Being made by the people who created this fictional universe to begin with, the game rings true to the source material even as it might sometimes deviate from it. It 'feels' more like Battletech than any of the Mechwarrior or even Mech Commander (which was very good) did. And not just Battletech, but 80's Battletech, which had a dose of Mad Max in there, where scrounging for parts and trying to make enough scratch to keep the lights on was as big a part of the game as giant robot battles. Combat wise, the battle system is essentially the board games with bigger numbers since you don't have to keep track of them with a pencil. The interface does an excellent job of information in a useful fashion, and while the graphics are dated they're functional and they capture the sense of mass you'd expect from a 50 ton war machine, even when said 50 ton war machine is flying through the air on it's jump jets. Elements traditionally missing from BT computer games, such as light 'Mechs having certain advantages and vehicles that aren't simple one-hit annoyances, are present, and while some treasured bits from the tabletop aren't here (artillery, etc) it's a richer tactical experience than I was honestly expecting. It's also refreshing to see battles where you sometimes have to make a choice between total victory and your bottom line. 'Mechs (and their parts) are expensive. Making a sacrifice play is truly that on this game, and managing the expenses, your pilots morale, etc. in between missions with a well-thought out set of mechanics and options will give you a regard for lost equipment and trained pilots that simply wasn't present on most other games in the franchise. There are some issues, a couple of days after launch, with crashes, long load times, etc. These haven't been enough to prevent the game from cutting well into my sleep and giving me that treasured 'one...more...turn/mission...' disease.
