MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries - Rise of Rasalhague

TL;DR - It's OK, the price seems appropriate, but I think it could've spent another month getting polished because there are more than a few rough edges. I enjoyed the questline, but you don't get the feel of being glued to a great house military as much as Kestrel Lancers did; I don't think you ever get more than two mechs and a few vehicle's worth of support, and you spend a significant amount of the questline with just your lance. Some missions stood out, some were mediocre. What issues I had with it seemed to more because of the nature of the late game blending together into different flavors of assault mech slugfest, and that you reach the 400 ton limit halfway through the questline so there's not much lance variation. So far I've only got one version of the Crusader, the CRD-3R, which feels like a slightly lighter Archer, but I also like the design a bit more than the archer so w/e. I'm not sure why I'm only encountering that variant specifically but maybe the others will add something more unique. The merc rival system is interesting, but after encountering three companies they don't seem to have individual personalities. The random battles add a bit of flavor to the missions, I guess. The way vanilla reputation gain works feels like you're being punished for collecting your merc badges. The new gamemode is fun and might be the only reason to keep a lance of light/medium mechs on hand in late game. The pay bonuses from being sneaky aren't a whole lot, though. It actually feels unique despite that. The soundtrack "Empire of the tyrants" is good, "Dethroned" is OK; "Master of War" made me want to mute my game it's so bad. I'm serious. The first two minutes and twelve seconds are the worst music in the entire game. There are other rough spots, like your lance AI getting stuck on specific terrain pieces and operator pictures of dudes sounding like girls. I had to restart once b/c a tank went under the map. Nothing gamebreaking.

I want to preface this by stating I like MW5 and am happy with the other DLC's. This one seems very undercooked. I can tell they had good intentions of fixing some problems with the base game but didn't pull it off. Like having a use for light mechs late game. The new infiltration missions are way too risky, putting all your light mechs far into enemy territory surrounded by enemies, for a long period of time for very little pay out. When I can make millions on a quick raid mission in under 5 minutes. I understand they wanted to make more varied, interesting missions but there is absolutely no reason to take this mission type, so I avoid it just like beachhead missions. I am level 7 into a new game and still haven't run into other mercs. The reputation system is still broken so you are quickly chased out of lower level areas so You'll only be interacting with late game merc companies. New mechs and new missions are always nice, still haven't seen them in game yet tho. No new terrains. It's not a bad DLC, its just completely unnecessary unless they fix the design mechanics.

I haven't had the pleasure of trying out all aspects of this DLC, but so far, I feel I'm being punished for buying it. The infiltration missions stand out as some of the worst, as it's impossible to "sneak" with even a 20t mech. And it is extremely time consuming having to watch your step all the time. Problem is, your mission targets are at the very location guarded by at least one mech that WILL detect you - most of the time. Leaving your AI lancemates, so they don't wreck every area you're trying to stay hidden in, does not work either. I mean, they do not "follow". They walk in front, or directly beside you most of the time, crushing anything underfoot! (BTW: The AI lancemates seem to be invisble to the enemy until combat) Only option is to close in on in a suitable spot until your're detected, then commit to combat. This does not work well with a 20t mech. At all. Especially considering the 'mechs waiting to pounce on you. Also, when detected, all relevant guns are already pointed at you. So the first shot is theirs, if there's more than a single enemy watching. For the most part, there is. I have done many, many, restarts of the missions to try finding the right approach. Mostly I load a game from before taking on the mission and take another path all together. I've spent hours on a single map only to end up failing. HOURS! And by that time, I am not very happy. No reward is worth this kind of work. And work it is. Truly. As for new maps. Having the entire entourage getting stuck at certain places doesn't bother me too much, for I usually manage just fine on my own anyway. Still, it's an annoyance factor.

Mechwarrior is more alive than ever with the content the latest patch additionally adds to the DLCs. Not only playing the Rasalhague Storyline but also meeting famous and nefarious Mercs and Units on the battlefield in ever better combat. Cu-Op is a great way to enjoy the game with friends - its Crossplattform and only the Host needs the DLCs to have all on the Co-Op Group enjoy them as long they play together. The Mod scene is thriving and adds all sort of content and flavor to the game like Biomes, Pilot Traits, Mechs, Weapons, Missions, Graphics, Sound, alternative Pilot AI amnd even the Clans. This game has not so much value and reaplyability it is absolutely worth the buy! And another fully fledged Mechwarrior game is currently in the making according to insider sources - announcement pending. Mechwarrior is better and more alive than ever!