Battletech review – Metal Frustration

Publisher	Paradox Interactive
Platforms	PC, Mac, Linux
Price	$39.99
Size	25 GB
Latest Version	1.7

Battletech is a game that punishes you for mistakes but offers little reward for success.

Battletech is a return to the turn-based tabletop game that inspired the Mechwarrior series.

Gamers from the ’90’s will be familiar with the Mechwarrior series unique brand of realistic robot combat though no small number of these players are unaware of the table-top RPG that inspired it, Battletech. With the moderate success of the more tactics-oriented Mechwarrior Online, there’s no better time than now to re-introduce the world to this underappreciated franchise.

If you’ve played the original Front Mission games (not the action-shooter modern titles that have sullied the Front Mission name), then the gameplay in Battletech will be familiar to you. You’re the commander of squadron of mercenary Mechwarriors, the name for mech pilots in this universe, who must lead his team in completing missions for various clients.

Combat is turn-based and refreshingly complex thanks to the endless customizability of the Battlemechs under your command. Every aspect of your mechs can be edited and modified, and equipping a new chassis or leg part can drastically affect a Battlemech’s effectiveness in battle. For example, getting new legs may allow to carrier heaver loads, allowing for more ammunition or a more powerful weaponry at the cost of maneuverability. Laser weapons have no ammo limits and can be used as often as you want, but they cause your mech to heat up quickly and reckless use of laser weaponry can lead to overheating.

Managing mech damage is a key part of the campaign.

Heat. You have to always keep your Battlemechs’ temperatures in the back of your mind when performing an action. Using weapons and taking damage increases the temperature of your Battlemechs, and if you overheat you go into a forced cooldown that takes your mech out of combat for several turns. We soon learned that choosing an appropriate loadout and having multiple mechs on hand for different situations was vital to continued success. This isn’t a game that allows for you to be inflexible with your tactics; constructing a mech that’s useful in all situations will take a lot of saving up and tactical pragmatism over multiple missions, so be prepared to make changes often.

The environments in Battletech and varied and they’re not just aesthetic tileset changes either. The geographic conditions of each map plays a big role in battles, with forests and high ground bonuses that can be utilized to gain the upper hand in skirmishes. Certain environments allow you to play with a little more freedom. Ice planets, for example, are cold enough that you won’t overheat as often so you can use your weapons and jumpjets more often. Standing in water also cools down your mech, allowing you to use your heavy weaponry at will, though you do sacrifice cover when you do this.

You’ll want to make use of any advantage you can get because Battletech is unforgiving. You’re the member of a very lean outfit of mercenaries and money is understandably tight. Repairing your Battlemechs is an expensive and time-consuming endeavor, so you must be careful not to accept missions that are beyond your squad’s capabilities. This can be hard, though, as you don’t get much information about what you’ll be facing before you start a mission.

There’s little room for error – the loss of a Battlemech can mean the end of your campaign. Unfortunately, this also means a bad move or streak of bad luck can lead you to reloading an old save from multiple missions back. This takes a lot away from the fun; you’re too severely punished for mistakes, forcing you to take safer, less rewarding missions almost every time. For this reason, progress can feel slow and tedious.

Every piece of your Battlemechs can be modified or replaced.

It doesn’t help that there’s a lack of variety in missions. You either capture something, destroy something, or survive for so long. Thankfully, there’s enough variation in the maps and the unpredictability of the enemy forces adds some mystery to the in-game action.

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