Hail Mechwarrior!

MechWarrior3 continues more than just the tradition of changing developers and publishers. It, likes its predecessors, is absolutely stunning visually while maintaining playability. Among the other traditions continued is that you now fight yet again for another side. That's right, you're not a Clanner (MechWarrior 2 and Ghost Bear's Legacy) or Inner Sphere mercenary (MW1, MW2 : Mercenaries) anymore. Now you belong to the Eridani Light Horse Regiment, a formal military unit of the reformed Star League.

Star League? Clans? Inner Sphere? What? Alright, alright. Let my geek know-how clue you in (while the BatteTech gurus out there prepare flaming email death for me, correcting all my mistakes ;-)

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How this all got started…

In the 28th century, the Inner Sphere, which is the largest, central and most important area of colonized worlds, is united under a central governing body called the Star League. Unfortunately, an usurper takes control and a civil war begins. General Kerensky leads his loyal Star League forces against the usurper and wins, only to see that the Great Houses of the Inner Sphere are now battling to see who fills the power vacuum left by the usurper. Fearing that his troops may become divided and used to fight each other, he calls upon them to follow him on his great Exodus. The vast majority of his troops left the Inner Sphere, not seen or heard from for 300 years. Your regiment did not choose to join them.

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A failing empire

In the 300 years since, the Inner Sphere has stagnated and begun to decline. Constant wars have destroyed worlds, trade and the facilities to produce BattleMechs (the giant robots which you pilot.) Technology has not only stopped advancing, it has actually slowly withered away. The 'Mechs in the year 3050 are worse than in 2750. The Great Houses are slowly becoming reliant on mercenary groups, as their militaries are no longer sufficient. In short, given time, the Inner Sphere would probably collapse upon itself.