MechWarrior has been around for quite some time and stands out as a unique franchise that keeps on surviving the hands of time. It’s all about these robust machine-type walkers that can be customized to do all sorts of things, but the most important thing to focus on is the survivability of this mechanized walker and its performance on the battlefield. Let’s see where MechWarrior 5 will takes us to now…
The game is all about this big world where you run a group of mercenary mech pilots and confronting your enemy for some revenge. Of course, seeking this revenge doesn’t always go as plan. These mech walkers are powerful and are put to good use to get to the cause. However, you’ll quickly find out that these mechanical units aren’t as godlike as you might think. You’ll find out that all of the parts of your BattleTech walkers aren’t abundant and you’ll be forced to make some difficult choices on how to progress. You might have to use a whole different loadout, just because of the fact that you can’t find replacement parts that’ll make your BattleTech function correctly. It’s even possible to sell the whole thing because your mechanical warrior becomes too expensive for you to repair. Choosing between a total new mech unit or replacing the older parts, hasn’t been so difficult to this point. The game forces you to battle it out on a certain mission, ruin your mech in combat and find replacement parts in an industrial world. After that, the loop restarts.
“The game really puts you into the body of a mech pilot and you experience it all in the First-Person view.”
One thing for sure, the developers made the game very immersive. Launching from your Leopard Dropship has never felt more exciting than before. The game really puts you into the body of a mech pilot and you experience it all in the First-Person view. Launching yourself with three other AI pilots ( or friends) into the fray, truly felt like the beginning of a futuristic war. Your pilot punches the boot-up sequence and the game does the rest, checking your mech status before the door in front of you cracks open and pushes you out. The AI voices and environmental sounds are superb.
The dropships drop you into the heat of battle and procedurally generated worlds filled with objectives. The places where you take on the campaign missions show different varieties and objectives. The other world is plainer which makes you an easy target, while other worlds are filled with narrow canyons that can easily be used as hiding spots. The mission objectives also vary, and it goes from linear trafficking from point A to B or a more interesting open-ended mission. There’s something here for everyone.
“Throttle and orientation control are important mechanics to bring out the best of your mech.”
The combat simulation of MechWarrior 5 really does the trick. It’s all about traversing your mech all around the battlefield while using the geographical advantages of the map. Taking your environment into account, anticipating where the enemy is holding up, and positioning yourself towards the enemy, so that your strong armor from one side can defend you from most of the enemy’s attack is key to surviving. Throttle and orientation control are important mechanics to bring out the best of your mech.
Another great thing about MechWarrior 5, is the feeling of impact you have on your enemies and environment. You can plow your way through a row of parked cars, leave a trail of burning trees behind you,… and making the terrain fly into a thousand pieces is one of those best feelings when you’re inside the Mech. Your Mech truly interacts with the environment around you. As you battle your way through the enemies, a successful dodge can let your shoulder impact the building next to you and destroy the whole façade. Also, a row of parked cars slows down your mech as your plowing through. It’s these kinds of details that make the game immersive.
“Allies often destroyed my defensive structure before me, just because they wanted to “help out”….”
Then again, these mechanics or attention to detail come with a disadvantage as well. Your allies or enemies won’t always destroy key points on the terrain on purpose. It’s just because of their dumb movement or dumb miscalculated mistake that can influence the terrain so quickly. Allies often destroyed my defensive structure before me, just because they wanted to “help out”…. Enemies can also become stuck in the environment, so you’ll have to do a big sweep in order for you to progress the mission.
There are also lots of different missions to take part in. There are your standard campaign missions, mission bonus objectives ( to earn more rep during a mission), assassination ( killing a certain mech), defense missions ( wave-based), demolition ( destroying building), Raid ( destroying multiple buildings and go to extraction place) and warzone ( kill as many enemies as you can). All of these different missions offer something that the other mission lacks and they’re not entirely different when it comes to difficulty. It’s just about the way you handle things. Warzone missions are very fast-paced battles where you receive your targets and you need to handle them. You can do this while plowing your way through enemy forces or you can find fast ways to hit these targets as fast as you can. Assassinations are also more figured out… Find the target without alerting a lot of enemies or just go head-in. Whatever works. After each mission, you’ll have to go back to your Dropship without actually counting on the help of the Dropship. It’s more of a virtual way-out which killed the immersion a bit because these Dropships are very important to the lore.
“It’s a good thing that you can customize your Mech and experiment with different techs and Mech variants.”
Other things that are also missing, are melee fighter BattleTech Mechs. There’s just something amazing to see two BattleTech Mechs fighting it out. BattleTech, the popular turn-based mech game even had those and they were a blast to have them on your team. Yes, your Mech has a claw-and-shield arm but it’s mostly used for grabbing. I think they’ve could have got get more out of it. It’s a good thing that you can customize your Mech and experiment with different techs and Mech variants. Going for that rare Mech or Weapon on the campaign map is just a lot of fun.
Nevertheless, the game is full of action-packed scenes and some hectic moments. The only thing missing is some good writing and decent dialogues. This game just fails to capture the story elements behind all of these battles. All of the characters feel hollow and they aren’t even worth remembering. There’s definitely some voice acting but it seems that these professionals are also struggling with the shallow texts that have been given to them. The game is supposed to be about revenge and I’m just not feeling it. It’s laughable at its best.
Conclusion:
If you’re looking for a top-notch story-driven Mech type of game with lots of depth, I’ll have to be truly honest and send you the other way. A Mech type of game that truly focuses on story and in-depth customization options is the turn-based BattleTech game. However, you’re not here for this type of game, you’re interested in MechWarrior. Let’s talk about what the game does offer: Mechs with different customization options, hectic battles, different mission types, bugs, and a blunt story. Nevertheless, I did have fun with it and I would recommend the game if you just need something that puts your thinking button off!
