BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception

BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception is a sci-fi RPG created by Westwood Associates and published by Infocom. It was released initially for MS-DOS in 1988, then ported to Atari ST, Apple II, Commodore 64, and Amiga (in 1989).

It's based on the pen-and-paper game BattleTech, a kind of D&D set in the thirty-first century in a science fiction universe where players control giant robots called BattleMech.

This futuristic militarized universe is also the setting of the MechWarrior videogames, but those games are 3D combat sims, while Battletech is a 2D top-down view RPG. More faithful to the original formula, if you want.

Despite the primitive graphics, more appropriate for an 8-bit game maybe, BattleTech is a fascinating and addictive title. Especially once you have completed the training, and you are free to explore the vast world, trying to collect experience and money, and battling the other robots, things become hugely satisfying.

If you are a fan of the MechWarrior saga, and you want to discover more about its background, it's the game for you. But also if you love old-school RPGs and you want to try something different from the usual sword and sorcery.