MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries

 PC
User Score
8.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 45 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 39 out of 45
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 45
  3. Negative: 2 out of 45
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  1. OldTimer
    Jan 9, 2003
    5
    Save your money and get Mechwarrior 2. The heat load from the energy weapons is extreamly high. One large pulse laser is all it takes to over heat a mech. The store interface doesn't alow you to preview new mech load outs or choice which one of multiple mech you want to sell. Plan on selling off your fully equipted mech when you want to get rid of the new stripped one.
  2. JE
    Apr 2, 2008
    10
    Not going to lie, it's straight to the point and i like the kind of non-linear game play. It gives you options and the gladiator levels are the cats pajamas. It's really simple sure, and there are some flaws, but the amount of choices they let you make are awesome, and the fact that you have to earn money and stuff to spend on weapons...i just wish the black market didn'tNot going to lie, it's straight to the point and i like the kind of non-linear game play. It gives you options and the gladiator levels are the cats pajamas. It's really simple sure, and there are some flaws, but the amount of choices they let you make are awesome, and the fact that you have to earn money and stuff to spend on weapons...i just wish the black market didn't run out of stock...… Expand
  3. KevinC.
    May 10, 2006
    10
    A 7 stock, but Mektek's MechPacks make it a 10 If all you've played is the Out Of Box game, you aint seen nothin yet!
  4. Alex
    Feb 25, 2005
    9
    Quite possibly the second greatest Mech game of all time. second, that is, only to the great Lone Wolf. MechLab interface is as beautiful as ever (i hated the MechLabs from MW3 down), and there are tons of different ways to customize each aspect of the game. gameplay can get a little slow at times, but the overall pace of the game more than makes up for the slow parts. soundtrack is simplyQuite possibly the second greatest Mech game of all time. second, that is, only to the great Lone Wolf. MechLab interface is as beautiful as ever (i hated the MechLabs from MW3 down), and there are tons of different ways to customize each aspect of the game. gameplay can get a little slow at times, but the overall pace of the game more than makes up for the slow parts. soundtrack is simply beautiful, and the Solaris VII tournaments are just fun. the Mech paks are also a nice add-on for the game. buy it if you haven't yet.… Expand
  5. MechwarriorMercenary
    Dec 25, 2002
    9
    It's a very good game im on dial up and its great online!!!!! i love it a little diffrent then the others but manages to stay a great game get it if u like the series get it if u like action games 1 problem is though price of 50$ i think it should have been 35$ or 40$ GREAT GAME get it soon and ill look forward to whhoppin ur A$$
  6. Hellgardia
    Sep 5, 2010
    10
    It's a hell of a game to play online and it's free nowadays! Mechlab with tons of mechs and weapon systems, good online and a challenging campaign when you play in the Elite difficulty.
  7. iddqd4
    Jan 27, 2018
    9
    このテキストは私のプロフィールにスコアが表示されるようにここにあります。
  8. Chralex
    Jan 11, 2018
    9
    I've just recently revisited this old gem, it was good part of my childhood which is why I took some time in my holidays to play it again, and there was still more to discover, since as I kid I didn't realize there was such a thing as branching missions and I didn't read any of the in-game news articles that could give me clues as to what the different progression paths were. Somehow evenI've just recently revisited this old gem, it was good part of my childhood which is why I took some time in my holidays to play it again, and there was still more to discover, since as I kid I didn't realize there was such a thing as branching missions and I didn't read any of the in-game news articles that could give me clues as to what the different progression paths were. Somehow even though I replayed it multiple times it seems like I took the same path every time. Now I do actually feel in touch with the story and reading every single news article in the game. Depending on what starting sponsor you choose the messages / news articles that you get will point you in different directions.

    Furthermore, I'm not sure whether the reason that I took a different progression path this time is because i've changed as a person or if it was just because I actually read the damn text, a mixture of both I suppose.

    I think a review in the year 2018, over 1½ decade after it's release, serves as a testament to the quality, especially immersion of this game. At all times you feel like you're truly a leader of a mercenary company, for me a lot of that can be attributed to the fully voiced missions, briefings and debriefings and the choices you have to make throughout. The wide variety of mech-types and the ability to comprehensively customize them, most of the characters that are voiced in the missions also sounds like they're really into their role. Unfortunately the vast majority of your crew only has two recorded voice lines, namely their death line and their reporting for duty line, but even those has a lot of character attached to them.

    A big plus is also that the ambient music and sounds in the game are amazing, when you're not deployed in a mission it feels like you're in the midst of a command centre and listening to previously recorded mission audio logs, it can get repetitive though if you are having a hard time completing the game. When you are deployed in a mission the the mech speaks to you in an appropriately computer sounding voice about systems status (weapons, temperature, damage control and so on), and the weapons sounds authentic.

    Something that I've come to realize when I played a newer installment of the BattleTech franchise which is MechWarrior™: Online©, is that I didn't enjoy the controls as much, for me it feels much more immersive using the control-scheme that is in the game by default, which is using the keypad to control the locomotion and firing angle of the mech you're driving. when I use the mouse it just doesn't feel like I'm controlling a machine of some kind.

    The large variety of weapons and combat styles makes the combat experience in the game very satisfactory. and you've got great influence over how challenging you want the combat to be. Feels good when you land that perfect hit and then seeing your enemy's mech explode with blue light like you've destabilized a fusion reactor.

    Story-wise the game seems like it has two moralities or two ways of life, that it is putting head to head against each other, on one hand honor and morality with feudal duty, and on the other hand opportunism and greed, depending on what type of person you are and exactly what progression path you took you will see which one you thought the game was best at selling to you, I think no matter what you do you will find that in the end your choices are meaningless in the context of the grand scale of existence. All the storylines ends with a cliffhanger, but a successor to this game is actually being released this year, I found that out when trying to fix this game to run on Windows 10. Perhaps the successor game will pick-up where this game decided to end it's story.

    As a final note I want to point out that for some reason every game that has got a mix of metal (or hard rock if you prefer) and electronic in their soundtrack somehow just sticks with me, does anyone feel me there? Anyway, the soundtrack of this game is not one of the game soundtracks that I've put on my playlist, but it does fit the game quite well.

    Verdict: 9/10 - A good childhood memory worth coming back to.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

32
#32 Best PC Game of 2002
64
#64 Most Discussed PC Game of 2002

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 19 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 19
  3. Negative: 0 out of 19
  1. Yahoo!
    70
    You can make it through the game in one day of heavy play... That said, while it lasts, MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries is both compelling and absorbing.
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  2. GameSpot
    78
    With such a popular franchise, you won't have much trouble finding a [multiplayer] game to join, and even practicing against the AI while you hone your skills is enjoyable.
    Read full review
  3. Computer Gaming World
    90
    One of the most satisfying games of 2002. [Feb 2003, p.86]
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