Please note:
3rd party Paradox account is needed to challenge other players in 1v1 multiplayer matches and to redeem unlock codes for Kickstarter Backer or Pre-Order DLC. Bonus decorations and emblems require online connection in order to be appliable.
There are some terrible levels that you obviously never tested out. Served Cold is ridiculously overpowered, even on the most simple settings. The game beccomes unplayable. Not worth the money.
This game seems insanely difficult. Setting up a single 'Mech against 5 opponents in the very first mission is a bit much. I've had my 'Mech destroyed 6 times now, sometimes by 'something' firing missiles at it, sometimes by a tiny 'Mech doing a DFA attack on it, and most often by the much better equipped enemy medium 'Mech.
About the AI, sometimes for no reason at all the enemy decides to disengage, and runs off in some seemingly random direction. Maybe I'm supposed to 'use' this 'feature' to attack them from behind or something, but it seems very unrealistic that a better outfitted, more healthy opponent would just walk away exposing his back (not that my paltry laser would ever get through its armor anyway).
All-in-all I am very sad that I jumped to buy this game, because, well, BattleTech. But it has been more frustrating than anything else. Also, during the 'videos' the GPU ramps up to 98% (a GeForce 1080 gti, no less), and while battling it runs at about 78%, which is a lot more than a lot of better looking games load it at...
I left a long review near release, but it was deleted.
I was a backer and wish I didnt. Between the backer rewards (quite insignificant rewards) requiring you to sign in the a Paradox account, which they didnt tell us about until after release, to the terrible optimization burning out GPUs, it is a mess. I understand turn based, but you will sit there for 80% of the time if not more, watching and just waiting. There are still bugs like the game hanging in between turns, crashes, and little annoyances like it focusing on the wrong mech during a turn.
I have been a fan since 1995 when I first played MW2 and I was really looking forward to this. Unfortunately my inner fanboy is not enough to make me look passed the bugs and horrid optimization. Then factor in how grossly overpriced it is.
If you really want it, wait for a significant sale. If you want an idea how overpriced, just look at what you get in the DLC for the price. I hope they can readjust for a sequel, or find a different dev to make it.
Unfortunately they to be censoring negative reviews, so make sure to check different sources before you make a decision.
As of writing this review, Battletech is not playable beyond the tutorial mission for a lot of players, self included. The game seizes upon the shuttle cutscene and will progress no further.
I cannot recall the number of times that my 80%+ hit chance missed my target...probably about 80% of the time. RNG in this game seems extremely skewed to be a detriment to the player but always in the favor of the AI. Plus, there are huge issues with head hits on your 'Mechs from LRM/SRMs and the devs are currently ignoring that their programing is wrong. Their official reply on the Paradox forums is that if the first missile misses your head, then all other missiles will NOT make a head shot - but either that first missile is extremely lucky most of the times or the rule is not being followed by the program. Missile head hits happen often - so much that in one match I had a pilot sustain three injuries from LRM head hits by the fourth round. And these were from LRM turrets.
Aside from the RNG, this game is somehow a resource hog. Stuttering happens constantly during actions like when my ‘Mech lands a crippling hit on an enemy on my GeForce 1060, yet the graphics are 2010 era at best. Loading a map can take upwards to 3+ minutes for no good reason. The maps look nice, but they are just rendering textures and trees. This become old quickly when you want to reload a save point because your pilot was killed by a head shot in cover with 3+ evasion ticks, and it takes so long to load!
This game could be fun but the missing features (no minimap?), laggy performance, and RNG just makes it more frustrating overall. For now, I would advise not purchasing this game until they release a patch to fix these issues.