Fresh off a closed-doors showing at GDC 2012, Piranha Games has released the first gameplay footage of their upcoming free-to-play mech shooter, MechWarrior Online.
As you can see, the game's CryEngine 3 graphics are predictably easy on the eyes, easily on par with what we saw in the earlier teaser. Other than that, everything on display is exactly what you'd expect from the MechWarrior franchise, namely hulking robots shooting all manner of lasers and rockets at each other until one of them explodes. In a word: badass.
In addition to the requisite carnage, MechWarrior Online will feature an exhaustive customization and upgrade system, as well as a complex metagame that allows players to ally themselves with one of five factions and fight for control of planets in the Inner Sphere.
MechWarrior Online is out exclusively on the PC this summer. You can get the (robotic) leg up on the competition by registering an account over on the game's official site.