Announced at MechCon 2016, Piranha Games is taking MechWarrior back to its singleplayer roots with MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries. Slated for a 2018 release, Piranha Games president Russ Bullock took the stage to reveal the first footage of MechWarrior 5, which is being developed using Unreal Engine 4. You can watch that demo in the video above and head over to MW5mercs.com for more info.

Though details are scarce, what we do know is that MechWarrior 5 is a completely standalone singleplayer game being developed by Piranha Games using a separate team than the one currently supporting MechWarrior Online, its multiplayer-only CryEngine game that went into open beta in 2012. MechWarrior 5 will feature "intense PvE ‘Mech combat in an immersive, career-based Mercenary campaign driven by player choice."

If you're not too familiar with the series, MechWarrior is the tactical FPS offshoot of BattleTech, where players pilot a single BattleMech and issue orders to squads (called 'lances') of AI-controlled allies. Set during the Third Succession War of 3015, MechWarrior 5 puts you in the cockpit of a "green MechWarrior mercenary" caught in the conflict by factions vying to control the Inner Sphere—the region of space surrounding Earth. True to MechWarrior, pilots won't just need to prove themselves on the battlefield but will also oversee the maintenance and enhancement of their BattleMechs. Along with the emphasis on player choice, MechWarrior 5 seems to adhere closely to the traditions established by the earlier MechWarrior games.

Aside from the demo, you can feast your eyes on the screenshots below to see what a MechWarrior game in Unreal 4 looks like. Spoiler alert: Pretty damn good. With the turn-based BattleTech strategy game coming in 2017, there's an exciting future ahead for fans of mech-on-mech combat.

Stay tuned, as I'll be bringing more coverage of MechWarrior 5 (and BattleTech) straight from MechCon.