This game scratches the Battletech itch if you're a fan of the franchise, but I have a hard time recommending it as a great game. I really wish Steam had a neutral rating option, since while the game isn't bad it's also not very good.

The biggest flaw that I see in this game is that it strips away most of the complexity of the Battletech board game. All of the battles here play out more or less the same way - your squad of 4 mechs drops into the mission area, plods blindly across the terrain until you find the enemy, and then you sit there for 5 minutes watching as vastly larger enemy forces converge on your location and pepper you with long range missile fire. Once the endless enemy movement phase actually comes to an end, you get to move your now-damaged mechs around for about 15 seconds before the cycle repeats itself for another turn.

The ratio of "actually playing" to "waiting for your chance to act again" is totally off, and indeed the pacing of the fights as a whole just feels wrong. Assuming this game holds to the normal Battletech structure of each turn equating to 6 seconds of real time, it's not uncommon in missions for the enemy forces to somehow manage to load up reinforcements into a dropship, fly to the mission area and drop those reinforcements (often right on top you) in about 18 seconds from the time you first arrived. I can understand that the developers maybe did this to keep the battles challenging and give a sense of urgency, but taking a big step back to look at it finds the sense of immersion being totally destroyed.

For a tactical game, there are very few tactical options. Beyond the normal cover and terrain (protip: hide in the trees, always) there isn't much to look at here. Being limited to 4 Battlemechs ultimately translates to every fight seeing you drop down the heaviest tonnage you can muster and get into a slugfest with whatever's waiting for you. While traditional Battletech matches give players a total tonnage allotment to fill (allowing you to choose between small numbers of heavy Mechs or a larger force of lighter units), this game holds you to 4 units regardless of their capabilities. The result is that the advantages of light Mechs as scouts and flankers is underutilized since you really need maximum firepower and armor when every single mission has you outnumbered. Using one of your limited Mech slots on a light unit feels like a waste - why bring 20 tons when you can bring 80 tons instead for no additional cost?

There's no ability for advance recon of the mission area. There's no option for artillery support or air support. The enemies occasionally field tanks and vehicles but you don't get anything like that. Battletech as a board game really shines when all of the combined arms come together; Battlemechs supported by armor and infantry, Aerotech fighters duking it out overhead, dropships providing aerial bombardment, etc etc. Some of the missions here are scripted to use some of these things against you, but again all you get is 4 Mechs and zero time or opportunity to make a better plan than "walk forward, hide in the trees and shoot everything harder than they shoot you". The maps are generally too small to even attempt flanking maneuvers, and often have time-limited objectives that punish you if you take any route other than a straight line from the drop zone (which you also don't get to choose).

On the positive side it's fun upgrading your ship and slowly unlocking access to more capabilities, and some of the roleplaying game side stories and interruptions that happen while transiting between planets can be interesting or amusing, but ultimately none of these things really do much to impact or alter the Mech battles that are at the core of the game. You can unlock a bigger "garage" to hold more Mechs in ready condition, but can't really use them so what's the point? You can build additional barracks for extra Mechwarriors, but they only come into play when your primary pilots get injured and you don't feel like idling a few days while they heal.

Mods exist which supposedly fix a lot of the game's shortcomings and add more depth to your battlefield options, but this review is for the game in the state it will be when you buy it. Be wary of reviews which say "this game is great if you get all the mods", because that's not a great game is it? It's a great mod.

need to get a paradox account to open multiplayer
multiplayer opened
need to download mods to get multiplayer working
no steam workshop
wtf

I got this game a while back, i think in a humble bundle and played it a little and enjoyed it but got bored. Normally hate turn based games. I think they are boring and they dont hold my attention real well, i couldnt do Baulders Gate 3 even though it is fantastic and played that series for almost as long. But Ive been playing MechWarrior for almost 20 years. God i am getting old, which has probably earned me a little bit more patience (cough cough). And have been wanting to pickup a table top hobby and decided Battletech was the one, nice low barrier for entry and there's enough going on to keep me interested in the tactics and messing around with mech builds.
Now, im a little ♥♥♥♥♥ for it...
Maybe its nostalgia, maybe its Maybelline. Either way, i really have been getting into this game more recently and putting some serious hours in.

Sadly im one of those people, if i really like a game i dont have a whole lot to say about it. But i will try.

The graphics are decent
Audio is good
I havnt found any bugs
You can make some really broken mech builds, which is really satisfying.
This game just reinforces my hobby seeking enigma
It seems to follow most of the table top rules with some exceptions
The King Crab is the defacto mech of pain and tyranny
I ask for two Marauder twos and be delivered four Marauders

I suppose i should complain about something.
Uh, it can be a little slow during turns and when you enable fast play it can be difficult sometimes to keep track of the board. The consequence of impatience.

DLC is a little pricey.

There is a lunar map where you have to intercept a convoy, even my fastest mechs can have some real difficulty getting to them before they extract and i really dislike the map layout.

The lore is incredibly boring, just a big ol' history lesson. However they do juice it up with some really good writing and very human reasons for war. Like being embarrassed at a wedding that's meant to unite your empires. I actually like how grounded the universe is, it never goes into star wars territory. No magic, no aliens, no over the top tech, no Immaterium, no ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.

Tbh, for me not to find something to really complain about is unique.
Overall i recommend this one if your into turn based games and want to get some interesting tactics going. If your wanting to get into the franchise this is definitely not a bad place to start.