MechAssault

MechAssault takes place in the BattleTech universe, a science-fiction universe that often revolves around pitched battles between human-piloted walking, heavily armed and armored machines, called BattleMechs. The plot of the game centers on 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.

The game received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot said, "If you're going to buy one game with your Xbox Live starter kit, MechAssault is the one to get." In Japan, where the game was ported for release on June 12, 2003, Famitsu gave it a score of all four sevens for a total of 28 out of 40. GamePro called it "a blitzkrieg of metal-mauling combat and strategy, purely for stick jockeys. It's no sim, but it's not simple either."

GameSpot named it the best Xbox game of November 2002, and later presented it with the annual awards for "Best Online Game on Xbox", "Best Shooter on Xbox", and overall "Game of the Year on Xbox". It was a runner-up in the publication's "Best Sound" and "Best Graphics (Technical)" categories. The game won the awards for "Best Online Xbox Game" and "Best Online Console Game" at The Electric Playground's 2002 Blister Awards, and was nominated for "Best Graphics in a Console Game", "Best Console Shooter" and "Xbox Game of the Year", but lost to Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (Graphics, Xbox Game of the Year) and Metroid Prime, respectively.