BATTLETECH

First saw the board game in the early 80s, been waiting for this for a long time. It does scratch the BattleTech itch. That being said, it's not all good. There are questionable design choices in terms of balance, interface and story. It can feel like you are playing the same missions over and over and over again (because you will be if you play long enough, of course the same could be said about chess). The strategic layer seems inconsistent, like they wanted to give you some RPG, but then changed their minds. They give you enough space for 24 pilots, but you can only use 4 at a time and the cost of keeping them is excessive (apparently being a mechwarrior is a road to riches, or inflation is out of control in this version of the BattleTech universe). They hold to the BT lore (if it matters to you) at times, and at other times throw it out the window. You can have 18 mechs ready to drop, but again can only drop 4, and will never require more than 8 to complete any missions, also the cost of keeping that many mechs ready to drop is excessive. The game still has bugs (at version 1.3+) that can cause strange behavior including crashes. For what it delivers it does require significant Video hardware, and can stutter and freeze without it. The camera controls can be a bit wonky, zooming into the back of hill when it should be showing you damage hitting your target. The AI is barely competent, once you learn it's behavior it can be easily manipulated. Balance is achieved (more or less) by the player being outnumbered 2 or 3 to 1 in most missions. There are more minor quibbles, each one on their own is not much, but they do add up. The good parts are obvious, I did have fun playing it. But, in hindsight would wait for a discount before buying it. If it were compared to other BattleTech games only I would give it 5 stars. However comparing to other turn based strategy/tactics games(in the same price range) it only rates 3.

This game has now crashed twice after a mission and the post-mission screens in 3 attempts. For some reasons the developers didn't think an autosave functionality worth a damn was needed and so I now have to replay yet another mission. Yes, I could have saved manually, but as the top-rated review notes everything...takes...ages...so...I...didn't. Everything else so far is ok, albeit clunky. Just like the need to manually save to keep you from losing progress, it just feels so 90s.

I have been playing Battletech games since the 90s. So keep that in mind when reading this review. It is biased a bit by nostalgia for the brand and that can't be helped. This game is great. It's not perfect. I have 240+ hours in game. I've replayed the campaign 3 times and I have spent a long portion of my in game time playing random maps and making every version of every Mech I could find. Pros: It's Battletech. The game feels like a digital version of the tabletop game. Highly customizable Mechs. There are a large selections of 'Mechs to choose from considering the year this game is set in. The upgrade quality of your home base is pretty vast and adds an element of large scale Mech Commander feel to the game. The graphics are decent. The game play is turn based like the original tabletop Battletech. Gameplay and strategy are instinctive and easy to pick up. Cons: Tech is severely limited by the year/setting this game is placed in. Lostech is rare, and Clantech is nonexistant. Mechs are limited to relics of a bygone era for anyone familiar with Battletech. AI is not very difficult if you have even a small amount of strategical ability. At times the AI make impossible shots. ( All 20 missles hitting on an LRM 20 from behind a mountain and they get a head shot and you're dead when missles spread out over a target and are not designed to hit the same location.) Time in game is meaningless yet is measured. Storyline takes place in 3025 and if you play the game with in game time passing for 25 years you should experience the clan invasion per Battletech Lore, yet this game is not programed to deal with this. This game needs more additions (i.e. more 'Mechs, new missions, more and better story-line elements.) to be great. Hopefully it will keep getting updates that are not too expensive.

It would be an enjoyable game if I could play it for more than 30 minutes without a crash in the middle of a mission.

Beat the game vanilla, added over 2 dozen mods, and replayed it, then did the career mode both with and without save editor, then I tried a full conversion mod to make the game more comprehensive and interesting. Played this garbage game for over 1300hrs; does that communicate how DESPERATE I was to try and squeeze blood from this stone? Does this illustrate for anyone who reads this HOW BAD I wanted a good Battletech/Mechwarrior strategy game??? 1) Basic as hell combat, even by standards of the XCOM console reboot. 2) Boring, garbage music, had me literally turn music off for how bad and outright IRRITATING it was to SUFFER through; IT SUCKS! 3) flat, lifeless, cartoon levels of dialogue and voice lines; it literally sounds like children both wrote and voiced the game, with a teenager nerd whos read the books craming lore bits into it to make it seem "deep". 4) Piss basic story; could literally pass for a Team Rocket villian, and dirt simple revenge plotline. 5) Disgusting presentation; literally done with slideshows, dead-eyed static 3D models that never change their stance, and bland backgrounds with nothing going on in them. Imagine boring settings with cardboard cut-outs on popsickle sticks telling a story with nothing worth paying attention to on screen.