Recent reviews by Watcher Rat

I wanted to like this game, I saw it in an Achievement Hunter Let's Play a month or two before it came out, and it looked like a fun, relaxing Tycoon-style title. Unfortunately, once I got the full release, it just sort of fell flat, and quickly, partially because of the lack of some major features that you expect in this type of game. It desperately needs a "sandbox" type of environment, where you can just start from the ground up without all the limitations and locked features. The story, as it is, is pretty dull and uninteresting, and it just couldn't grip me.

Admittedly, everything is subjective, but I just couldn't get to a point where I felt I was enjoying myself with this one, and set it down pretty quickly.

Plenty of good about this game, and a few rough patches - it's not perfect, and needs some patches to improve some buggy areas that are holding the game back a bit. However, the game is fun, engaging, and enjoyable through and through to fans of the BattleTech universe.

Let's get this out of the way first: it's NOT a MechWarrior title, so don't go in expecting MechWarrior 5, this is a turn-based strategy title that plays more like the tabletop game than any existing video game that has been released in the universe. As such, expect to have to learn a bit about the mechanics to figure out what works, and more importantly, what doesn't.

Pros:

• They did a good job of not making any weapon systems feel useless, with a few exceptions (Has ANYONE gotten Small Lasers to be truly useful yet?), and it's great. The first time you use Flamers the right way is an amazing moment.
  
• Good graphics (the mech designs are the same as those used in MechWarrior Online, so players of that will see familiar sights).
  
• Smooth play once you're in-game.
  
• Good music, pairs well with the gameplay.
  
• Lots of side missions to play along with the main story, and a VERY easy set of intro missions to get you into learning the game.
  
• Much more "BattleTech" feel than the MechWarrior games, meaning closer to the tabletop style experience.
  
• When played right, you can often get through battles with no repairs needed...provided you think far enough ahead.

Cons:

• The random nature of damage can be...aggravating. It feels like head shots happen WAY too much, which means a lot of your people getting sidelined from a lucky hit. Even when you do everything right, you might end up with a member of your crew down for the count. The game does give you a backup lancemate, which is good, but odds are they will start to lag behind your main crew, unless you're really taking the time to balance everyone out.
  
• Load times can be a bit annoying. We're not talking 10 minute loads or anything like that, but they are definitely not fast...and that adds up after a while. Once you get loaded though, you're good through the current map. I do notice the occasional hiccup though.
  
• There are some minor UI problems - nothing game ruining, but just annoying.
  
• The difficulty rating on missions can be very, VERY misleading. I've seen 2-star missions that were harder than 3.5-star, and so on.

Like I said, the game isn't perfect, but for lovers of turn-based strategy games, it's a ton of fun. If you're not very good at thinking ahead and pre-planning BEFORE a mission (checking climate and temperature, etc), you may find yourself in a nasty spot, especially if you've let your cbills get low enough to be in danger of running out by not having time to refit a mech properly, so be careful, and don't be afraid to reload a save if you have to. The biggest things to learn would be not to head into every story mission the moment they appear (do side missions, get salvaged mechs, upgrade your lance!), and also NOT to run straight toward objectives on the map every time. Spend some time scouting out the terrain, find the approach that will give you and your mechs the least vulnerable spot to create a firing line, and lure your enemies to you from there. Charging in may win a fight...but you may be rebuilding your mechs a lot after doing so. The key word is strategy, so taking your time before starting a fight will win you more battles in the long run.

One last tip for MWO players: don't ignore those LRMs...I wasn't a fan of them myself, but having a good LRM boat can make a WORLD of difference against mechs if you reserve to make sure they move first. You will get a TON of knockdowns if you hit them just right, and in many cases can get injury kills without destroying a mech just by pummeling them over and over. Keep the majority of your mechs direct fire, but LRMs can be a good equalizer against a heavier opponent for sure!

The game is a bit simplistic in terms of mechanics, but I really enjoyed playing it. Great music, and the achievements weren't bad to get at all. I really enjoyed it!

Well written, fun, but not particularly long. You can complete all of episode one in under 2 hours, which is a shame since now we have to wait for episode 2 ;)

Some of the graphics are a bit hit and miss (backgrounds, certain characters, and my god, those cold, dead eyes that don't look in the right direction), and the animations are stiff, but the voice acting is good, and the story is...well, what we've come to expect. All sunshine and rainbows. Yup.

Overall, I can recommend based on episode 1. The moment it ended, I wanted to play through again to fix things I had done, or try to improve everyone's lot in life at least a little. Apparently though, I made a ton of choices that no one else made. Not sure if that makes me a horrible person or not...

What to say about this game? Got it for Christmas, and it's already addictive as all hell. Great music, catchy gameplay, and you have a real sense of accomplishment as you begin to figure out the mechanics more and more. It's mod friendly, which means that there will be plenty of additional content after you complete the main game itself. Immediately bought it for my fiancee to play as well, and we've both been loving it.