cost.
There is also a random encounter in which the party can be strafed by Kurita
fighters. Finally, one has to drive past a 'mech guarding the city gate in order to
exit the city.

Unfortunately, the early draft of the documentation does not delineate the
functions and characteristics of an urban 'mech, even though the player is required
to command two of them in the fourth scenario. This is somewhat
analogous to the fact that four of the six 'mechs in the player's starting pool have
"jump jet" capacity. Jump jets that would enable the 'mechs to fly behind enemy
lines would have been extremely valuable in some scenarios. Nevertheless, the
program (at least, in our version) makes no allowances for using them.

The fifth scenario is introduced via a static-screen exposition of a huge party
where the hero and his fellow warriors are the guests of the Kellhounds. Here,
the hero gets to meet the famous Morgan Kell. He also gets to thank "Grease
Anderson," the pilot of the damaged 'mech in the first scenario, for saving his
bolts in that scenario. All the 'mechwarriors have a good laugh at the
hero's expense, however, because "Grease" turns out to have been a 'tech,
not a 'mech pilot. He simply jumped into a 'mech at a crucial time in order to help
out. Right after the party, and a good night's rest, Jason comes up with a
heroic plan. The Kellhounds help him salvage his two waterlogged 'mechs from
the bottom of the lake, so Jason volunteers to breach the Kurita lines and
march directly on the bad guys' mobile headquarters. The commander has a better
idea (and this means most players will want to save the game here and
replay the scenario). The commander orders Youngblood to choose two light
'mechs (Javelins) to flank the Kurita lines. Then, the other 'mechs are to attempt
a frontal assault. In this way, one group should be able to get through to
the mobile headquarters in fairly decent shape. Players have the choice of commanding
either group, so this is not only an interesting scenario, but a double
scenario. "Road Run" gives the player a chance to flank the enemy with the light
'mechs and "Gauntlet" gives the heavier units a chance to breach the line and go
for the enemy's throat.

<img style="display: block; margin: auto; max-width: 90%;" src="/public/img/articles/cgw-sneak-preview-crescent-hawks-revenge/battletech-fasa-sketch.png" alt="A sketch from FASA's Battletech game">

As a sideline, however, here is another game universe anomaly. Prior to the fifth
scenario, the commander allows Jason to have the missiles which he brought
back to the base during the second scenario. However, the program does not
allow the player to use these missiles during either the fifth or sixth scenario,
simply having the player's on-screen characters radio their commanding officer
that they are "saving" the missiles. We originally thought that the game was forcing
us to save the missiles until the final scenario, but
we couldn't use them there, either. That may be a result
of having an incomplete version, however.

Finally, the sixth scenario is the *coup de grace*. The
player can maneuver over a battlefield that scrolls to
almost four times the size of the "killing fields" in the
other scenarios. In this battle, the player will command
whichever damaged and fatigued squad he has led successfully
through the fifth scenario.

Should the player be successful in destroying the Kurita mobile headquarters,
he returns to Morgan Kell and receives the information he needs to rescue his
father. From that point, he can summon the DropShip (with the new F10 function)
and get ready for the sequel.

## Command Disposition

Although *BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Revenge* takes a decidedly different
direction in terms of game mechanics and appearance than *BattleTech:
The Crescent Hawk's Inception*, it would appear that **Infocom** has made
the right decision in creating a game that will offer more appeal to those who play
the *BattleTech* boardgame. Those of us who are more intrigued by the *BattleTech*
novels will probably still enjoy the MechWarrior series more because the
simulation aspect treats the 'mech pilots as heroic individuals.
In *Revenge*, the system deals with the 'mechs more as military units.

Frankly, *BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Revenge*
should have a decidedly larger following than *Inception*
because it is truer to the genre. Now, if **Infocom**
was to add a construction set and scenario editor to
the mix, they would have a megahit on their hands.

