New VRWarrior mod finally brings VR support to Mechwarrior 5: Mercenaries
This VR Corner will mech your day.
When Mechwarrior 5: Mercenaries was first announced, developers Piranha Games hinted that it was designed to support VR. Unfortunately, upon release, it became pretty clear that no such implementation had been made - the gameplay resembled something that a mech had trodden on. It was as flat as a pancake.
Fast forward to this week though and all your mech-based VR dreams have finally come true thanks to KITT, an incredibly talented modder whose VRWarrior mod 'lets you feel just how massive this multi-ton killing machine really is as you stomp your way to victory'.
The VRWarrior mod is now available to download from Nexusmods and it plonks you right inside the cockpit of a battle mech to give you the most immersive Mechwarrior experience yet.
You can watch me turn from a Mechwarrior noob into a fully fledged Mech-head in today's VR Corner as I quickly fall in love with this explosive upgrade.
The mod itself is compatible with the Steam, Epic Games Store and Windows/Xbox Store versions of the title, but in my experience it does take a bit of fiddling to get working correctly on the Oculus Rift S.
It's not a complete VR overhaul either, as only the actual mech-based missions support VR. Anytime you're outside the mech, such as when you're in the hangar performing repairs or planning missions, the gameplay reverts to flat mode.
All that fiddling is completely worthwhile though because the feeling of sitting in a battlemech cockpit and going toe to metal toe with another mech is just plain awesome. Being able to look all around in your cockpit in full 6DOF gives you a great feeling of immersion and even though there are no motion controls implemented, it doesn't ruin the intense excitement you'll feel as you smash your way through a forest in search of your foes.
If you've previously played Mechwarrior 5 with friends, you'll be pleased to know you can also play through the game in VR in full co-op, and you can even mix flatscreen with VR players if you so wish.
I'd never really played a Mechwarrior game before, but after diving into the virtual cockpit of a battlemech or two, I've got to say, it's really good fun and I feel like the added immersion could only elevate the experience for veteran Mechwarrior fans. So, if you've ever wondered how it feels to star in your own Mech-based anime, give the VRWarrior mod a go as I reckon it'll mech your day!
If you enjoyed this episode of Ian's VR Corner, you can catch up with my previous adventures over on YouTube in our VR playlist, where I've covered Valheim VR's motion controls mod, Doom 3 VR Edition and everything we know about PSVR 2 so far. You can also read our list of the best VR games.
