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Mechwarrior IV: Vengeance, the fourth game in the hugely successful Mechwarrior franchise, is the prototypical "mecha combat game". Based on a highly acclaimed boardgame by FASA, Mechwarrior is about your quest to avenge the execution of your family by invaders. To do so, you pilot a giant war machine, called a Battlemech, and wage war on those responsible for the death of your loved ones. Over the course of the game’s four campaigns, you pilot a variety of mechs on a plethora of missions to fulfill your quest for Vengeance.

But summing it up like that does not do the Battletech universe justice. To fully appreciate the story, and the game, you need to know a little bit about the story that led to the Mechwarrior series.

A Short Summary of the Battletech Universe:

Humanity has colonized numerous worlds on far flung planets. Collectively, all of the space colonized by humankind was referred to as the Inner Sphere. The Star League was formed to govern the Inner Sphere. Eventually, the Star League was overthrown. Five factions, known as Great Houses, divvied up the League’s territory for themselves. These five Houses (Davion, Kurita, Liao, Marik, & Steiner) fought to claim the Inner Sphere as their own. Meanwhile, the majority of the Star League’s armed forces, led by Alexander Kerensky, decided that remaining and fighting to preserve the League would be futile. Kerensky and his followers exiled themselves beyond the rim of known space, vowing to someday return and restore the League.

The Great Houses fought amongst themselves for many years. Over the course of this extended war, most of the factories and scientific institutions used to build Battlemechs were destroyed. As the Wars of Succession continued, the technological level of the Inner Sphere declined. In 3050, House Davion started to make a concentrated effort to re-develop the lost technologies, by building new factories and establishing new educational programs. Soon after, Davion formally allied with Steiner, forming the Federated Commonwealth. It looked like the new alliance was going to eventually take over the entire Inner Sphere.

Then the Clans invaded. Powerful (but human) invaders from beyond the Inner Sphere, with vastly superior mechs and pilots. The Clans were the descendants of Kerensky’s forces, and were determined to retake Earth & the Inner Sphere, restoring their version of the Star League. Over the course of a long war, the combined forces of the Great Houses managed to force the Clans to accept a challenge: Each side would send a small number of troops to a planet, and those troops would fight. If the Inner Sphere won, the Clans would cease their advance for several decades. If the Clans won, the Houses would capitulate. The Inner Sphere forces were victorious.

During the reprieve, the Inner Sphere started reverse-engineering technologies salvaged from destroyed Clan mechs. Because the Sphere had more planets, and hence more industrial capability than the Clans, it appeared that they were well on their way to being able to fight the Clans on an even footing when the ceasefire ended. As a symbol of their newfound co-operative spirit, the Great Houses announced the formation of a new Star League—thus, in a way, fulfilling the Clans’ promise to restore the League.

Then, House Steiner betrayed Davion, ending the Federated Commonwealth. This is where you enter the story. You are returning to your home planet of Kentares IV from a war with the Clans when you receive a message from your father. Your home planet has been captured by Steiner forces, and your family, killed.

You want Vengeance.