MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries

The biggest issue with MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries is that it hits you with all of its shortcomings at once. Keep playing, though, and the game establishes itself as a fun title that's worthy of the MechWarrior moniker. Play it with friends, and it becomes even more entertaining. Dated aspects of its presentation aside, the combat remains fun mission after mission, and it continues to test you as you become more powerful. Start blowing apart enemy mechs with a small array of PPC cannons and make a few big pay days, and you'll appreciate the game for what it is.

Mechwarrior 5 is for the detail-oriented mech fans who are willing to sacrifice immediate excitement and gratification for a more grounded simulation of what it would be like to pilot a massive mechanical monster. The career mode provided with this new expansion might please those who are craving more action from the base game, but there’s no new story to be had or any major gameplay additions to hook in anyone else. For the weighty price tag – Heroes of the Inner Sphere is only worth a purchase for those truly addicted to this more thoughtfully paced mecha-mercenary-em-up.

Well, the two decades of waiting were worth it. We’ve been given a true successor, a new king, even though the AI is still a bit wonky.

Aside from these concerns, Mechwarrior 5 is admirable in its effort to revive a spirit left dormant for the better part of twenty years. With some time and patience, players will find a substantial and potentially endless mecha game to sink their teeth into.

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries tries to be inclusive, but unfortunately makes the mainstream issues with the genre all the more apparent without doing anything truly new or exciting to really draw the player in.

As a huge fan of the previous games, the tabletop and above all the books, I couldn't wait to finally get back into the virtual cockpit of a battle mech to scrap other combat robots. In many ways, the new Mechwarrior is a dream that has come true. After the first euphoria about the many 'Mechs, the cool missions and the nice look compared to the ancient predecessor has abated, it is noticeable that the MW5 gameplay has a few weak points that it is not easy to overlook.

Mercenaries 5 needed six more months of testing and refinement before seeing the light of day. The game’s mech combat is great for enthusiasts of the genre, but the lack of polish may leave newcomers cold. I recommend it for hardcore fans, but casual players may want to wait for the bugs to be ironed out.

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries offers a lot of content, but not all of it is interesting, accessible or fun and much feels like its in need of some streamlining in the cause of playability. There are moments of intense and impressive action to be found, but they are bundled with obtuse mechanics and bland storytelling. Playing Mercenaries can feel both like a chore and slow-mo thrill ride.

Like your Grandpa’s rusty old Blackjack, Mechwarrior 5 is a great machine that could use a lot of polish.

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries is an authentic experience consistent with the franchise, but is more reminiscent of times past than an innovation.

The core of the game is solid, and the financial dread of being a badass is something rarely explored in video games. I recommend playing MechWarrior 5 in co-op with a friend, as I found coordinating builds and strategies with someone really added a layer of fun and replayability to the contracts.

While I am glad to see MechWarrior make a return; its just not the one I’ve been waiting for. While the latest expansion Legend of the Kestrel Lancers adds new mechs, biomes and a linear story missions its still more of the same, so if one doesn’t like the base game…. Then the expansion isn’t going to do much to change that.

Quotation forthcoming.

The hardcore fanbase will appreciate MechWarrior 5 at its core as it feels like a game that wishes it had today’s hardware technology 30 years ago. The combat can be good, but becomes bland and redundant over time. Fan will also appreciate the story lore and how it progresses along with the strategy elements. Unfortunately, though, it feels like a game that could have used more time but had already been delayed. There are spots where it shines and most of this is experienced early on. But the more time spent with the game and learning how to do things just to progress becomes dull and ultimately you feel left behind as the game clock starts to pull away.

Playing MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, I couldn’t help but feel like it’s an old game given a fresh lick of paint. There’s just something about it that is firmly rooted in the past. Not that that’s a bad thing per se, but it lacks a certain something to make a must-play title in 2019.

Despite its quirks, longtime fans of MechWarrior will find a lot to love in MechWarrior 5, but those tutorials make it clear that PGI wants more than just old fans to return to the fold—it wants new fans to experience the singular joy of piloting a multi-ton death machine, of using lasers, cannons, and missiles to level a city block and to render your enemies unto dust.

Though a fun concept and quite enjoyable in the opening hours, MechWarrior 5 suffers from really repetitive gameplay, sharp difficulty spikes without warning, and bad writing.

If you are a MechWarrior fanatic, MechWarrior 5 will probably give you hours of enjoyment. If not, I’d wait until some of the problems above are addressed before making a purchase.