ATLAS PAWNCH!

The humanoid mechs of Mechwarrior have had their extra limbs just for show for far long enough. But with the possibility of melee (if, as the Devs have said, can be done right) then those dirty Clanners and their boats are in for a nasty surprise when that Atlas, Centurion, or other Mech with arms is backed into a bad spot.
How it will work:
Melee is powerful. Has the potential to floor mechs of lighter tonnage. And when used correctly, can turn the tide of a fight.
But...it's slow. Can only be used in knife-fight range, leaves the attacker with no weapons until his swing is done, can damage your own mech as well, and when used incorrectly it will paint a giant target on your torso screaming "blast me to slag."
How does mech-fu work, you say? Well, this is my general idea.
--As said before, your mech needs arms. Humanoid types such as the Atlas and Centurion will be the kind of mech type that will have access to melee attacks. You need fists to punch things.
--Your attack is slow, with a lot of windup and cooldown animation. These attacks cannot be spammed in any shape or form. Melee will take longer than any other sort of attack in-game, and can only do damage at point-blank, and will do nothing but leave you exposed if you miss.
--Attacks per arm. Atlas has two human arms with two human fists. Cent has one arm and one fist. Using melee twice with an Atlas will throw two punches. Centurion's can only use singular punches with their one arm. This will of course apply to future humanoid types.
--No weapons can be used during melee. Not even torso-mounted guns. You are using unarmed combat and until your swing stops and your mech's arms come back to rest you are entirely open.
--Melee weapons, such as the hatchet, will add extreme damage to melee attacks...but they of course extremely heavy, and again, are only of any use in melee range.
--You can knock down lighter mechs. But not often. Like criticals, they will be of percentage base. Perhaps the lighter your target is in relation to your mech, the more chance you have of scoring a knock-down.
--And no, there is no quick-time/cinematic elements involved at all. It is a simple, slow, risky, yet powerful attack animation that can be performed with your mech in motion.
Last but not least, if melee does make it into the game, in a form akin to this, than punching that Splatcat in the face will be the most satisfying thing in Mech Warrior.