I enjoy this game for the ability to use the campaign feature to test out various combinations. The AI is not the best, but I find the first 12 turns always a bit nail biting. If you go at an even resource rate with the others, it will be a long, somewhat challenging, game!
I was looking for a Battletech experience that gave me the feel of the original game without the time consuming play and this game delivered that for me. Not being a player-versus-player kind of guy, I needed a single player game that challenged me without penalizing me for being old, slow, or not so quick on figuring things out! I have played the campaign game twice through and am on my third go around. The combat is fast enough for me (although there are ways to speed it up) and I have learned some of the difference between the easy mode and the normal mode. Once I feel my oats I might try even more difficult levels! For me, however, it was discovering how Battletech was designed to deliver a connected tale of battles, without needing to resort to a mass combat action, that would allow four warriors of combat machines to grow as characters and impact world actions! I certainly did not feel the game story was derivative, it had plenty of surprises and lots of different challenges! It showed how there was more to the game than just blowing the enemy mechs up! This gave you a chance to escort, carry a key figure, take out an enemy commander, and blow up defended buildings and then escape before the enemy came and overwhelmed you. Additionally you got to deal with incomplete information and enemy ambushes! And all those were just the stock battles! Of course you also get to redesign the Mechs to taste - and live or die with the result. Do you cut down on endurance to add armor? Do you remove weapons for speed and melee advantages? Which weapons can I put on this Mech design and which ones should I put on? Even the question as to use Jump Jets or no - and at what cost. In short, I love the game design, gameplay, and story line!
