MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries - Call to Arms

I almost wish this wasn't as good as it is: if MW5 went out on a sour note, at least we could tell ourselves "good riddance" and not worry about what might have been... As it stands, however, Call to Arms is a solid (if sad) conclusion to MW5 DLCs. You get the Hatchetman, a new skin, melee weapons and lots of new 'mech variants to use them, upgradeable fists for regular (non-melee weapon) 'mechs, a slightly re-worked map screen, a completely re-worked contract screen, a 5-mission campaign/contract and I think (someone back me up on this) new sounds for the dropship when it takes off after dropping you in the field. This last detail is what really gets me. Nobody asked for it, but someone at Piranha felt it would be a nice touch, anyway. In my opinion, these guys cared more for Battletech than HBS did -- and HBS was run by the guy who came up with Battletech in the first place. The only shortcoming in the DLC is the continuing lack of customization. If you fancy a sword, you have to first find a variant that has room for it. And there are plenty of variants, but I'd have much preferred to be able to alter my favorite instead of having to pick a new one. So, yeah, if you liked the base game but wished your Atlas could come with a 90-damage, double-sided axe -- Call to Arms is for you. Just keep on your toes when you play: the AI will now be using the same melee toys that are at your disposal. "That Commando punched my arm off" is something I never thought I'd say out loud...

I dont need add to the other Reviews - Melee is quite a nice change of pace and can help you out of a tight situations. Though it can not be understated how much the many Mods add to the game: Merctech (makes it as much a harcore sim as you want it to be) Piratetech (all sorts of underdog/exotic Mechs and Weapons) Hellfire and Brimstone (Weapons effects like Missile Trails etc.) TTrulezAI (Improved AI with different acting Roles) Coyotes Missiones (a whole variety of new missiontypes) vonBiomes (new and improved biomes/visuals) Pilot Overhaul (manage your Pilots each getting experince and quirks fit for different Mechs/Roles) There are many more that even add Clantech or Soundeffects the game. Google for it and you will find it so do not miss out on them - they greatly enhance your gaming experience and make it even more worth a buy!

This update greatly fleshes out the melee combat, making it feel like less of a gimmick and more of an actual playstyle. Melee doesn't just accentuate the gunplay anymore; However, you need a mech variant specifically designed for it in order to get the most out of the system. I found that those don't show up in the story mode until the Hatchetman quest drops (naturally), and by then the mech in question is largely irrelevant unless you're ranking up really slowly, so if you want to run a campaign with lots of melee-oriented mechs in all ranks you're better off using a career mode that starts at a later date instead of story mode. The Hatchetman's 5-mission quest is OK; It's not a mini Kestrel Lancers campaign, it's not even really a HOTS side-mission since there's no one talking except Ryana. If you're doing the story mode, the level your company'll be at by the time the mission drops means you'll probably steamroll the entire thing. The three (more like two and one-half) new biomes look good; Scrapyard and Hoodoo desert look visually distinct and the music tracks for both are solid. Rubellite is just Tourmaline with some red rocks in it, but it's not visually offensive. The final 'action' soundtrack, Spearhead, sounds half-finished, complementing the Rubellite biome in a bizarre way despite not playing there. The Stormsurge skin looks nice but the color combinations for it are somewhat limited since you can't change the blue hue of the animation in question. The free updates are welcome, you don't have to mod in overtonnage drops now and your mech getting surpise headshotted isn't the end of the mission. The visual updates to menus are nice and it's easier to read where you stand with factions. On top of all that, the dev team went out of their way to redo two out of three of the Kestrel Lancers cutscenes, IMO greatly improving them. TL;DR - price point feels appropriate, if you don't like the base game this won't change your mind.