Easily one of my favourite games ever that I'm glad to see legitimately returning to PC. HOWEVER; be aware that this (like the MGS1 GOG port) is a bare bones reissue of the old PC port with compatibility fixes and nothing more. There are LOTS of issues and downgrades to visuals that remain unresolved here. If you have the option, play the HD collection on X360.
MGS should require no introduction, so let's get this out of the way; it's a classic, it's a massive part of gaming history, I'm overjoyed that it's legitimately available on PC again. Play it. With that said, just so you know what you're getting into; this is a very basic re-issue of the original PC port from the early 2000's. Graphics options are extremely basic and I still get a black bar glitch from the old port at the bottom of the screen (fixable but that really should have been sorted out here). It works and that's something as the original PC version is a) difficult to fix for Win 10 and b) increasingly rare 2nd hand. Regardless, it's a shame Konami gave such cheap treatment to one of the all time greats.
As a longtime Battletech/Mechwarrior fan, subjectively speaking I adore this game. The marriage between turn based strategy and business management forms an appealing gameplay loop as you continually better your tactics, equipment and pilots. It's not hugely original but it works. Visuals aren't exactly AAA, but the mechs look, sound and feel the part, exuding all the heft and power you'd hope a walking death machine would. Honestly, the time just flies by while I'm playing. That is when things work as intended, which is where my disclaimer comes in. Why four stars instead of five? Sadly, there are few caveats to the praise which new buyers should be aware of. One of these points has been resolved the rest are ongoing problems that while relatively minor do detract: - The glitches and performance: On launch the game was VERY buggy and even a year on I still had gameplay freezes, bizarre framerate issues and hard crashes. Thankfully this area of the game has been vastly improved in recent months. I haven't had a serious problem in a while, so fingers crossed things should be stable now. - Loading times: This may vary from user to user, but for me at least this are unusually long. It’s not so much a problem initially, but as time goes on, they really begin to make the pace of the game drag. I would find myself getting up to do something else while waiting for the game to load a mech drop. - The DLC model: While I’m pleased the game has been getting these addons, they are extremely overpriced for what you get (e.g. a few mechs, a new terrain type and some basic addon missions called flashpoints). Don’t follow my example and buy them full price, wait for a 50% off sale at the very least to get your money’s worth. All in all, this an enjoyable but flawed game, that should hold a particularly strong appeal to Battletech veterans. It’s a rough diamond, but short of firing up Mechcommander 2 it’s the best bet for fans of the setting right now.
