MechWarrior Online

 PC
User Score
5.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 874 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 323 out of 874
  2. Mixed: 177 out of 874
  3. Negative: 374 out of 874

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  1. Kolimar
    Sep 21, 2013
    3
    Very disappointing. This game hold many promises, and failed to deliver them.
    First off, players were told by the developers that Community Warfare and an improved UI, which are two essential features for an online multiplayer game would come in first quarter 2013. Then they pushed it to Summer 2013. Then to launch. Now here we are, with still nothing but two gamemodes that are    Very disappointing. This game hold many promises, and failed to deliver them.
    First off, players were told by the developers that Community Warfare and an improved UI, which are two essential features for an online multiplayer game would come in first quarter 2013. Then they pushed it to Summer 2013. Then to launch. Now here we are, with still nothing but two gamemodes that are essentially the same, and a dozen of maps. There is literally NOTHING ELSE.
    Oh yes there is :
    - Third person view, which players did not want, but was implemented anyway.
    - Consumables which again players did not want, but were implemented anyway.
    - Hero mechs, which are basically improved variants of the standard 21 mechs of the game. They are just here to make players spend real money on it and gain an advantage with XP and money boost.
    - Poorly balanced weapons, and an atrocious hardpoint system that allows any absurd loadout that you can think of, and basically makes some mechs irrelevant (example the Stalker has similar hardpoints to the Awesome, but with more weight capacity.)

    To sum up, this game smells like straight amateurism, and should not be considered a triple A game by any means. Hell I would even have preferred a good indie game. But after all, what would you expect from the guys who made Duke Nukem Forever     … Expand
  2. Sabbath61
    Sep 21, 2013
    6
    Great potential, egregiously consummated. I'm not certain that the Devs are even concerned about the "big picture," rather financial interests in the short term.
  3. Reod
    Sep 20, 2013
    1
    As fan of mechwarrior and battletech fan since 90' id say its cash grab.Devs promise a lot and lie a lot dont keep their promises .Its just pure cash grab.
  4. BillAnderson
    Sep 20, 2013
    7
    Would like to see more to it and the grouping function is clunky, otherwise I like it. Have only been playing it since July, however. I like where it's going.
  5. armyof1
    Sep 20, 2013
    1
    Well what is there to say when a once promising game has been made successively worse by devs insisting on adding features that huge majority of the players that care enough to share their opinion don't care for? I started playing back in Jan 2013 and back then this game showed a lot of promise, despite being quite limited in gameplay and had problems with a bunch of persisting bugs. TheWell what is there to say when a once promising game has been made successively worse by devs insisting on adding features that huge majority of the players that care enough to share their opinion don't care for? I started playing back in Jan 2013 and back then this game showed a lot of promise, despite being quite limited in gameplay and had problems with a bunch of persisting bugs. The core gameplay though was good enough to keep me interested despite the problems. You have a large selections of mechs to fight with against other players and the weapons and ability to outfit your mech the way you see fit kept it interesting.

    But the last few months the devs have progressively made this game worse. going from 8vs8 to more players with 12vs12 looks good on paper. The problem is about half of the maps are so small they don't work well with that many players occupying that little space. But that's not the major problem, it's what they changed about your in-game earnings, called CBills. Suddenly they decreased your earnings by 25-30% with a really bad excuse that now you have more mechs to destroy thus you can make more CBills. Hello?! What about more players that are going to share those rewards? It's done just to try and make people either buy mechs with real money or buy the so-called premium time that will increase your earnings by 50%, which of course also costs real money. Because if you don't buy either, the game has become a real bad grind to earn CBills to afford new mechs and gear.

    So if you've read this far it sounds pretty bad right? Well the worst is yet to come. The last month they put 3rd person view into the game, a feature that really no one asked for except the devs themselves. Originally the lead developers promised we would have split player queues so anyone who wants to keep this game as purely 1st person shooter would not have to play against players that can enable 3rd person view. But suddenly they went 180 on this promise, that they themselves posted in their game forum, and put 3rd person view in the standard player queue, meaning everyone had to deal with 3PV being used as a toggle to peek around and over lots of obstacles you'd never be able to look around/over in 1st person, effectively crippling anyone that want to just play in 1st person. If you read through a lot of the other negative reviews you'll see this mentioned quite a few times so it's something a lot of players are truly disappointed about being deceived in this manner.

    Last but not least due to the uproar and negative posts in the MWO forums from us disappointed players the devs recently saw fit to change the rules to posting. Now if you basically express your opinion that the devs are doing a bad job developing this game, even when done in a calm manner with valid points without the slightest name-calling or insults, you're risking to be banned from the forum whether temporary or permanently as they see fit. What that means is they only keep the yes men (and there are still a bunch of them, just look at the perfect scores given here to a game that is effectively still in beta and still lacking lots of features to make it worthwhile) in the forum and are busy removing anyone with critical opinions. I just got banned from the forum without a single message from whoever banned me with any info why I was banned. So if you visit the forums and you see a lot of posts where people are happy with the game in its' current sad state, be aware that it's simply because they're working hard to censor or ban people that disagree with how they've been ruining this game.

    To sum it all up, Mechwarrior Online was once a game that showed promise, but development took an awful turn despite a huge amount of feedback trying to sway the devs from some of their really poor decisions. A game with problems can be fixed given time, but a dev team that refuse to listen to its' own community and even heavily censor their own players that disagree with the poorly chosen direction the development is moving in, are really beyond any hope of redemption. For a game that is midway in development, how the dev team handle feedback from their players is a crucial part of the game's success or failure. The PGI dev team is frankly the worst I've encountered in their way to handle their players and their game community, which effectively has ruined this game. There are quite a few more blunders I can't even explain due to the 5000 char limit here, just google and you'll without a doubt find more. You have been warned, get involved in this game at your own peril. The only reason I don't give this game a zero is because it hasn't blown up my computer.    … Expand
  6. Jestun
    Sep 20, 2013
    3
    Sadly MWO is a shadow of the game it should be.

    First, lets look at what it is, ignoring what it was promised to be. Gameplay 6/10 Fairly solid core gameplay. The feel of the mech controls is good, the difference between torso aiming and arm aiming works well. However when you look beyond the basic core features it's not so good. One example would be the ghost heat system.    Sadly MWO is a shadow of the game it should be.

    First, lets look at what it is, ignoring what it was promised to be.

    Gameplay 6/10

    Fairly solid core gameplay. The feel of the mech controls is good, the difference between torso aiming and arm aiming works well. However when you look beyond the basic core features it's not so good.

    One example would be the ghost heat system. There is not a single part of the game which explains, or even acknowledges the existence of this system that adds additional heat which appears from nowhere when you fire too many of the same weapon types. But the only way to know what effect it will have on your build is to search the forums (a chore in itself given the search functionality), find the actual figures and do the math yourself. Although some of the fansite build calculators may now account for this.

    Graphics 5/10

    The CryEngine 3 is an engine that can really look good. And earlier in the beta it did look quite good. But as time went on they lowered the graphics to allow people with lower spec machines to play. While this in itself is a good thing, it should only be the *low* graphics settings that are decreased. Instead the maxed graphics settings have steadily decreased in quality.

    The graphics options themselves are very limited. Depth of Field (blur for distances not being focused on) can only be disabled by turning off all post processin and, film grain (digital blurryness over the entire screen) is forced on for example.

    On top of that everything from buildings to trees to abandoned vehicles are completely indestructible.

    Content 2/10

    2 game modes, both of which are team deathmatch with "stand in this spot to capture a seemingly randomly placed oil derrick" added in. Each battle effects 3 things your c-bills (ingame currency), your mech xp and your pilot xp. It is essentially one meaningless battle after another.

    Sound 5/10

    The weapon sound effects are quite good, but there is no soundtrack whatsoever and walking my 100 ton mech through a city seems like a very quiet affair.

    Features 1/10

    It has a friends list. That's about it.

    It doesn't have any way to chat other than within a match (and even there only via text, no VOIP integration). It doesn't have a lobby system to select a server to join. It doesn't have any "big picture" objectives the kind of thing community warfare was supposed to provide. You can only play solo or in teams of 2, 3, 4 or 12. It doesn't have any achievements.

    You can't even change the order that your mechs are displayed in the garage, and once you have a few you may well want to.

    Developer community interaction 1/10

    Regardless of what some people have posted in other reviews, this matters. Unlike in a single player game you are required to deal with the developers, even if that interaction is limited to downloading whatever patch they put out (something that is optional in a single player game, so understandably has less importance there).

    Unfortunately this is the biggest issue the game has. A quick Google search will find various gaming press articles if you want to read more about the developer community interaction, so I'll just say that they (specifically Russ) troll people on Twitter for critisism, write off the "core" playerbase (their words) as being the vocal minority, they announce changes, get dozens of pages of feedback showing exactly what is wrong with it and then implement it with exactly the flaws that the community repeatedly told them about, and much, much more.

    So that's what the game is, but what it's not is much more interesting and gives a real insight into the developers (who, as mentioned above, you will have to deal with if you play the game).

    What it's not is true to PGI's self-announced design pillars of the game. The core design pillars included no coolant flush, 1st person only simulation, role warfare and community warfare. Every one of these design pillars has been broken or delayed with little to no information given to the community about them.

    MWO was a kickstarter, and some people may well dispute that but a quick Google search will show the developers (PGI) and the publishers (IGP) both stating that it was, as well as various media outlets agreeing. While the founders packs never explicitly stated that the above design pillars would be met, the implication when you say "we are going to include these things, give us your money" is that you are paying money to support the development of the game as described to you.

    Sadly the end result is that the meaningless battle after battle make the game feel like nothing more than a low rate MOBA. And even judges against other MOBAs it's extremely lacking in content and basic features.    … Expand
  7. giant_snark
    Sep 20, 2013
    4
    MechWarrior Online is the skeletal shadow of the good game it might have been, lacking almost every promised feature over a year after open beta, over which time period almost no progress has been made. DirectX 11 support, lobbies, hit registration and netcode fixes, mech scaling problems, even the much-played-up Community Warfare and UI 2.0 updates are nowhere to be found, and are now aMechWarrior Online is the skeletal shadow of the good game it might have been, lacking almost every promised feature over a year after open beta, over which time period almost no progress has been made. DirectX 11 support, lobbies, hit registration and netcode fixes, mech scaling problems, even the much-played-up Community Warfare and UI 2.0 updates are nowhere to be found, and are now a year overdue. And in this state, Piranha Games has chosen to say the game is now "launched" instead of "beta".

    Currently, MWO is a 12v12 deathmatch with two flavors of capturing squares thrown in. In Assault you can capture the other base by sitting in the square, and in Conquest you can capture various squares around the map. And this is after explicit promises that base capturing would not just be sitting in squares, but rather would involve disabling defenses and systems in an actual base. All you can do is queue to be thrown into 12v12 deathmatches. The game has been in this state for over a year.

    In fact, in some ways the game has gotten worse. Graphics have been scaled back in an attempt to make the game more accessible to low-end hardware, but performance has not actually improved. Instead all the pretty features on weapons effects and textures have been removed, and a film grain has been added to cover it up.

    The weapons balancing has been a bewildering and incompetently managed mess. Fixes are slow to come, even many months after they are obvious issues, and what fixes are made demonstrate a complete misunderstanding of their own mechanics, and often create new problems. Flamers for the longest time did more heat to YOUR mech than to your target a problem that would only take a simple database tweak to fix, and which did not happen for over half a year. Now, the flamers are merely useless, rather than suicidal, as they still do not do much more heat to the target than to yourself. In response to a meta dominated by long-range weapons, PGI misinterpreted the problem as being about boating (using many of the same weapon), and introduced a nebulous undocumented feature called Ghost Heat, which adds extra heat when too many of the same weapon are fired within a short period. There is no way for a new player to know about this in the game it is nowhere mentioned or explained. So instead of directly rebalancing long-ranged weapons, PGI introduced complex and hamfisted "solutions" that didn't actually solve the problem. This kind of behavior has consistently been PGI's pattern. They are not competent.

    Piranha Games has not merely failed to implement most of what would make this a finished game they have instead implemented features that are entirely against what the playerbase wants and what the early supporters paid for. Despite promises that this game would be first-person-only, they broke that promise by then saying there would be 3PV, but with separate queues so you would not be forced to play with people using 3PV to peek from behind cover. Then they broke THAT promise by having no separate queues. The same went for promises that there would be no consumable coolant items, which provide a distinct in-game advantage to those who use them by reducing the heat that limits your firing rate.

    The promised features that would make MWO a good game are all in the future as they have been for over a year, after deadline after deadline has come and gone, and we have now reached launch with none of these features (Community Warfare, UI 2.0, lobbies, etc.) being in sight. The game as it stands today is barely worth of being called a beta demo, and as a launched game it completely fails to deliver. Playing this deathmatch arena can be fun for a while, but it does not have the features required to make it last, and PGI's history is strong evidence that those promised features will not be coming anytime soon.

    Mechwarrior is a great franchise. It's so sad what Piranha Games has done to it.    … Expand
  8. HDMan
    Sep 20, 2013
    10
    Though the game isn't complete yet (Community Warfare, New User Interface, additional maps and all the game types) This is BY FAR the best MechWarrior/BattleTech game I've played in AGES. I have been playing since closed beta and I still marvel at the sights and sounds of battle and LOVE seeing the iconic mechs finally stomping around the battlefield. I highly recommend joining a unitThough the game isn't complete yet (Community Warfare, New User Interface, additional maps and all the game types) This is BY FAR the best MechWarrior/BattleTech game I've played in AGES. I have been playing since closed beta and I still marvel at the sights and sounds of battle and LOVE seeing the iconic mechs finally stomping around the battlefield. I highly recommend joining a unit and utilize teamwork to take down opposing teams. I think it will be about another year before the game is fully fleshed out, but it's still a TON of fun to play as is...… Expand
  9. Monsoon
    Sep 20, 2013
    8
    A very fun, light Simulation Mech Combat game, I've been playing it for over a year (closed beta) and can see myself playing it for years to come. Granted not all the features are implemented yet and require patience, but what we have is a solid game with plenty of room to grow. It's one current draw back is only to game modes, but more are on the way. I'll give this game a 10/10 once theyA very fun, light Simulation Mech Combat game, I've been playing it for over a year (closed beta) and can see myself playing it for years to come. Granted not all the features are implemented yet and require patience, but what we have is a solid game with plenty of room to grow. It's one current draw back is only to game modes, but more are on the way. I'll give this game a 10/10 once they do implement many more of the expected features, assuming their as good as we hope.… Expand
  10. Lord_Banshee
    Sep 20, 2013
    5
    Slow-Paced gaming, piecemeal-destructible battlemechs are back. Worth a try, if only to understand why all these old guys love them so much.

    Mechs are cool, don't usually die in one shot like squishy soldiers, and can be sorely messed up but still functional. Wonderfully rendered by artist Flying Debris, they make awesome sounds with their weapons and when hit by effects. To some, the    Slow-Paced gaming, piecemeal-destructible battlemechs are back. Worth a try, if only to understand why all these old guys love them so much.

    Mechs are cool, don't usually die in one shot like squishy soldiers, and can be sorely messed up but still functional. Wonderfully rendered by artist Flying Debris, they make awesome sounds with their weapons and when hit by effects. To some, the pace of the gaming, like baseball, is a plus. If you find it too slow, hop in a Light Mech and double-time it.

    I got more value out of my $60 Founder's pack than I did with Skyrim or Starcraft2. However, getting that value is Fraught With Peril and best attempted with a masochistic streak or Asperger's or both.

    Allegedly there are over 1 million MWO accounts. Read before you download and have a chance to be one of the 2-4% of accounts that actually still play.

    1) Buddies!

    You'll enjoy the game more, and be able to use all of its drop modes, only after you meet others who play and drop into games with them. Solo players operate under multiple disadvantages:

    A) you'll never drop as a group, and can never play premade 12v12
    B) other groups will drop against you in a coordinated fashion, making it more likely that you face 2-1 or worse tactical engagements
    C) less likely to learn tips of gameplay, mech loadouts, or gain cbills/experience
    D) "win" a match is either kill all enemies or occupy the most bases. There are two similar flavors of base occupation. This is the way it has been since first day of closed beta, and there is no concrete assurance of expansion. You will face this realization alone, with no one to inspire you or challenge you.

    Dropping with others helps alleviate these conditions. Once the repetitive aspects of the game take hold, you show up more for your drop buddies than the "same-old, same-old" gameplay.

    Therefore, your first download should be TEAMSPEAK. Grab it, set it up, use it. Meet peops at the NGNG or ComStar TS servers. Find a group that mirrors your personality and gaming experience. Look for experienced helpful pilots while you conduct...

    2) the Learning Curve

    No one you met completely turned you off to this game? Good, now it's the game's turn to try that. Install MWO and ignore all attempts that this FtP game tries to remove your money from you.

    Pick a trial mech and then activate a Training session on a map of your choice.

    Get familiar with the options menu and assign keys as you see fit. Get used to third person view, then turn it off and enjoy the minimap.
    Get used to movement, targeting, firing, managing heat, then doing them all simultaneously.
    Learn the maps: what you can see, where you can/can't go, timings. Boring, I know, but less boring than spectator mode or the seat-sulk after a ragequit.

    3) the Constant is Change

    Being alpha/beta and unfinished, it'll change, early and often. Sometimes ridiculously so, as PGI can't balance weaponry to save our lives, and they don't ask the oldschool elite players for help.

    So, in the case of LRM missiles, we were treated to multiple waves of LRMageddon, where misses rained from the sky in wildly OP batches, only to be nerfed into oblivion. Rinse, repeat. Mech variants were not immune either.

    4) Promises, Promises

    Entice the old-schoolers who start the word-of-mouth for you and then change your mind for business reasons.

    This was to be first-person view, no coolant used, never pay-to-win, with a slick UI, new mechs/maps regularly, timeline-accurate, and all leading up to backing your favorite faction/merc corps/clan and live out Mike Stackpole novels during Community Warfare.

    Hated third-person view crept in under cover of darkness.
    Hated coolant was initially added with pay-to-win overtones until the hue and cry reached epic levels.
    Influx of new mechs gradually slowed, maps appear sporadically and some are environmental rehashes of existing maps.
    No lobby at all.
    Timeline was junked once it was obvious that the Dev team fell behind for good.
    Clan mechs and weapons? Dream on.
    UIv2.0 for Launch? Nope. You may look upon the clumsy current UI and frown, but I assure you it was worse in Closed Beta.
    Community Warfare? No guarantee this company will be alive to implement it, and I'm leery of what it will look like if they do. The Launch amounted to nothing more than a typical bimonthly update. No new concept was instantiated that hadn't been tried before. PGI in their Launch gave thousands of online gamer guys a glimpse of what it's like to be the hot girl who finally gets the stud of her dreams in bed, only to find he consistently cums in 3 seconds. Is MWO fun? Yes. Hard to learn? Can be. Boredom sooner than later? Yes. Is it the only MechWarrior genre game that will have future updates? Yes. Could be great and actually implement its vision? Maybe, 20% chance.    … Expand
  11. xMWHOx
    Sep 20, 2013
    2
    Waited 10 years for this game. PGI started out amazing, talk of many game pillars, and great concepts, but forced to rush out the game by IGP. A lot of us gave a lot of money in the founders program to fund the game, and IGP takes it and puts into there other projects, thus delay many important game features.

    This game has a lot of potential, great looking game, but its so bare bone,    Waited 10 years for this game. PGI started out amazing, talk of many game pillars, and great concepts, but forced to rush out the game by IGP. A lot of us gave a lot of money in the founders program to fund the game, and IGP takes it and puts into there other projects, thus delay many important game features.

    This game has a lot of potential, great looking game, but its so bare bone, and not much has changed since closed beta. There is a couple of maps, 2 game types, and no real reason to play but to grind Cbills to pokemon collect them all. After 1year doing the exact same thing it gets boring. Any other franchise I would of stopped playing after 1-2 months. Only thing that kept me going was Community Run tournaments. But IGP does not want to support that community.

    Terrible balance, no lobbies, no CW, really bad new user experience and should have not launched. It should still be in an alpha stage.

    I may take another look at this game in a year, but if IGP continues to ruin this franchise, it might not last too long. Really sad as PGI seems like they have their heart in the right place, but just seem to continue to disappoint everyone. With IGP's Gestapo forum mods censoring anyone who says anything bad about the game, and banning players because they are posting without playing the game in 1-2 months is the last straw. They should be trying to win the player base back and not throwing them to the curb.

    Without IGP I'd say 5/10. With IGP its 2/10.    … Expand
  12. Naotaka
    Sep 20, 2013
    9
    The gamepleay features the Mechcombat we have all been dreaming about. Controls work well and the models are great, in fact much better then the original designs they are heavily based on. For this to be perfect it needs Community Warfare, more maps, Occulus Rift support and ongoing balancing like the developers are doing. And a Marauder dagnabbit :D
  13. Flunkie
    Sep 20, 2013
    1
    Mechwarrior Online is a Battletech game in name only. It has the intellectual property, a few of the dozens of possible weapon systems, and the feel of piloting a mech. The graphics are OK for a game in this era. The main problem is that the game-play itself boils down to nothing more than a bigger and slower version of multi-player Call of Duty. The developer has repeatedly tweaked weaponMechwarrior Online is a Battletech game in name only. It has the intellectual property, a few of the dozens of possible weapon systems, and the feel of piloting a mech. The graphics are OK for a game in this era. The main problem is that the game-play itself boils down to nothing more than a bigger and slower version of multi-player Call of Duty. The developer has repeatedly tweaked weapon systems in a vain attempt at stopping players from finding and using the most lethal mech configurations possible. If their telemetry tells them that 60% of the players are employing the ERPPC successfully, and winning more matches with them than not winning, then the ERPPC will be altered so that nobody wants to use it any longer. When the herd of players then alter their mech designs to utilize the Gauss Rifle, because it has now become the weapon of choice, the developer will step in and nerf the Gauss Rifle. Then the players switch to heavily using Long Range Missiles because the developers decided that they weren't being used at all and doubled their damage. Well, you can guess what happens. There has been an endless cycle of this weapon “balancing”, and it has led to nowhere. The players always gravitate to what calculates out to be the best build; alpha strike, DPS, speed, and range. The developer is like a puppy chasing its tail in this regard.

    When you consider Mechwarrior as a game, you think of completing missions with some greater goal; a story arc, capturing planets, controlling a region of the galaxy, etc. The developers promised something called Community Warfare, which was supposed to have some kind grand strategy that would allow the MWO community to do more than fight in 12 on 12 matches. In theory, the 12 on 12 matches would mean more than just another win/loss in the player’s personal profile, there would be benefits or consequences to success or failure. This was not only never delivered, it seems to have simply disappeared from the table! Community Warfare is what the vast majority of core audience wants to be a part of, even if only a very small part-time role in. Not only has the developer failed to deliver, they simply have failed to understand the game and it audience, and seem to be focused on the minutia related to weapon specifics and bell curves for matching players. They are also very focused on bringing in a broader audience and have told their community that they don't really matter any more.

    The biggest failure developer has made is in its communication to its community or core audience. The developer has made numerous promises, both big and small that it has not kept, and as far as its community is concerned, probably never intended to keep. In short, they have broken their promises, or simply outright lied. They then had the audacity to tell the community that is upset by the broken promises that the community was not its target audience. It is hard to say what exactly the developer’s target audience is, but it apparently is not the following:

    Original founders that paid money to fund the development
    Players since the beginning of beta that paid money based on the promises that were made
    Anyone with a complaint about virtually any aspect of any promise that was broken
    Players that don’t want to play in or with 3rd person perspective players
    Players interested in Community Warfare
    Players wanting more than Assault or Conquest victory conditions for matches
    Players wanting more weapon systems than the set that was released during beta
    Players wanting something of a physics system that doesn't allow playing bumper cars in a match

    The developer appears to be targeting the following as its preferred audience:

    Players with little or no knowledge of Mechwarrior/Battletech
    Players so fascinated by package deals that they impulse buy
    Players more interested in paying money for decorations and paint than achieving any kind of goal
    Players with such a short attention span that they could not be bothered to learn anything complex
    Players that drop in for a few matches and have just enough fun to spend some money converting XP
    Players that are loners and don’t care about team coordination or communication
    Players uninterested in any kind of strategy, tactics, realism, physics, fire, water, or the wheel

    This review could go on and on, but the bottom line is that Mechwarrior is a one-third baked cake that came out tasting like something from the sewer. The developer’s condescending, and frankly insulting, communications to its core supporters about it’s broken promises and lies should be enough to make anyone wary of this game. If it is not, then you are a member of their target audience and they will be expecting to see you logging on soon.    … Expand
  14. tvaughanx89
    Sep 20, 2013
    0
    Warning this is not a complete product an if you intend to play this game you will end up spending 60-80$ for bays an such. No community warfare 3pv no story or single player mode just drop kill repeat. The only content added on a regular basis is more mech's first the hero for about 15-30$ depending on size. Then a week later the other variants pgi is milking the community for but theWarning this is not a complete product an if you intend to play this game you will end up spending 60-80$ for bays an such. No community warfare 3pv no story or single player mode just drop kill repeat. The only content added on a regular basis is more mech's first the hero for about 15-30$ depending on size. Then a week later the other variants pgi is milking the community for but the community is letting them. Feels more like a cash grab then a video game. Pgi can consistently release things that cost real money while delivering no game adding content occasionally the community complains enough an gets a new map but then its back to making hero mech an campion mechs. If you ask me i say they have no clue on how to do community warfare an don't care to as long as the community keeps lobbing cash at them for new skinned mechs. Again warning this game is clearly a beta it is not complete it does require you to spend money to be good at the game there are no features other than 12v12 combat a clunky mech lab bad hit detection absolutely horrendous chat interface an the constant release of 15-30$ hero mechs.… Expand
  15. Panzerfloof
    Sep 20, 2013
    9
    This is the game every battletech fan has been waiting for!

    It has fast paced mech combat and full customization. The in game experience is excellent!

    The UI needs work but everything will be worked out soon(tm)
  16. JoachVil
    Sep 20, 2013
    5
    Faction warfare nowhere in sight at launch (despite it being a "design pillar" from day 1). Small selection of maps, and very unimaginative game modes.

    Incredibly poor communication between devs and the community. Hostility from the company president towards fans who were critical of his design decisions...

    Give it a pass. it just isn't worth committing cash into at this stage.
  17. Aastarius
    Sep 20, 2013
    7
    Taken for what it is the game is a lot of fun and just officially taken out of beta the upcoming additions planned for the next few months look to be taking the game in a very good direction. Should they be implemented well then score will increase accordingly.

    Has to be said that new players will find their enjoyment of the game greatly enhanced simply by avoiding the games official    Taken for what it is the game is a lot of fun and just officially taken out of beta the upcoming additions planned for the next few months look to be taking the game in a very good direction. Should they be implemented well then score will increase accordingly.

    Has to be said that new players will find their enjoyment of the game greatly enhanced simply by avoiding the games official forums. Appears [some] people don't like the decisions made by the developer for the game and have decided no one else should either     … Expand
  18. Xianyu
    Sep 20, 2013
    4
    I give this game a 5 at most. A 4 for a really, really, really terrible development team.

    Right now, the game, from a gaming standpoint, is below average. Simply put, features are broken. The main one 'host state rewind' touted to fix the lag issue that causes your weapons to do no damage, is doing the exact opposite. As someone with a few hundred games, I can honestly say that many of    I give this game a 5 at most. A 4 for a really, really, really terrible development team.

    Right now, the game, from a gaming standpoint, is below average. Simply put, features are broken. The main one 'host state rewind' touted to fix the lag issue that causes your weapons to do no damage, is doing the exact opposite. As someone with a few hundred games, I can honestly say that many of my attacks simply do not land. Ever.

    Whether or not a weapon remains effective or not is completely at the whim of the Piranha Games employees who change their mind as often as they change as their clothes. They nerf this, buff that, and quite frequently either make a weapon completely useless, or so overpowered that two days after a patch it's all anyone will use. And there are no 'hotfixes'. These changes stay in for months at a time, leading to heavily biased weapon/mech metagames that migrate to new choices every few weeks.

    To date, the development team has gone back on foundimg principles, belittled those who complain about the changes, and outright ignore the vocal portion of their playerbase citing that they are 'a small portion of the demographic'. That's right. Founders are a 'small portion' and should be completely ignored.

    A short list of things they changed their minds about: Consumables. Said they'd never be in the game. They are. Thankfully, most of them are completely, utterly useless.
    3PV: If you haven't heard of this one, you don't know this game. The first documentation for this game said that it would NOT contain third-person in any way, shape or form.
    The c-bill nerf coming into launch: Several months ago, the patch notes claim that the nerf to earnings (somewhere in the realm of a 40-50% decrease for most players), was to 'balance' the amount of income because of the change to 24-player battlefields rather than 16. When this proved to be a massive nerf rather than a 'balance', PGI refused to comment on anything, until an 'ask the devs' and a podcast revealed that they did it deliberately to force people to grind longer. Agree with the nerf or not (85% of players don't), it was still placed in the PATCH NOTES as a 'balance'. And it follows a common vein of PGI outright lying to their customers.
    Hero Mechs: Only available to purchase for MC, the 'real life currency' of MWO. Many argue they are no better than normal mechs, but these mechs have a C-bill earnings bonus attached to them, and often have hardpoints and abilities that heavily follow the current 'metagame' trends. IE: Releasing a jump jet sniper mech when the jump-jetting sniper meta was prevalent. While not strictly pay-to-win, these mechs are often superior to common mechs of the same chassis, and can NOT be purchased with normal currency. This rings alarm bells.

    New players are lulled into a false sense of security with the 'cadet bonus'. You get near eight-million credits for your first twenty five games. After that many credits are accrued, your cadet bonus is gone. The heaviest mechs, the stalkers and atlas', cost 10 million credits. You will be lucky to be earning ten thousand credits a minute.

    In other words, an assault mech will cost you 20 hours of playing to earn. In an arena-based shooter with only two game modes.

    Weapons can cost anywhere from 10000 for a machine gun, to 700,000, or more.

    DHS, a 'required' upgrade for mechs, costs millions of dollars. Engines cost millions of dollars. Swapping armor or ARTEMIS costs millions. The different modules cost millions.

    In short, the game is too grindy, too samey, and too meta-gamey. Though don't worry, the veterans of MWO will be happy to tell you to 'ignore the grind' while they sit on their accounts with literally hundreds of millions of credits in them, gathered up from times when earnings weren't so cripplingly small.

    So, to summarize. The game is decently fun for a while. But any casual gamer will be turned off by the huge grind and exorbitant prices on the 'pay real money' function. Hardcore gamers willing to put up with the grind will be scared away by the incompetence of a team that balances on a LOWER SKILL LEVEL, instead of UPPER SKILL LEVEL. That's right. They perform balance on the low-skill gamers, not by observing the elite.

    PGI are either incompetent and honestly believe that their changes are for the betterment of the game and just can't see what they're doing wrong. Or they've got their heads so far up their collective asses that they don't even care what their core demographic is saying.

    I don't know which possibility bothers me more.

    I honestly think that, at this point, PGI are beyond help. They've alienated their once-hardcore fans and corrupted MWO with features attempting to pander towards 'casual' audiences, in spite of all protests.

    Clearly, PGI is on an island.

    Maybe this game should be, too.

    An island without you.    … Expand
  19. polaco
    Sep 20, 2013
    7
    The game is really fun to play. However you have to know something about battlemechs. This is a thinking game where you can't just charge to battle as a brainlesss horse. You need to know your mech, it's abilities and flaws hence you won't last long in battle. You need to also know how to play your mech and where to stand in battle, an scout is not the same than heavy and a heavy hasThe game is really fun to play. However you have to know something about battlemechs. This is a thinking game where you can't just charge to battle as a brainlesss horse. You need to know your mech, it's abilities and flaws hence you won't last long in battle. You need to also know how to play your mech and where to stand in battle, an scout is not the same than heavy and a heavy has nothing to do with an assault Mech. Each has it's role in the battlefield and to survive it needs to be played as so. The game still has it's issues and lacks of many things. However it's very enjoyable and since matches last just some minutes you can jump into battle at any free space time you have, for instance to take a short break while working or studying. The game looks impressive and guns sounds impressive. Still is a game in development and I really wish the developers don't turn it into a brainless shooter for the masses.… Expand
  20. Blodpaatann
    Sep 20, 2013
    2
    MechWarrior Online, at the core, has very solid and cool gameplay, with pretty decent graphics. However, it is not very engaging, as it has no narrative to keep people interested for role-playing reasons, or good balance and support for a competitive scene. In the end you're left grinding for the sake of buying new bits rather than because you actually enjoy or care for what you're doing,MechWarrior Online, at the core, has very solid and cool gameplay, with pretty decent graphics. However, it is not very engaging, as it has no narrative to keep people interested for role-playing reasons, or good balance and support for a competitive scene. In the end you're left grinding for the sake of buying new bits rather than because you actually enjoy or care for what you're doing, which is a shame because the concept is quite cool and the basics are well done.

    Pros:
    - Cool gameplay, interesting take on old school MechWarrior.
    - Good graphics, cool designs, pretty good sound effects as well.
    - Free, and initial monetary boost helps you get into it enough to form an opinion.

    Cons:
    - Somewhat dodgy balance.
    - Little variation in game modes.
    - Many bugs and glitches, freezing and crashing to desktop is uncommon but still happens way too often.
    - VERY expensive cash shop, easily up towards 30 dollars for a single chassis.
    - If you have more than three or less than 11 friends you won't be able to play with them all at once. :(
    - Very bad user interface.    … Expand
  21. oldhasu
    Sep 20, 2013
    2
    It's just a voice of "vocal minority". I liked the game the way it was promised to be. Spent a whole lot of money and time on it. But. Well, to be honest, currently im playing this game by inertia, cant drop it cause I spent too much on it.. Developers keep pumping the money by selling 'mechs and trinkets. Still no community warfare. People are trying to entertain themselves by makingIt's just a voice of "vocal minority". I liked the game the way it was promised to be. Spent a whole lot of money and time on it. But. Well, to be honest, currently im playing this game by inertia, cant drop it cause I spent too much on it.. Developers keep pumping the money by selling 'mechs and trinkets. Still no community warfare. People are trying to entertain themselves by making leagues and tourneys. But leagues and all other stuff made by community itself are not supported by developers. You cant even drop with another group of other players by choice, you have to sync-drop and hope to get in the same game. For all other people who do not organize in units, trying to compete between each other, this game is Counter Strike on robots.… Expand
  22. Bugalski
    Sep 20, 2013
    8
    A solid, fun Battlemech sim that feels good, plays well and has a heap of potential. A more tactical, less 'twitch' oriented game for those who like a slower pace than the Counterstrike crowd. Some important features are yet to be implemented (some of these due in the near future) but it's still well worth a look. Being a free-to-play title you've really nothing to lose. Take some time toA solid, fun Battlemech sim that feels good, plays well and has a heap of potential. A more tactical, less 'twitch' oriented game for those who like a slower pace than the Counterstrike crowd. Some important features are yet to be implemented (some of these due in the near future) but it's still well worth a look. Being a free-to-play title you've really nothing to lose. Take some time to learn the unique controls and you'll find an absorbing and rewarding Mech-based shooter.
    *Note there are a number of scorebombers on here trying to lower the User Score but to be honest, while some of their gripes are legitimate (if perhaps overstated) I've had no stability or performance issues for a long while, even on older equipment. The publishers have certainly made some communication blunders along the way (they are a fairly small team after all), but for the most part these have been blown out of proportion by a highly vocal minority of passionate community members.    … Expand
  23. Pictomancer
    Sep 20, 2013
    9
    As far as large, hulking, customizable mech FPS' come by, this is one of the best I've played. The redesigns by "flying debris" used for this game are incredible, I never thought inner sphere mechs could look this "Awesome"

    They also did a good job in balancing gameplay. No more heat neutral, laser spamming, OHKO mechs of old.

    Someone summed it up best "A thinking man's FPS"
  24. FlyingBlind
    Sep 20, 2013
    10
    great core game with tons and tons of content coming. graphics and art are amazing especially the mech designs.
    right now it is pretty basic but the foundations have been laid, soon we will have community warfare, then the Clan Invasion and things are just going to go up from there.
    if you were ever a fan of battletech, or mechwarrior you need to play this game. if you like sci-fi    great core game with tons and tons of content coming. graphics and art are amazing especially the mech designs.
    right now it is pretty basic but the foundations have been laid, soon we will have community warfare, then the Clan Invasion and things are just going to go up from there.

    if you were ever a fan of battletech, or mechwarrior you need to play this game.
    if you like sci-fi shooters with lots of tactical problem solving and team work play this game
    if you are human, play this game.
    you can play as a large slow bruiser with lots of fire power or a light fast dancer that pokes in and out of fights controlling tempo and hitting the slower guys where they are soft.
    great mix of long and short range weapons that are nearly all good.
    nearly 100 different variant of mech to fight in and more coming out every month

    MWO is going to be huge get in now.    … Expand
  25. ryvrdrgn14
    Sep 20, 2013
    8
    I really enjoy the game for what it has to offer. The only thing that is currently missing is the framework to blend all the mech scrapping combat together and give it more purpose beyond improving one's skill and having fun trying out new builds.

    The connectivity issues are fine considering internet from the Philippines is usually horrible. The tweaks to make it more available on lower    I really enjoy the game for what it has to offer. The only thing that is currently missing is the framework to blend all the mech scrapping combat together and give it more purpose beyond improving one's skill and having fun trying out new builds.

    The connectivity issues are fine considering internet from the Philippines is usually horrible. The tweaks to make it more available on lower end computers has also been working wonders since release. The mech construction system is quite solid in my opinion and very fun to play around with and combat is always enjoyable for me as a casual player. The mech designs are just amazing compared to original Battletech/Mechwarrior designs and art.

    If you're looking for a nice game to pass the time with while piloting a giant robot and blowing up other giant robots, then Mechwarrior Online is a good game to try out. If you like customization, then it's definitely a good game for you try out. Just make sure you read up before buying your first mech. You will get a huge bonus in currency for your first 25 games as a new player. Don't waste it (but you can always start over with a new account).

    It's F2P so here's what you have to pay for: Paintjob, cosmetics, XP conversion (not necessary but it speeds things up), and Hero Mechs (mechs with a currency bonus when you play but they are by no means better than regular mechs). Overall it has a good F2P setup which lets me pay when I want to and it doesn't strongarm me into opening my wallet (which is how I prefer my F2P games).

    The download is not that big and you should be able to patch up quickly. Check the video guides, do the tutorial and take the trial mechs out for a spin (for best experience, make sure you pick a Champion Trial Mech since it is fully upgraded compared to regular Trial Mechs. Champions have a (C)).    … Expand
  26. Rattazustra
    Sep 19, 2013
    9
    The game started out slightly below average and improved slightly over the first half of the beta phase. Then it fell into rapid decline as it became more and more evident that neither did the developers know what they were doing, nor did they care. The game turned into a soulless money-whoring machine over the course of the past months, while at the same time all promised improvementsThe game started out slightly below average and improved slightly over the first half of the beta phase. Then it fell into rapid decline as it became more and more evident that neither did the developers know what they were doing, nor did they care. The game turned into a soulless money-whoring machine over the course of the past months, while at the same time all promised improvements never came.
    The launch know is beyond disappointing and the resulting game is as close to a scam as such a product can be. PGI already made enough undeserved money from this as it is. Do yourself a favor and do not give them any more. Companies who neither respect their product nor their customers deserve nothing from the player base.    … Expand
  27. theDashRendar
    Sep 19, 2013
    0
    This game gave me cancer.

    It's a pay2win mess, a total debacle with no game modes and no lobbies and no thought put into the design. This is not Mechwarrior 3 or Mechwarrior 4, it somehow is worse in every way, with even worse graphics than MechAssault an original XBOX game. Strategy is nothing but stick together in a ball and the grind is evil and terrible. Spend hundreds of    This game gave me cancer.

    It's a pay2win mess, a total debacle with no game modes and no lobbies and no thought put into the design. This is not Mechwarrior 3 or Mechwarrior 4, it somehow is worse in every way, with even worse graphics than MechAssault an original XBOX game.

    Strategy is nothing but stick together in a ball and the grind is evil and terrible. Spend hundreds of hours to master one single mech.

    Hero mechs are only available for real money and allow access to exclusive game play styles. That's the textbook definition of pay2win, and this game reeks of it. Avoid with your life.    … Expand
  28. Maspa
    Sep 19, 2013
    3
    Would have been a solid game but as beta progressed they kept making really bad decisions and cramming in new game systems which were confusing even if you took the time to work them out and also not explained anywhere in the actual game. So if you don't go hunting through their massive forums you can totally accidentally create broken builds which won't work as they should by the statsWould have been a solid game but as beta progressed they kept making really bad decisions and cramming in new game systems which were confusing even if you took the time to work them out and also not explained anywhere in the actual game. So if you don't go hunting through their massive forums you can totally accidentally create broken builds which won't work as they should by the stats presented in-game.

    They ban anyone who speaks up against the bizarre new direction the game is taking and are generally being horrible about it.

    They also keep delaying the promised Community Warfare and it's becoming clear that the CW which is finally going to make it into the game is going to be nothing more than a glorified global scoreboard.

    It's a real shame that it turned out this way, at one point I thought this was an amazing game and couldn't have imagined they would screw it up so badly.    … Expand
  29. GuineaRabbit
    Sep 19, 2013
    3
    The game is no where ready for release. The only two game modes are death match while standing in a glowing box. The game is still rife with bugs and missing features:

    The promised persistent universe affected by your victories or losses in battle which was dubbed Community Warfare is still vaporware with no ETA. Roughly 50% of all matches are lopsided from the get-go, on average it    The game is no where ready for release. The only two game modes are death match while standing in a glowing box. The game is still rife with bugs and missing features:

    The promised persistent universe affected by your victories or losses in battle which was dubbed Community Warfare is still vaporware with no ETA.

    Roughly 50% of all matches are lopsided from the get-go, on average it is a coin toss to whether your team will actually have a full roster of 12 players. Very often if your team does get assigned 12 players one or more will immediately disconnect from a crashed client. There is no way to reconnect to your mech after a crash, even though it is still stuck inert in the match. The team that starts the game missing players will most likely be steamrolled with no chance of winning.

    There is no lobby where players can communicate with one another to meet friends or form teams. There is no in-game voice communication system. There are no team command hotkeys to issue quick commands to your teammates such as 'Target this enemy', 'Charge!', 'Take cover!', etc... These features are standard fare for team based FPS type games, but sadly lacking from MWO.

    The new player experience is horrific to put it mildly. There is no real tutorial demonstrating how to drive your mech while controlling your torso and your arms independently. Nor is there any explanation on how to use your weapons to damage opponents. No where is it mentioned that Long-Range Missiles need a lock-on maintained for the entire flight time, laser weapons must be focused on the same aiming point for maximum damage, or the team crippling effects that ECM has. The new player must figure this out all on his/her own, thrown into the same pool against veterans who have been playing since Closed Beta with thousands of games under their belts.

    That's right, there is no 'Newbie Zone'. New players immediately face opponents with the most expensive and powerful Mechs fully upgraded with hundreds of games experience.

    Overall I rate the game a 3, due to the technical issues which have plagued the game since Closed Beta testing, the terrible new player experience, and lack of compelling content to keep you playing. The only reason it didn't get a lower score is because it is loosely based on BattleTech.    … Expand
  30. R_Razor
    Sep 19, 2013
    7
    The principle behind the game is sound, and the in-game combat is fun and exciting for the most part. The game needs more content, an in-game voip and more content. I'm confident that these issues will be addressed as the game matures but would not hesitate to recommend it as it stands now to anyone that grew up loving Battletech.
  31. Mopar63
    Sep 19, 2013
    3
    While the game is a decent basic shooter game to call it a MechWarrior game is an outright lie. The only thing MechWarrior is the robots looks. In the beta we where told this would be a true MechWarrior game and many of us thrust our money at them. Once they had our money the truth became apparent that making a game that was truly MechWarrior was never their goal.

    We where lied to and    While the game is a decent basic shooter game to call it a MechWarrior game is an outright lie. The only thing MechWarrior is the robots looks. In the beta we where told this would be a true MechWarrior game and many of us thrust our money at them. Once they had our money the truth became apparent that making a game that was truly MechWarrior was never their goal.

    We where lied to and in my opinion openly stolen from. One of the greatest IPs in computer gaming history has been butchered and when we, the founders, the core complained we are told our opinions do not count.

    If you just want robots stomping around like an oversized arcade game then this is the game for you, if you wanted MechWarrior then this will just make you cry over the death of a game many of us loved.    … Expand
  32. xvart
    Sep 19, 2013
    0
    The game might be worth more than a 0 if the dev team actually delivers what is promised in a timely manner. The game is "launched" in an early beta form. It has limited modes and not meta game at all. The dev team, which is a vital component in a successful F2P is in over their heads but won't admit it. Look for disasterous critic reviews and just wait and see how they react. RememberThe game might be worth more than a 0 if the dev team actually delivers what is promised in a timely manner. The game is "launched" in an early beta form. It has limited modes and not meta game at all. The dev team, which is a vital component in a successful F2P is in over their heads but won't admit it. Look for disasterous critic reviews and just wait and see how they react. Remember it's free to try but why bother if the game is going nowhere. If the team smartens up this game could be worth it, until then Stay away. Just look at how the community is at war here. White knights have to post 10s to balance out the hate for the team. Do you want to play a game with a toxic environment? F2P doesn't mean it costs you nothing. Don't waste your time until you see some progress.… Expand
  33. Gremlich
    Sep 19, 2013
    6
    With all of the problems the crytek3 engine has given PGI which has resulted in all but invincible Light mechs, poor hit box detection, a poor excuse for a UAV, totally forgotten pillar of Role Warfare (scouts anyone?), the lack of knowledge of what Information Warfare actually is or "how to do it" (ECM), no CW yet, no Lobbies, no combined arms aspect, mis-sized mechs, out of canonWith all of the problems the crytek3 engine has given PGI which has resulted in all but invincible Light mechs, poor hit box detection, a poor excuse for a UAV, totally forgotten pillar of Role Warfare (scouts anyone?), the lack of knowledge of what Information Warfare actually is or "how to do it" (ECM), no CW yet, no Lobbies, no combined arms aspect, mis-sized mechs, out of canon timeline mechs (the ECM SDR-7Kr for instance as a SDR-5 model), two game modes that are kinda like each other, win requirements that state both are required but only satisfying one will net you the win, DX9 STILL (I know not everyone has a computer that can handle DX11), and the sloppy way they have implemented some features and the constant bi-weekly money grab related patches (seriously, no mechbay with a hero/champion mech purchase!!), I would be hard pressed to grant anything above 6. To give an 8 is mucho generous. Even a 7 would have to be seriously debated.

    Poor community interaction has also not helped PGI at all and their obvious contempt even for the ones who made every reasonable attempt to provide constructive and useful feedback and solutions during the Beta phase is shameful.

    I would rather PGI have stayed in 3025 and worked on the IS milieu and balance for a while and taking the time know the game engine better and to develop and balance the Clans with the more accomplished gamers in the community as betas before bringing the Clans into the game. I think the Clan implementation/balance issues have PGI by the short hairs in their attempt to make mucho dinero way too quickly. A zero to 2 or a 10 would be very misdirected scores obviously intended to cancel each other out. Despicable tactic be honest guys, not full of rage one way or the other.

    It's all about the Benjamins, Baby! Be smart about how you try to take it.    … Expand
  34. grrzoot
    Sep 19, 2013
    7
    I have had over a year of fun playing this game, i really don't understand how peoplewho have played that long, and still play, give bad reviews just because of unrest over a particular issue or feature.

    Is everything you want in a mech game in yet? NO specifically it is missing the following important features which would raise my score: No community warfare No Lobby/ U.I. update yet    I have had over a year of fun playing this game, i really don't understand how peoplewho have played that long, and still play, give bad reviews just because of unrest over a particular issue or feature.

    Is everything you want in a mech game in yet? NO specifically it is missing the following important features which would raise my score:
    No community warfare
    No Lobby/ U.I. update yet

    But darnit the game is Fun, the group dynamic in the 12v12 full drop ques is great and room for alot of strategy and tactics. I would call it backbone complete feature light at the moment. I honestly don't believe it was in shape for launch but with patches 2x per month and smaller and larger features coming nearly every patch it is off to a running start. I do beleive they should have waited for more features to be complete before they took off the beta tag, but i am still having fun, still enjoying the game, and there are so many mechs now that at the current rate you can play a new mech every week for a good long time.

    If you want more complete features, wait, but if you want to get a leg up on the competition come community warfare now is a good time to join in.    … Expand
  35. NARCoMAN
    Sep 19, 2013
    4
    I still play this game because it is mechwarrior, and not mechwarrior online. It delivers on gameplay for a while but gets old after 100 matches. You can really get in to the fights sometimes, and that's why it gets a 4.

    At best, the game is a deathmatch style with little substance outside of trying to get more 'mechs to fight more deathmatches with. There is no meaningful    I still play this game because it is mechwarrior, and not mechwarrior online. It delivers on gameplay for a while but gets old after 100 matches. You can really get in to the fights sometimes, and that's why it gets a 4.

    At best, the game is a deathmatch style with little substance outside of trying to get more 'mechs to fight more deathmatches with. There is no meaningful progression outside of collecting more 'mechs and leveling them up so you can play more matches. Launch was a pathetic whimper of business as usual. If you're interested come back later.

    For the price of free to play I would say try it, but save your money until it gets to be where it should have been.    … Expand
  36. MrBlonde
    Sep 19, 2013
    5
    I am a hardcore BT fan, and have waited long for a game like this. I find the graphics to be excellent and gameplay to be pretty decent, there are issues but nothing not fixable. The downsides...numerous missed deadlines for content, namely Community Warfare, which should be the heart of the game. Also, the 3rd person view issue was badly mishandled, and the community was in my opinionI am a hardcore BT fan, and have waited long for a game like this. I find the graphics to be excellent and gameplay to be pretty decent, there are issues but nothing not fixable. The downsides...numerous missed deadlines for content, namely Community Warfare, which should be the heart of the game. Also, the 3rd person view issue was badly mishandled, and the community was in my opinion disrespected by the developers (that probably went both ways). Hopefully the addition of Community Warfare will cause former players to give it a second look. That should be priorities #1,2, and 3 for the developers until complete. It should have pushed all other new features (ahem...3rd person...) to the back burner until completed. Everything else is irrelevant without it, although still fun to play.… Expand
  37. Zakerystrife
    Sep 19, 2013
    8
    For me this is a fun game, but yes, currently incomplete. However instead of giving it a score of ZERO like a lot of these "reviews" I'm giving it an HONEST 8.

    There are more things coming to this game that may boost me up to a 10, but for an overall game I do enjoy it a lot. For all those people complaining about weapon balance, and how Table Top does it better.... Just take a step    For me this is a fun game, but yes, currently incomplete. However instead of giving it a score of ZERO like a lot of these "reviews" I'm giving it an HONEST 8.

    There are more things coming to this game that may boost me up to a 10, but for an overall game I do enjoy it a lot. For all those people complaining about weapon balance, and how Table Top does it better.... Just take a step back for a minute and look at your argument.

    First of all yes, it is a simulation, with simulation comes PRECISION. With precision, comes PIN POINT SHOTS, people saying there should be a random to miss or a cone of fire, stay with your table top game please, it WILL NOT work here. If anything, that suggestion would completely ruin this game. I should be able to AIM my weapon and HIT what I'm shooting at based on MY skill, not by random chance.

    For me, weapon balancing has been turning out to be very nice and well, balanced lately. Graphics could always be better, but DX-11 isn't here yet and with DX-11 we may be able to choose more advanced graphics settings in the future.

    As for this game launching, I'm not sure it was really time for it yet. With its core feature still missing, I feel that it could hurt the game in the beginning, but on the flip side new players won't know about these features and when they DO come out, minds will be blown.

    Just a tip for the new players, just take it a little at a time. This is a very in depth game and there are a lot of mechanics to learn, but stick with it. Those first 25 matches are going to be hell, but you will learn a lot.    … Expand
  38. redryder188
    Sep 19, 2013
    0
    Do not be fooled, several of the developers and the NGNG team has created a multitude of accounts to give this a "good review". In reality, PGI has stolen both money and the fun from the game time and time again. You can not get anything without buying $20 USD worth of credits.. and even then, they still try to kill the game. PGI is simply milking the die-hard MechWarrior fans and newDo not be fooled, several of the developers and the NGNG team has created a multitude of accounts to give this a "good review". In reality, PGI has stolen both money and the fun from the game time and time again. You can not get anything without buying $20 USD worth of credits.. and even then, they still try to kill the game. PGI is simply milking the die-hard MechWarrior fans and new people alike.. there is nothing that is fun or enjoyable.. its not even up to par where development is considered. A child could do better. Example: It takes them three months to release just one or two maps of bad quality.. when a single person could have made around 200 maps of excellent quality. The networking sucks, PGI's changes to the game sucks. They have been bombarded by refund requests SOO much, that they are actually trying to get everyone paying again through their "Phoenix Package" or whatever the hell they have came up with now. PGI has eternally ruined mechwarrior, and most experts agree that PGI will fail and most likely fall apart sometime around or a little after the new year.… Expand
  39. jdb423
    Sep 19, 2013
    8
    MWO has been the most fun I've had in any game in years. The game play itself I would give a 10, the points off are for the lackluster out of game experience. The loading area, mechlab and social features are pretty bare bones and really need to be updated and expanded. The game could also use more maps coming out faster, although they are working on this and the maps provide variedMWO has been the most fun I've had in any game in years. The game play itself I would give a 10, the points off are for the lackluster out of game experience. The loading area, mechlab and social features are pretty bare bones and really need to be updated and expanded. The game could also use more maps coming out faster, although they are working on this and the maps provide varied game play elements and are more than just a new background to play on.

    Overall it is a great experience that's a blast to play, and will be a 10 if they can get the whole package on the same level.    … Expand
  40. Morgoth139
    Sep 19, 2013
    4
    This is a mechwarrior/battle tech game in name only. It’s trying really hard to be CS or MW but fails. The only similarities to MW and BT are the names of the mechs and weapons. Everything else is a perversion of all that is classic BT. Magical levels of weapon accuracy. heat system is fundamentally wrong. The Dev team doesn't understand basic TT rules. Ghost heat- when you fire more thanThis is a mechwarrior/battle tech game in name only. It’s trying really hard to be CS or MW but fails. The only similarities to MW and BT are the names of the mechs and weapons. Everything else is a perversion of all that is classic BT. Magical levels of weapon accuracy. heat system is fundamentally wrong. The Dev team doesn't understand basic TT rules. Ghost heat- when you fire more than the arbitrary number of weapons you get penalty heat. You can only fire one ac20 at a time. then what’s the point of customization...
    MG's are critical hit seeking weapons. very limited game modes 2 types.... it’s all just team death match anyway, no strategy needed, just blob up and start ganking. the game is just a grind for credits. mech customization is lack luster. interface is not very good.

    The game is really not ready for launch it's more of a highly polished alpha.
    graphics and sound are nice....

    if you’re looking for some BT MW action you’re better off reloading a old copy from years ago.
    This game is really just a reskined MW4 with only multi player…. No campaign…..
    but if you think BT crossed with counter strike and modern warfare and type of people and game play that brings then go for it. the game can be fun at times. I’d give it 50/50 it all comes down to who you drop with.

    I gave it a 4 because this game has the potential to rival EVE in depth of complexity and game play, but in the hands of the PGI development team all your gona get is a reskined FPS. it’s worth a look but not for investing in any money what so ever,

    Any one giving this game a 10 either works for PGI or is fan boy trying to counter the influx of 0's from people who have poured their hearts, money into beta hoping to finally get the BT game we have all been wanting since we first saw a war hammer your favorite looking mech and got burned. The dev team is making a game for the FPS counter strike crowd. I keep referencing CS because the dev team has made direct comparisons with CS in terms of game balance for weapons. It’s broken and they are in denial.

    The game started out as an awesome mech sim but somewhere along the way it mutated into a bad FPS.

    Try it but don’t spend any money for a month or so cause I think you will regret it like I do.    … Expand
  41. heywhynot
    Sep 19, 2013
    3
    The word that sums up this game is "disappointment". The art team is amazing, and at its base it could be a fun game. But the development team has managed to push out an incoherent under-documented repetitive mess. There's no variety in game play and the devs have shown that they would rather spend their days on no value added features then tweak XML for the sake of balance.
  42. Ashiel
    Sep 19, 2013
    1
    Do you know what phrase is killing this game and enabling a snail's pace development cycle from PGI?

    "Just give it time." I've heard these words uttered since closed beta. Even before the founder's program. That was a YEAR ago. We have issues that were problems then and still are now. -Hit detection: Started out as slight netcode problem where you had to anticipate a mech's    Do you know what phrase is killing this game and enabling a snail's pace development cycle from PGI?

    "Just give it time."

    I've heard these words uttered since closed beta. Even before the founder's program. That was a YEAR ago. We have issues that were problems then and still are now.

    -Hit detection: Started out as slight netcode problem where you had to anticipate a mech's path and shoot a little ahead. Then got to the point that light mechs going 100+ km/h could never reliably be hit with a projectile weapon unless they were standing still (even that was a crap shoot at times).

    -C-bill grind: Every single time the income started to get a little better and that you didn't have to play literally a hundred matches to buy the cheapest stock assault mech? It gets "adjusted" so that it becomes a grind akin to everquest's poopsock events back in the day. There's incentivizing your player base to spend money on your premium time. And then there's putting the thumb screws on and only loosening them slightly when you pay for premium time.

    -Weapon balance: This has become a problem just like it was in previous Mechwarrior games. Most matches devolve into "poptarting" where whoever has the highest pinpoint alpha damage with long range weapons ends up winning in a lot of matches.

    -Scale: Mechs are too large for their size category and are too slow compared to their bigger cousins. So they get ripped apart. You only really see the extremes in matches now. Smaller and faster mechs versus bigger and chunkier assaults/heavies. The medium mech class is underutilized to an almost tragic degree. Part of it is the speed issue. The game's capped out at a rather low speed compared to previous games and the lore of the setting. (Note: this is because of netcode/hit detection issues bleeding over into balance).

    -Outright lying about core concepts/stances: The game was never supposed to have third person view. Then when it was going to have it. It was supposed to have split queues. But then even -that- wasn't brought in. We've had UI 2.0 on the "soon" time table for months now. We've had directx 11 supposedly being worked on since last year. When criticized for the supposed promise made to people who had crowd funded their game? "That was our position at the time." That's a rather funny way to say we changed our minds/lied to you.

    The only pros about this game are the lore and the intellectual property as a whole. Which they are doing their damndest it seems to milk as hard as they can because after only a few days of play, that's all this game really has going for it.

    It's a pity that we get this digital abomination to be the next game in the line of the mechwarrior franchise. Congrats PGI/IGP. What a stellar track record of exemplary performance you've shown yourself to have.

    Broken promises to people who paid you money, in some cases ludicrous sums. A release of content so abysmally slow that you had to break your core idea of locking yourself to a 1:1 time scale. An obvious mismanagement so extremely bad that multiple individuals in the forums who are veterans of the game industry were able to call out not only the exact development model you're using, but the most likely reasons why it's failing (hint: it's the people calling the shots combined with a team too small to get it done the right way).

    No surprise those posts got removed for "rules violations" despite having not a single rule violation in them even after the draconian bull that is being pulled there now. Hell, even posting reviews on metacritic that don't praise the game hard enough can result in your account being banned. Regardless of money being spent on it or not.    … Expand
  43. CakeBandit
    Sep 19, 2013
    1
    The development of MWO has been pockmarked by cashgrabs, unfulfilled promises, and a remarkable lack of remorse from the folks at the helm of it all. The people who bought into the founders package have been delivered a product that isn't anything like what was promised. Several have also been banned for requesting refunds, in addition to having their request refused. If you hold to theThe development of MWO has been pockmarked by cashgrabs, unfulfilled promises, and a remarkable lack of remorse from the folks at the helm of it all. The people who bought into the founders package have been delivered a product that isn't anything like what was promised. Several have also been banned for requesting refunds, in addition to having their request refused. If you hold to the idea that businesses should deliver the features they market, this game already doesn't deserve your attention, and certainly not your money.

    The game itself is an unbalanced, buggy mess that makes absolutely no effort to educate the uninitiated as to its labyrinthine mechanics. Some of which are completely glossed over and never mentioned in the mechlab. They punish you as a new player by forcing you to play using units configured around some horrifically un-optimized variant chained to the tabletop game from which this game is supposedly based. If you don't already know how mechwarrior works, the game isn't about to fix that. It's going to punish you for your ignorance and not let you do anything about it via its much touted customization.

    If by some miraculous chance you actually do figure something out, you're going to have to grind until you can purchase a chassis you can customize. I sure hope you know the differences between the different chassis variants, too, because they are most certainly not equals. After that, you grind to purchase equipment for it to do the things you want. This is when you're allowed to have "fun." "Fun" consists of playing a remarkably slow arena shooter against other poor folks stuck in trial mechs or people who have been living and breathing Battletech for decades. Of course, you can always pay them money to get past the part where you lose a lot in a bad unit. I don't think I really have to explain what's wrong with that.

    As a parting shot and general measure of quality, I'll just mention that there is no integrated VOIP. The game fully expects you to drop with random people as allies and coordinate like you've just dialed up the internet through your 56k modem and logged onto your favorite DooM server.

    There are dozens of other free to play arena shooters that you could spend your time and money on. Give this one a pass and go play some of those.    … Expand
  44. Slaytronic
    Sep 19, 2013
    0
    This game isn't much fun at all, It's a unbalanced mess that has had 1 and half years to get balance right.
    The game studio couldn't even do that The maps look like they came out of the year 2000.
    The mechs look ok but recently most of the mechs art quality has actually dropped too. I couldn't give this game more than a 0 right now due to so many bugs, lack of game play modes there is    This game isn't much fun at all, It's a unbalanced mess that has had 1 and half years to get balance right.
    The game studio couldn't even do that The maps look like they came out of the year 2000.
    The mechs look ok but recently most of the mechs art quality has actually dropped too.
    I couldn't give this game more than a 0 right now due to so many bugs, lack of game play modes there is only 2, lack of being able to group up with more than 4 friends, and so many other issues it just needs to be left behind and forgotten.    … Expand
  45. NiknudStunod
    Sep 19, 2013
    0
    The best place for me to start this review is with broken promises. Over a year ago when I purchased the 3 mech founders pack I was under the impression that community warfare was only about a year away. Now a year later it is no where in sight. Around that same time there was a interview with the leader dev and a question was asked about 3rd person view. The answer he gave was aThe best place for me to start this review is with broken promises. Over a year ago when I purchased the 3 mech founders pack I was under the impression that community warfare was only about a year away. Now a year later it is no where in sight. Around that same time there was a interview with the leader dev and a question was asked about 3rd person view. The answer he gave was a simple "It will never be in MWO". That also turned out to be a lie. Now lets talk about the meta game. At first glance it looks like you have a lot of choices in terms of mechs. The truth is with the games current balance if you want to compete you will be running nothing but assaults and heavy mechs. The game is even less playable now that it has launched then it was a year and a half ago in closed beta. So to wrap everything up stay away from this game.… Expand
  46. ShadeZ
    Sep 19, 2013
    6
    I am not a founder but yet I still enjoy this game. I've been playing it for almost a year and there are lots of bad reviews written that is utterly untrue.

    The game is balanced and anybody says it otherwise should review what were they doing on the battlefield and with what mech because every mech in the game is designed differently with different roles. Don't tell me you were killed    I am not a founder but yet I still enjoy this game. I've been playing it for almost a year and there are lots of bad reviews written that is utterly untrue.

    The game is balanced and anybody says it otherwise should review what were they doing on the battlefield and with what mech because every mech in the game is designed differently with different roles. Don't tell me you were killed because you go 1v1 with a long range support against a melee brawler and then you say its not balanced. You must be some kind of special stupid to say that otherwise.

    Learn your mech and use trial and error to learn your mistakes and be a good pilot of your mech. I grinded my way to own 3 mechs for almost a year and I am still not done out fitting them with the proper equipment I planned to outfit it with. So don't complain that you've grind for a week or two and say its a cash whoring game because it is a typical cash whoring F2P game and get over it!

    The reason why I rate this game at 6 mainly because you really do have to grind countless hours of gameplay to get to where I am and along with various disappointments such as the absence of faction warfare. Overall it is still an enjoyable game.

    GLHF    … Expand
  47. PinguReviews
    Sep 19, 2013
    2
    False advertising once again to steal sales. Developers are filled with lies to take all the loyal Mechwarrior Fans money and then switch to another demographic, "casuals". All past promises and information about this game was just the "position at the time" the developers say and completed to form this game into a mech game that's inbetween Mechwarrior and Mechassault. Released articlesFalse advertising once again to steal sales. Developers are filled with lies to take all the loyal Mechwarrior Fans money and then switch to another demographic, "casuals". All past promises and information about this game was just the "position at the time" the developers say and completed to form this game into a mech game that's inbetween Mechwarrior and Mechassault. Released articles in magazines from them say that the game isn't just "walk to capture point and win or kill all the mechs" but that's literally what this game has been the whole time. Same article says the new gamemode will have bases to capture with automated turrets, this gamemode turns out to be exactly like the first one but now you have 5 or so points to capture to a reach capture score first. No turrets, no bases, and pretty mindless gameplay as well. Developers then try to sneak P2W features in the game to see if the forum backlash would be enough to keep it in. Luckily the forum community has stopped them from continuing and had them adjust there new feature system of consumables. Community Warfare, the feature we are all looking forward to, still has almost no information out and had it's release date constantly pushed back. Honestly at the rate this company works and how much they lie, I'd expect "CW" to be nothing but the same arena mode gameplay with a leaderboard and little bonuses at the end of the match. There is no way they can make enough maps within a couple years to make it so you actual play on a map and capture zones ingame. Speaking of slow paced, obvious balancing and content come out at a snail pace as well. Content I can let slip since they are a small team but simple balancing that is blatantly there staring at you, not so much. Finally one of my big concerns is that the game would stay "immersive" and stay a first person shooter. This was said by the devs MULTIPLE times out before and after the founders program was going on. After the developers have squeezed the money out of the core fanbase that loves mechwarrior, they turned there backs on them and are now looking to make this game as simplistic it can be to get more money out of a new fanbase. They are willing to do this at the cost of breaking immersion and ruining the chance of having this game a complex shooter that involves thinking and strategy. By the way, they weren't even aware that there third-person mode doesn't even help much in the "seeing your torso and legs" department but rather gave a new tool for users that know what they are doing to exploit the camera over corners and hills. This was warned to them the whole time but even when this feature is out, they are in denial saying it is "balanced" and does not give a advantage. This is not a "thinkings man shooter" nor a "mech sim". Just another arcade shooter that caters to apparently people who don't have the patience to learn torso/leg alignment (and yet they say they want a thinking shooter? makes no sense since it's lie for original fanbase). I could also say that this product is just simply a money grab for future projects since they simply don't care about there reputation nor there Mechwarrior game with all the lies.… Expand
  48. MrIgor
    Sep 19, 2013
    3
    So this is my second time submitting a review for MWO, as apparently my attempts to be honest were not what the copious masses wanted. So instead of rehashing the large post I put up yesterday, let me summarize it for you.

    MechWarrior Online is sub-average in gameplay. Updates arbitrarily change how weapons in-game function. There are only two forms of matches to play, after fourteen    So this is my second time submitting a review for MWO, as apparently my attempts to be honest were not what the copious masses wanted. So instead of rehashing the large post I put up yesterday, let me summarize it for you.

    MechWarrior Online is sub-average in gameplay. Updates arbitrarily change how weapons in-game function. There are only two forms of matches to play, after fourteen months of beta testing, and both are simply derivatives of the team deathmatch game. The recent economy changes, meant to spur the purchasing of MC for real world cash, have made the grind painful and long for anyone other than a new player. New players get to ride a "Cadet Bonus" for the first 20 to 25 matches that ensures they can buy a single 'Mech, but are unaware of how drastic the dip in payouts is after those first matches are over. They are also thrown head-first against seasoned veterans in customized 'Mechs, forced to survive in the stock Trial 'Mechs that have subpar loadouts to learn and earn on. The official forums are toxic, and information pertinent to the game is disseminated across other sites, rendering them effectively moot.

    I stand by my recommendation that only those who are fans of BattleTech or MechWarrior play this, as well as my admonition to keep your wallet closed until you've played the game enough to decide if it's what you want it to be. My score, as posted yesterday before being deleted, stands at a 3 out of 10.    … Expand
  49. CagaLeche
    Sep 19, 2013
    8
    This review is about the game, (A lot of the bad reviews seem to be rating the devs and not the game). The core game mechanics are complex in a good way that requires you to pay attention to what is happening whether you're scouting, sniping, brawling, defending a base, harassing the enemy in your light mech, trying to shoot the AC20 off the arm of the mech that is tearing you apart, orThis review is about the game, (A lot of the bad reviews seem to be rating the devs and not the game). The core game mechanics are complex in a good way that requires you to pay attention to what is happening whether you're scouting, sniping, brawling, defending a base, harassing the enemy in your light mech, trying to shoot the AC20 off the arm of the mech that is tearing you apart, or setting up an ambush by powering down. There are so many ways to play the game other than just "shoot the enemy dead & repeat". In addition the game play is slower than your typical shooter. This is probably the best thing ever for someone like me who no longer has the twitch reflexes to play Counter-Strike, Battlefield, etc. This game benefits from thinking about your team's situation and that of your own mech, coming up with a strategy, and working as a team. Of course sometimes everything goes to hell and you still lose, but you can reflect, think about what went wrong and adjust your strategy the next time!

    The game is fun to me for these reasons and I keep coming back for more. BONUS: You can play this game with plenty of beers in your system and still do well! Although I have a lot of fun, it's not a perfect game nor is it complete as many have probably noted in their reviews. I am looking forward to additional game modes, DX11, new user interface 2.0, and the perpetual evolution of the game as it develops.

    If you are having trouble deciding whether to try this game or not, ITS FREE TO PLAY! See for yourself and decide. Even better yet, get some friends to join you to improve your experience, however you will want to provide your own VOIP solution since the game does not yet include one.

    Good Luck & Happy Hunting    … Expand
  50. GrumpyCritic
    Sep 19, 2013
    0
    I have played MWO since November 2012 during the 'open beta'. My experience over that time has led me to conclude that Mechwarrior Online is a cash grab.

    The Game: The game has 2 modes, assault and conquest. In assault you have to either capture your enemies base or kill all the enemies. Conquest is a resource collection race where you hold up to five bases and collect resources    I have played MWO since November 2012 during the 'open beta'. My experience over that time has led me to conclude that Mechwarrior Online is a cash grab.

    The Game:

    The game has 2 modes, assault and conquest. In assault you have to either capture your enemies base or kill all the enemies. Conquest is a resource collection race where you hold up to five bases and collect resources based on how many you hold over time. You can also win conquest by killing all enemies. There are roughly 7 maps in the game. The way it plays is that you select a mech, select a game mode, and then either group with others in a pre-made group or launch solo. When you launch a random map is selected and off you go. There is no mechanism to organize matches between premade teams. If you win a match you get a certain amount of C-Bills and XP that you can then use to improve or buy new mechs. If you lose you get lesser amounts. The game (at launch) has no weight limits on drops or any consequences for your choice of mech beyond the gameplay. The result is that matches tend to be filled with assault mechs and FOTM builds.

    In a typical match you might earn around 80k C-bills for an 8 minute match. Mechs tend to cost in the millions (depending on the weight of the mech.) You can expect a reasonably lengthy grind to get the mechs you want. After you get the mechs you want, you then have to grind C-Bills to customize them with better engines, weapons, and ability modules. The net result is that you have to earn a significant amount of C-Bills to get the mechs you want. Expect to spend many hours/days dropping to earn enough to build the next mech you want. The cash shop has a conversion rate of about 200MC per US dollar. There are three kinds of mechs: regular, Champion, and Hero mechs. Champion mechs earn a bonus to XP. Hero mechs earn a bonus to C-Bill generation. Hero mechs cost about 75MC per ton. So an 90 ton hero mech will cost around $30 US. Champion and regular mechs cost roughly half as much MC. There are sales periodically which sell the less popular mechs at a slight discount. The game also offers 'premium time' which gives you a bonus to C-Bills and XP earned per drop. The relative value of premium time is subject to change as it is measured as a percentage of what you earn in a match. PGI changes the value of what is earned whenever they feel it is getting too high.

    Why I think the game is bad:

    The game is currently implemented as a treadmill for building mechs to use in deathmatch. There is no overarching story or persistent world. The result is that the game is very shallow. You grind out your mechs and deal with the changing meta-game based on whatever FOTM builds are. I got bored with it. PGI (the developer) has added a few maps over the course of the last year, and many more new mechs. They haven't materially changed the way the game plays. Most of the content they have put out has been geared toward their cash shop (new mechs.) Gameplay elements seem to have a lower priority in their development queue. That means the game grows/changes very slowly if at all. Many people invested in this game during the 'Founders' package offer (a year before launch) based on promises of a deep meta-game with community warfare and persistent galactic conquest (real goals.) None of this has materialized in the year up to launch.

    So I say again: Mechwarrior Online is a cash grab. It is a mech building treadmill arena shooter with a cash shop. And the developer really only cares about the cash shop. Spend yours wisely.    … Expand
  51. CTJ
    Sep 19, 2013
    3
    I am a BTech fan from childhood. I played MechWarrior titles since MW2. This is an abomination of both.

    The good: It looks *slick*. It has recognizable Mechs. It has potential. The community is (currently) vibrant and full of great ideas and analysis. The bad: The developers don't listen or utilize the brilliant ideas. The developers lie, lie and lie. The game is nothing near as good    I am a BTech fan from childhood. I played MechWarrior titles since MW2. This is an abomination of both.

    The good: It looks *slick*. It has recognizable Mechs. It has potential. The community is (currently) vibrant and full of great ideas and analysis.

    The bad: The developers don't listen or utilize the brilliant ideas. The developers lie, lie and lie. The game is nothing near as good as BT3025 was in Alpha. There is no balance. It feels like CoD or other FPS more than a sim or Mech title. It caters to the largest demographic, rather than trying to develop a fantastic title that would draw people in to learn a more complex, interesting game. All in all, it feels like some CoD players wanted to make a game with big stompy robots, acquired a title that would get them immediate recognition and player base, and then because they have no actual love for the origins of the title gutted its heart with a rusty spoon.    … Expand
  52. Ronner
    Sep 19, 2013
    1
    There is nothing to the game of MechWarrior Online.

    A stand up shooting game with no depth, but the one to your wallet.

    Overpriced and simple graphics, walk shot build walk shot.

    I am a fan of shooting games. However, MechWarrior is not worth the money or investment of time.
  53. Elliotthd
    Sep 19, 2013
    8
    As the game sits now at launch, it doesn't amount to much more than two different types of death match which are repeated in random order over and over. As a fan of first person shooters the game play should be at least mildly familiar. The real difference being a lack of respawns and an actual need to play as a team. This is not Call of Duty in giant walking tanks. It is definitely moreAs the game sits now at launch, it doesn't amount to much more than two different types of death match which are repeated in random order over and over. As a fan of first person shooters the game play should be at least mildly familiar. The real difference being a lack of respawns and an actual need to play as a team. This is not Call of Duty in giant walking tanks. It is definitely more of a tactical game. You need to spend some time thinking about your position in relation to your team and how you can be most effective with your current load out.

    Which brings me to the Mechlab. In Mechwarrior, buying and building your own 'Mechs is a huge part of the game. As you fight you will earn c-bills. You can then use these c-bills to purchase 'cannon' variant 'Mech platforms which you can then customize as your see fit. And customizations are near limitless. Your only real limitations are weight and hardpoints. Hardpoints are the parts of any 'Mech you mount weapons too. Each variant of each chassis boasts different hardpoint configurations, making each 'Mech feel unique. And there are a lot of 'Mechs to choose from. At the time of launch there were 21 'Mech platforms each with their own list of variants, for a total of 99 different 'Mechs.

    Now not all variants can be purchased with c-bills. 'Hero' 'Mechs need to be purchased with 'Mech Credits or MC. MC is real world currency you can use to purchase certain things within the MW:O universe. The two most common are the above mentioned 'Hero' 'Mechs and new mechbays. Mechbays are like garage slots for your 'Mechs. You are given four, but if you want to have more than four 'Mechs at a time you'll need to use real world currency to get more. As you master 'Mechs though, you can always sell them off and purchase new ones. You don't lose progress you have made with 'Mechs when you sell them either, so no worries there. If you decide to repurchase the 'Mech in the future, you will still have any of the upgrades you've gotten for the chassis unlocked.

    And yes, as you play in any given chassis, you are awarded experience which you can then use to unlock upgrades on that chassis and modules to be equipped to the 'Mech to unlock certain abilities like faster base capture rates or a seismic sensor to show enemy mechs on your mini map that you can't see through your view point.

    Graphically the game is absurd when compared to other free to play titles. It's a gorgeous game with great art design. The 'Mechs look great the maps keep getting better with each new one that is released (one about every two months). Game play is smooth and as of the most recent release of the game relatively bug free. Many of the bugs that plagued the closed beta and the early open beta have been cleared up, and work continues on the existing ones. There isn't any soundtrack to the game, but the weapon sounds are okay and the A.I. voice that informs you of your status or incoming attacks is done well and is well implemented. Game balance seems to sway back and forth, though, at this particular moment is in pretty good shape. Most of the weapons at your disposal are viable and usable in the position they are designed to fill.

    The real shame of the game is the lack of any REAL tutorial. The learning curve here is steep and I can see where it would send people packing. It takes time and game play to really learn the nuances of each 'Mech and your first few matches will be spent dying and then watching the rest of your team play. It can be daunting and disheartening. I truly recommend getting on the MWO forums and finding a group to play with. As a solo player with no one to really work with, you'll find yourself losing. A lot. And your frustration level rising with each subsequent lose. When you join a team the game becomes infinitely more fun. Development time would be well spent on an in game voip integration. That would do leaps and bounds for new player retention in my opinion.

    A few of my other complaints are not about features that are in the game, but ones that aren't. While many of the features are on the slate for future release, there is no real ETA on any of them. Certain game mechanics that would improve the game play immensely and I feel like should have been in the game before they launched. Two of the biggest being better hit detection and the collision mechanic that was removed early into open beta. The community warfare would be nice, but is in active development so I am not going to gripe too much about that.

    All in all the game is progressing nicely. With two updates a month, both usually releasing new content and bug fixes, and a well planned road map of future features. As the game sits it is fun and a good time sink. Easily picked up for an hour here or there to play a few matches. Once community warfare goes live, I can see the game taking on a whole new life as people sink hours into controlling land and holding territory.    … Expand
  54. StoneMason
    Sep 19, 2013
    5
    tl:dr Great game, terrible experience. Right now this is a f2p team deathmatch game with no greater meta or community features on the immediate horizon. The inconsistency of communication implies a serious divergence of goals between the developers and producers. You'll probably have a great time playing it but I wouldn't spend a single cent because you can't trust it'll feel the same intl:dr Great game, terrible experience. Right now this is a f2p team deathmatch game with no greater meta or community features on the immediate horizon. The inconsistency of communication implies a serious divergence of goals between the developers and producers. You'll probably have a great time playing it but I wouldn't spend a single cent because you can't trust it'll feel the same in six months, or be around at all.

    I'm a long time Mechwarrior/Battletech fan who has been captivated by the universe since Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries. I've really enjoyed playing in the closed and open beta for MWO but the overall experience has been very conflicted.

    The Good: Imo this is the best interpretation of both Mechwarrior and the Battletech tabletop game we have ever seen. You might disagree with a choice here and there, but the art, animations, weapon and damage effects all work together to capture the punchy feel of Mech combat like never before. Despite some radical changes from patch to patch, the balance is good and each match feels relatively consistent. You can be confident that the developers making the game love the franchise and have a very coherent view of how the basic mechanics should work. I've played thousands of games and on balance, enjoyed them immensely.

    The Bad: Despite what the Founders program may have suggested, this title is not crowd funded. The developers are responsible to their producers and investors rather than the player base. Features are missing from the game that should have been in over a year ago and if we extrapolate the process, we probably won't see true mid or late game content for another year at least. The current maps and game modes are badly underdeveloped and basic community enablement systems like game lobbies and communication tools are non-existent. This in itself is not the issue, especially given the inexperience and the small size of the development team but it does point to some larger problems.

    The Ugly: Communications between the developers and the community have broken down badly in the last six months, with major backpedals on design decisions being very poorly managed. The flow of information between the developers and community is uneven and external sources, like the NGNG podcast and Twitter receive far more attention that the games frontpage or the forums. Recently highly restrictive moderation powers were updated and are being enforced, often developers will openly troll community members posting well thought out and reasoned responses. This is probably symptomatic of two things:

    1) The developers are brutally overworked, and have been for some time. They simply cannot be responsible for managing the communities expectations because they are so flat out and behind schedule. The recent 'Launch' trailer hosted by the official Mechwarrior youtube channel, is actually fan made and includes footage from over a year ago, also gameplay that is not planned to exist for at least two years.

    2) The investors are pushing to grow the game in a particular way and the producers are enforcing that vision, at the expense of both the developers and the community. Often we see certain Mech's released (at high cost) along with meta changes that make them very attractive, only to be superseded by others a few months down the line. This feels like a cashgrab because it is, especially given that any mech you buy might not work in a weeks time.    … Expand
  55. Moomoot
    Sep 19, 2013
    8
    Free-to-play big stompy robots!

    Still missing some core game features (i.e. community warfare) but so far it's been a lot of fun. Balance is finally heading in the right direction and there are plenty mechs to play with.

    Not a lot added for launch but given a few months if should be much better and has a good base to build on over time.
  56. d3xt0r
    Sep 19, 2013
    8
    The game progression into the current build has been quite steady, with turn around of fixes and patches being regular. The game is far from complete, but it looks as though it'll get there smoothly, despite the horde of negativity on the forums due to a select group of people.

    I look forward to playing this game well into the future, and have already invested money into it.
  57. Crashingmail
    Sep 19, 2013
    9
    I'm in this game sind closed beta and still enjoy it, even with the missing Community Warfare, missing UI 2.0 or the implemented 3PV.
    I can understand why they implemented 3PV regardless of their first Statement that this will not happen, and i also think that the community reacted not the best way they could.
    For such a small Company, also with very few Manpower they did a very good Job    I'm in this game sind closed beta and still enjoy it, even with the missing Community Warfare, missing UI 2.0 or the implemented 3PV.
    I can understand why they implemented 3PV regardless of their first Statement that this will not happen, and i also think that the community reacted not the best way they could.
    For such a small Company, also with very few Manpower they did a very good Job all the time and i think this game is getting better and better.    … Expand
  58. Zolta
    Sep 19, 2013
    8
    MWO is a free to play game, so try it yourself! I played it for half a year together with some friends and I spent money for it not only to have a smother grind, but also because i thought that great features are close to make it into the game and that I want to support that. When I realised that the game doesn´t improve its core I left.
  59. Dark_Awakening
    Sep 19, 2013
    7
    Expect a slightly flawed game which makes tremendous fun. It has solid core mechanics with lots of promised but not yet delivered content and a switch around developer who doesnt take his own promises that seriously.

    Nevertheless I've never invested that much time in a single game. If they can deliver more content, it will rock. 7/10 atm
  60. Ghostwolfe1
    Sep 19, 2013
    3
    Simply put, the game is not finished yet has been released. There is nothing allowing players to plan matches between friends or groups, a lobby is non existent. The long promised community warfare which would give some solid backstory to fighting in the MWO universe is nowhere on the horizon, the list of incomplete things goes on. There is a general consensus the devs ignore theirSimply put, the game is not finished yet has been released. There is nothing allowing players to plan matches between friends or groups, a lobby is non existent. The long promised community warfare which would give some solid backstory to fighting in the MWO universe is nowhere on the horizon, the list of incomplete things goes on. There is a general consensus the devs ignore their playerbase or quote a "silent majority" backs their choices which sounds like BS. There is a great deal of potential but as of late it seems the Devs spend more time on ways to get players to spend real money in game instead of finishing the product with things that would not cost players real money.… Expand
  61. Solvent
    Sep 19, 2013
    9
    Meh. Someone called this a thinking man's shooter. I'm inclined to agree.

    I used to play the tabletop map based game, so, I'm obviously old. I was not a founder, so I was not there from the start, but got there a few months after, when a friend who IS a founder showed it to me. He wont play it now. Sucks. I love this game. What I've noticed, more than anything, is the NON STOP    Meh. Someone called this a thinking man's shooter. I'm inclined to agree.

    I used to play the tabletop map based game, so, I'm obviously old.

    I was not a founder, so I was not there from the start, but got there a few months after, when a friend who IS a founder showed it to me. He wont play it now. Sucks. I love this game.

    What I've noticed, more than anything, is the NON STOP COMPLAINING! Some of the best games I've ever played, polarize people in a way similar to what I've seen in MWO.

    I pay attention, and in translation most of what I hear is "THIS LAST PATCH MADE MY FAVORITE MECH SUCK!" Caps are important there, since it's like people are so full of mad. Yes it has a steep learning curve. Yes there is a lot to know about it before you play. Yes sometimes Dev priorities seem a little skewed sometimes, and shortly before release, it was like they (the developers) got really annoyed, and just included the things people sperg most about. That was the first, and only time I got pissed off.

    The community is what makes this game, because at it's core, it's about customization and UNIT TACTICS. I kinda think the PUG (pick up game) mechanics are good for the players, since it teaches people to work as a team... FORCES people to watch what others are doing, and work together.

    I'll give any player the same advice I give when people ask if there is a plan:

    Know your mech's role. Stick with a group, at least three mechs strong.

    If you're in a light mech, don't over commit, be ready to run away, that's what they are for.

    Mediums support the assaults, either killing light mech harassment, or adding extra pop in and out firepower.

    Just because you're in an assault, doesn't mean you're immortal, at least swivel your torso to spread damage.

    Heavy mechs are really good for doing damage, not taking it.

    If you're going to spend money on this game, start by using it for GXP conversion, especially during a sale on it. Unlock the modules with GXP first, they really give you a hell of an edge. For 15 bucks, I unlocked all the modules in one swoop.

    Just like in real life, if you're trying to go solo, and be a hero, be ready to get killed. Heros die.

    Die in a fire.    … Expand
  62. andybird123
    Sep 19, 2013
    0
    started with great promise, however the lack of content and features means that this game is far from being viable as a stand alone product
    there is little to no documentation on anything there is a simple video tutorial that explains a small section of the gameplay, the key map listed on the website only shows about half of the keys needed (as can be seen by looking in the options menu    started with great promise, however the lack of content and features means that this game is far from being viable as a stand alone product
    there is little to no documentation on anything there is a simple video tutorial that explains a small section of the gameplay, the key map listed on the website only shows about half of the keys needed (as can be seen by looking in the options menu at the key map there), the game starts in 3rd person view for new players with no explanation of how to switch to first person or start in first person, and when in 3rd person view you are at a severe disadvantage not being able to move your arms or see the minimap

    on top of this, new players are just thrown in the deep end with experienced players with no chance to play against only other new players, so most matches are completely one sided if you are lucky enough to have a few experienced players on your side you can tuck in behind them and ride their coat tails, otherwise your team is liable to wander off alone and get picked off one by one

    the developers originally said that they would have "community warfare", one of the games main and most important features for longevity, ready around 90 days after they went open beta... since then they've just said "when it's ready", but everyone took it to mean that Launch would equal CW... but here we are at Launch and the game is ostensibly the same as it was a year ago, with no real weight to it beyond a a grind for in game money to collect more mechs    … Expand
  63. Donut64
    Sep 19, 2013
    7
    MechWarrior: Online, despite its derpy developers, over-controversial forum-base, incomplete state, and horrible sound effects is a fun stompy 'mech game.

    For an aged 'Mech game fan, MWO has a few new things. While all 'mechs in the game have a torso that rotates independently from the legs, all 'Mechs have arms that you may control independently. Weapons mounted on the arms have a    MechWarrior: Online, despite its derpy developers, over-controversial forum-base, incomplete state, and horrible sound effects is a fun stompy 'mech game.

    For an aged 'Mech game fan, MWO has a few new things. While all 'mechs in the game have a torso that rotates independently from the legs, all 'Mechs have arms that you may control independently. Weapons mounted on the arms have a separate crosshair. Depending on the 'Mechs arm actuators, sometimes you may have a full range of motion with the arms, other times you may be locked to vertical up/down traverse with the arms. With the wide variety of 'Mechs already in the game, this, along with weight class, is the most basic difference between them. Each 'mech also has a unique ****

    For how little MechWarrior Online tries to do in-game, it does more things right than it does wrong. Most of the issues you'll run into without browsing the forums is the games hit registration. This makes it difficult to hit light 'mechs, but, users who live near eastern Canada should expect to have a better ping making the game more playable.

    MWO's out-of-game "metagame" is not so bad. It is not nearly as "grindy" as games like World of Tanks or League of Legends. If you enjoy 'Mech games, you'll probably spend more time enjoying yourself than grinding through something you didn't necessarily want to. New players also enjoy a fat bonus to C-bills for a limited number of games; C-bills being the in-game currency. The C-bills a new player accrues over these 24-25 games amounts to enough to buy a 'Mech from any weight class in the game, be it a Light, Medium, Heavy or Assault 'mech.

    While the game does have an "experience" system in place, where more experienced pilots will have more efficient 'Mechs, XP is easy to come by and a few hours every day a week will have you become 100% competitive if you stick to one chassis.

    So what's so bad about MWO? Piranha Games, referred to as "PGI". Simply put, MWO's developers are really, really derpy. They don't seem to want to listen and please their fans which have supported them with a boatload of cash. This leads the forum-scene to be a dreadful one. If you're a new player and want the most out of MWO, don't visit the forums unless you specifically wish to view patch notes and join a unit (guild or clan). For that, view the front-page and go to the various "Factions" section of the forums.

    The graphics for MWO are also pretty sub-bar. While the BattleMechs are mostly correctly scaled relative to the environment, there are very little cues that get across, "Hey, I'm in a 20-ft tall, 70-ton walking tank of doom!". The game's sound effects are also some of the worst I have ever had to hear. What's worse is, you can't mod the sounds to something better. The developers also haven't made much use of their awesome fully-rendered ****

    For a player who becomes dedicated, you'll find that MWO's content is pretty thin, and the longer you play the more you'll realize that its going to stay relatively thin. There are a lot of "promises" on the horizon of great, fun new content, and there's even a pack of 5 new 'Mechs coming along in October.

    Another weak point is the interface. It's not the easiest to navigate, it doesn't explain a whole lot and it's a lot like World of Tanks... and we all know that WoT's interface is, well, bad.

    I'll close this review by saying you should definitely check out MWO whether or not you're a BattleTech fan. The game rewards close teamwork and trustworthy allies almost more than in MOBA games. And, with an average match time of 10 minutes, it's not too deep of an investment if your team isn't good.
    But, I'll also say that, if you want to become dedicated to a game and see it grow all according to a well-developed plan, MWO is not your game. Currently, it's little more than rock'em sock'em robots ultra-teamwork mode and it looks like it's going to stay that way.    … Expand
  64. trydragon
    Sep 19, 2013
    8
    Ok, it seems some bad dissentions by PGI and IGP have got a lot of people up in arms about this game but reviews in my Opinion should be about the game and how it plays rather then used as a tool for a vendetta.

    Graphics... Over all am quite pleased with this games looks i don’t have the best GPU but on Medium quality it still look damn good, even with all the setting put down to low    Ok, it seems some bad dissentions by PGI and IGP have got a lot of people up in arms about this game but reviews in my Opinion should be about the game and how it plays rather then used as a tool for a vendetta.

    Graphics...

    Over all am quite pleased with this games looks i don’t have the best GPU but on Medium quality it still look damn good, even with all the setting put down to low it still look good and doesn’t really affect your gameplay.

    Sound...

    The sound effects are in my opinion awesome I think the nailed the weapons sounds down to a key only down side is there is no backing track atm so other than the stomp of your team mates mechs it can be quite, silent when you’re not in the heat of battle.

    Game Play...

    Do you like Giant Robots with massive firepower that can take a ton off damage and keep going if so this is the game for you, the controls take a bit of getting use too even now i still sometimes forget ware my feet are pointing and ram a team mate, but overall it fun.

    Can you solo play this game Yes you can but i think you really need to be in a group with coms to really excel in this game it all about team work and in PUG matches you rarely get that.

    Game mode It most deftly needs more game mode this is a big failing you got assault with is a team death Mach victor is the one to kill all the open’s mech or cap there base, and Cap which is a resource race to gain 750 points before the oppents you do this by capping several bases scatted on the battle field. Thought both modes are fun i still feel that they need more something that a bit different from Kill or cap.

    FTP...

    This game is free to play and with any free to play game you can use real money to buy items, not this game is not pay to win there is nothing other than cosmetic items and Hero mechs you can get in with in game money. So Hero mechs these mechs are unique mechs that can only be pay for with real world money so are the Over powered no actually there a couple i say were underpowered the main bonus you get with them is a 30% cbill (in game money) boost and a Custom Camo for that mech, I do like this pricing if you want to get a mech and not grind for it you can buy one or you can grind what i think IGP will make their money from is Premium Time which basically gives u a boost to XP and Cbills for a set amount of time.

    Final thoughts...

    This is a very fun game with a lot of potential i think it needed another 6 months before being moved out of Beta and i think the most of the community would agree with me but if you’re after a mech game that a lot of fun but requires a degree of thought then i would recommend you download this game but you really need to read the help guides of the MWO forums first.    … Expand
  65. Sullus
    Sep 19, 2013
    1
    Das Game ist die reinste verarsche so gut wie kein Inhalt.Ständig werde Features nach hinten verschoben
    seit locker 1 Jahr wartet man auf CW und es kommt gar nix selbst keine neuen infos.seit den c-bill nerf (Ingame geld) lohnt es sich auch nicht ein Premium Account oder Premium Mech zu kaufen.
  66. groovy4life
    Sep 19, 2013
    4
    The game with really great potential and dedicated playerbase ends up being mediocre due to slow developement and poor decisions of money hungry developer/publisher teams.

    I'll start with positive things: - real, licensed 'Mechs, most of them done nicely (size is off for some chassis though) - big variety of 'Mechs, all very customizable (developers tend to limit that freedom lately    The game with really great potential and dedicated playerbase ends up being mediocre due to slow developement and poor decisions of money hungry developer/publisher teams.

    I'll start with positive things:
    - real, licensed 'Mechs, most of them done nicely (size is off for some chassis though)
    - big variety of 'Mechs, all very customizable (developers tend to limit that freedom lately though with weird balance mechanics)
    - good graphics
    - nice maps
    - awesome sound effects (I think it is the strongest part of the game)
    - really great and helpful playerbase. Whether you want to immerse yourself into roleplaying aspect of Mechwarrior or just seek a group of people to play together, you will find something for you.

    Now, bad things.

    Biggest flaws I noticed that I cannot forgive because fixes to *all of them* were suggested (and ignored) numerous times on forums during beta period:

    - no proper tutorial for new players (which should be a priority in such a complex game). Simple movement tutorial is not enough. There is no tutorial for Mechlab.

    - no campaign or single player mode. While it's not 100% necessity, even short single player campaign would help new players.

    - no spectator mode until you die in match. There's no option to join match just to spectate other players. It could be delayed 3 minutes to prevent cheating and make it viable option for new players to learn how to play or for competitive players ("judges" in match)

    - no private game lobbies, makes it impossible for competitive teams to fight each other at will. No community-driven tournaments. No e-sports support.

    - still no "Reconnect to server" option (when you get random DC or crash, you screw over your team; there are 1-2 DC players at beginning of every 2-3 matches). Given how buggy the game still is and how often it crashes, it's unacceptable.

    - terrible interface (especially true for Mechlab, where you spend a lot of time customizing your 'Mech. There are fan-created sites that are easier to use and give more information than in-game system. Tragic.). You can't add players to friends during match. Making pre-made group is harder than it should be, for some reason.

    - no in-game voice communication. Sorry but this is standard in teamwork oriented games for years

    - no in-game music soundtrack. Even in menu.

    - no proper game modes. No primary, secondary objectives on maps, no deeper strategy other than "go to the middle of map and hope enemy team went there too so you get to shoot people instead of standing on square in enemy base until you win/enemy wins". There could be AI-controlled tanks, airplanes and other units that we could shoot. Nope. There could be secondary objectives in various places on map so you would have to split up a bit, play it smart, use terrain, use tactics. Nope. There could be at least some defence in bases you need to capture. Nope, you just stand on square.

    - overcomplicating some things; in order to balance some builds they added "ghost heat", a feature that is NOT explained at all in-game but affects everyone who tries certain builds. Instead of balancing weapons they prefer to add "behind the curtains" mechanic that punishes you hard for trying "wrong" builds, up to the point that those builds are unplayable.

    - at the same time they dumb down the gameplay: with the addition of third person view (which no one actually asked for in beta forums) they gave free wallhack to every player, in a game that is supposed to be a mech simulator and where gaining information about enemy might be more crucial than good aim; they nerf every specialist build (snipers, LRM boats, SRM boats, etc.) to the point where almost everyone uses the same mixed loadout or is put at disadvantage.

    - empty promises: they promised DirectX 11 support, UI 2.0 (which was supposed to make interface more user friendly), Community Warfare (I dream of something like Planetside 2 feel, that would make this game so epic). Instead we get 'Mech sales, camouflage sales, paint sales and little balance patches that are mostly fixes of what they messed up in previous balance patch.

    - grind. Free trial mechs are underpowered to the point of being barely playable. To get your first own 'Mech you need to play ~25 games. After that you earn very little money, making it just plain grind to get other variants or chassis.
    That wouldn't be a problem if the game had variety of fun game modes. All we got is same deathmatch which starts to get repetitive fast. You can't even see global players' ratings, no table or ladder, nothing (except for rare, short events)

    Summary: 4/10 for regular gamer. 5-6/10 for Mechwarrior fan. Not worth spending cash on until developers fulfill promises they give all the time. F2P it's OK game.

    Thanks for reading, good luck and have fun    … Expand
  67. Felix_Emlen
    Sep 18, 2013
    7
    The art and visuals are exceptionally well done, though every patch now and then causes frame rates to drop. Terrain effects are not to the level of an A class launch title, but are generally decent.

    Game play is usually well orchestrated, though still prone to some balancing issues. Each patch has a tendency to resurrect old bugs, though their occurrences are fewer and farther    The art and visuals are exceptionally well done, though every patch now and then causes frame rates to drop. Terrain effects are not to the level of an A class launch title, but are generally decent.

    Game play is usually well orchestrated, though still prone to some balancing issues. Each patch has a tendency to resurrect old bugs, though their occurrences are fewer and farther between. Map variety is decent at the moment, though map balance needs some work in some cases. The grind required to adequately participate in the customization aspect (which many feel is central to the Battletech series of games) is a bit steep at the moment. Playing with friends can mitigate the harshness of the grind, but ultimately, the game is not new player friendly with respect to learning the game mechanics and reaching a basic level of competency both in player owned items and combat performance.

    Developer Community relations are 50/50 at best. Some dev's are very open and friendly with community feedback, other's are extremely defensive about their decisions and feedback on the forums.

    Overall the game is making steady improvements (though some areas are focused on more than others) each month at an ok pace for the size of the studio. The official "launch" of the game feels a bit arbitrary, as many feel that the foundation of mechs shooting other mechs with a moderate level of balance and variety isn't enough to qualify it as a "launch ready title". There is still a fairly large number of important features that have been advertised as part of the original launch experience that are still in development.

    Thus I rate this game at a 7; it has many good selling points, but also many issues that still need ironing out or developing. Could this game develop into an 8 or 9 later? Possibly, but this review was written at the time of "launch", and for the time being, the game has a long way to go before it reaches that standard.    … Expand
  68. TheCheese
    Sep 18, 2013
    5
    Positives:
    - Looks beautiful.
    - Captures the 'hulking war machine' feeling well. - 'Mechbay' customisation system gives players a lot of options for influencing how they want to play. - Free to play. Option to try it before you buy anything. - Not pay-to-win. Anything that's available for real money (or something that is functionally equivalent) is available for in-game currency.    Positives:
    - Looks beautiful.
    - Captures the 'hulking war machine' feeling well.
    - 'Mechbay' customisation system gives players a lot of options for influencing how they want to play.
    - Free to play. Option to try it before you buy anything.
    - Not pay-to-win. Anything that's available for real money (or something that is functionally equivalent) is available for in-game currency. Nothing that is real-money-only gives any distinct advantage.

    Negatives:
    - Lacks communication options appropriate for the game type. I.e, there is only text chat and a minimalist commander interface.
    - There are currently only two game types and matches tend to play out the same way. I.e, destroy the opposition.
    - Very limited social system.
    - No long-term goal. There is the in-combat game, but no greater objectives (think; PlanetSide 2's territory capture system)
    - Intermittent hit detection issues (shooting at your target and occasionally not registering a hit) can make for a frustrating experience.
    - New-player experience is rough. There is little in the way of instruction or explanation of how things work in-game. The first few matches will likely be spent in spectator view.

    Overview:
    In it's current state, MW:O has a strong base in it's in-combat gameplay and personal customisation options, however the game's replayability factor suffers from the lack of any long-term goal and the few game types available. Also, although the game is advertised as an MMO, the poor communication and social systems can make the game a lonely experience unless you turn to the community-run voice chat services.

    An important thing to note is that the game is free to play, so there's little to be lost by trying it out for yourself.    … Expand
  69. Vivicector
    Sep 18, 2013
    2
    Game is awful. The most important concern is game balance, which is done is some very very strange ways. Game meta-balance and weapon balance is so broken, that when some IMBA gets fixed, the other appears. There is just a number of unbalanced weapons and configurations. When one is fixed, the next-effective will be used, as it becomes the most effective one.

    Graphics. Well, it could    Game is awful. The most important concern is game balance, which is done is some very very strange ways. Game meta-balance and weapon balance is so broken, that when some IMBA gets fixed, the other appears. There is just a number of unbalanced weapons and configurations. When one is fixed, the next-effective will be used, as it becomes the most effective one.

    Graphics. Well, it could have been good 5 years before. I do not understand, what can one do with the CryEngine 3 to make it look a bit better then MechWarrior 4. Mech models are very simple, no details. Animations looks like it was done for 1 mech, then copy-pasted on the other mechs. So, on many of them it is awful.

    Devs way to talk to the community is to say: "Screw you" and ban all who disagree. They last forum rules make it impossible to say ANY critics about the game. Or they will be banned. They never listen to anything the community says, but when the becomes waay to nasty.

    Take a look, BTW. They have hired quite a lot of people to write positive words about the game here. Be careful.    … Expand
  70. AndreasK
    Sep 18, 2013
    8
    I have been playing for 2 months now in Open Beta and I find the game very appealing. Positive: a. It is free but not pay to win as most other games. You can totally progress in the game without having to pay a fortune, b. there is a constant work on balance and although not perfect, it is better than most games I have played. Negative: a. Content is rather limited for now (the game isI have been playing for 2 months now in Open Beta and I find the game very appealing. Positive: a. It is free but not pay to win as most other games. You can totally progress in the game without having to pay a fortune, b. there is a constant work on balance and although not perfect, it is better than most games I have played. Negative: a. Content is rather limited for now (the game is actually still in development). Some key features of the game still miss (Community warfare, UI 2.0, etc)… Expand
  71. TheOneWhoWaits
    Sep 18, 2013
    0
    Really the only good thing about this game is that you can Alt+F4 at any time.
    To quote a certain member of the dev team: "The community is the canary, and the data is the truth"
    Are these the type of people you want to give your money to?
  72. IceGryphon
    Sep 18, 2013
    0
    Community warfare. NOPE.
    Fixing Hitboxes. NOPE.
    Fixing Balance. NOPE.
    Lobby System. NOPE.
    Sure as heck have time to add Coolant and 3PV.
    Oh and this is only my position at the time.
  73. Erasus
    Sep 18, 2013
    5
    Hi there,

    I am playing the game since closed beta (yes i am a founder) and have roughly 5000 games under my belt. This is my honest opinion about MechWarrior: Online so far: Tech aspects: The Graphics seem to become worse and worse, graphics are sub par, given that this game is using the astonishing good looking Cryengine 3. The game is heavily CPU bound, because it still uses    Hi there,

    I am playing the game since closed beta (yes i am a founder) and have roughly 5000 games under my belt.

    This is my honest opinion about MechWarrior: Online so far:

    Tech aspects:

    The Graphics seem to become worse and worse, graphics are sub par, given that this game is using the astonishing good looking Cryengine 3.
    The game is heavily CPU bound, because it still uses the dated DirectX9 API.
    So if you have an "old" AMD 4 core Processor with 3,8ghz (like i have) and a top of the line graphics card (which should do the brunt of the computing), you will be able to play MWO only at medium graphics settings at HD resolution, with FPS breakdowns under the 25 FPS mark on heavy fights.
    This might change when PGI reintroduces DX11, but as of now they did not deliver and graphics and performance are mediocre at best.

    Netcode issues are plaguing the game since its closed beta days, which were fixed at one time, but then the game made a few steps back and that pretty much sums up the games current state.

    The mech models however are beautiful! From the art standpoint this game elevates the BattleTech franchise to a whole new level.
    For the most part the maps are very well done, too.

    Gameplay:
    Like any other Mechwarrior game, you are sitting in a giant robot and control the mech either via jostick, joypad or Keyboard/mouse.
    The movement pattern is that of tanks in recent tank games like world of tanks (thats a lot of tanks in one sentece!) and requires the unfamiliar getting used to.
    The newly introduced third person view helps with that.

    The gameplay itself is pretty straight forward and a lot of fun in the beginning: you pick your mech, drop in matches, and get experience and money for every game you finish. Of course, wins gain more money and xp as losses.
    With the money you then customize your mech to your likings and with the XP you incrase the efficiency of the mechs` systems.
    But it only carries the game that far. Your drop in, end the game upgrade your mech and repeat until your mech is tricked out, then you take another mech and do it all again, which is the whole meta game MWO currently has to offer.

    By now, the game was promised to have a meaningful metagame aka community warfare. But PGI did not deliver.
    The balance is not quite where it needs to be, but this is a rather moot point, given that even games out there that are almost a decade old struggle to accomplish a good balance.

    The price model of the current game is somewhere between solid and... "outlandish", to say it politely.
    For people that just want to accelerate XP earnings, PGi offers a reasonable price model, however, If you are a collector, this game will eat you alive, because the game itself is free to play, but in order to have everything, you will have to pay literally thousands of dollars. And the game is just out of Beta!

    The frequency in which the game is patched is solid, the patches, for the most part are not, fixing bugs and introducing other, more severe bugs is more or less the rule than the exception.

    The bottom line: This game is a solid game for casual drop ins, while offering no long term motivation

    The technological base is awesome, the implemetation of said base is lackluster at best.
    Prepare yourself that your gaming rig that runs Crysis 3 on VERY HIGH settings, to struggle with MWO on MEDIUM settings!

    Tis game is promising, but PGI has yet to deliver the key features of the game and up the performnce substantially to even be calles a really solid game that has reached GOLD status.
    At this point, this game is a good BETA game, but not a GOLD game .

    A lot could be said aboout the communication and service habits of PGI towards their customers, but i am here to review MWO, not PGI, right? So I leave it at this.    … Expand
  74. Ward_
    Sep 18, 2013
    1
    I actually paid $100 and backed this absolute garbage game. I was lucky enough to be able to get my money back after having to threaten PGI (the developers of MWO) with a charge back, but many others weren't so lucky.

    Game-play for MWO is mediocre at best. Shoddy, low resolution textures (because who needs to optimize games properly? Not PGI) with constantly fluctuating weapon balances    I actually paid $100 and backed this absolute garbage game. I was lucky enough to be able to get my money back after having to threaten PGI (the developers of MWO) with a charge back, but many others weren't so lucky.

    Game-play for MWO is mediocre at best. Shoddy, low resolution textures (because who needs to optimize games properly? Not PGI) with constantly fluctuating weapon balances (because PGI can't decide on how powerful guns are actually supposed to be after years of development) and only 2 game modes, also after years of development, make this game maybe a 5/10 if we're only considering game play. But I'm not.

    Now onto the developers. In all my years I have never seen such a more money-grubbing, incompetent, flat out rude set of developers as PGI. My personal experiences aside, I've seen them be extremely rude to paying customers, I've seen them flat out LIE to the community, and when that fails I've seen them flat out BAN whoever they don't agree with. It's absolutely mind-boggling how unprofessional PGI has been with their community and fans, and it's a shame that the franchise they had to drag through the mud with them was such a storied one as MechWarrior. Don't believe me? Go check out their new forum rules, because it's now a bannable offense to speak ill of MWO or PGI.

    The bottom line here is stay as far away from this game as possible. No matter what little possible enjoyment you could eke out of the game itself, the developers (I'm looking at you Russ Bullock and Bryan Ekman) are scum, and deserve none of your money.    … Expand
  75. Shael
    Sep 18, 2013
    5
    I wont give this game a 0 score or a 10 score.

    Overall the game play as it currently is decent. The graphics are beautiful, the mech designs and artwork are amazing. There are unfortunately many major issues of this game: 1. Hit Registration is atrocious and PGI have been trying to fix this for over 6 months and still hasn’t been fixed. At times you can poor multiple shots onto a    I wont give this game a 0 score or a 10 score.

    Overall the game play as it currently is decent. The graphics are beautiful, the mech designs and artwork are amazing.

    There are unfortunately many major issues of this game:
    1. Hit Registration is atrocious and PGI have been trying to fix this for over 6 months and still hasn’t been fixed. At times you can poor multiple shots onto a mech and do minimal damage i.e. Ravens, Spiders or you can shoot at a mech aiming for an arm/ leg side torso and core out the mech stupidly fast i.e. Awesome’s, Dragons and then finally there are mechs that just wont die i.e. Zombie Centurion (its nicknamed the Zombie for a reason)
    2. The bi monthly patches release new mechs, fix bugs and "fine tune" the game play and mechanics.
    a. Unfortunately after each patch, more bugs show up, weapon balancing is at times hit and miss and can break a previous good weapon I.E. Gauss Rifle shot delay.
    3. "Ghost Heat" that has been implemented to stop the "high alpha" builds which has been poorly implemented,
    a. "cannon" mechs like the Hunchback HBK-4p which are designed to Boat Lasers or the Awesome AWS-88 which was designed to Boat PPC's cannot do so due to the Ghost Heat Penalty.
    4. Every patch there is another tweak to the weapons heat that can break a previously good mech configuration.
    a. Shooting delay on the Gauss Rifle is the latest “fix” that has in my opinion broken the weapon.

    GAMEPLAY:
    When it comes to game play, well it’s pretty damn boring now.
    1. It’s the same two game modes that have been available for almost a year i.e.
    a. “Team Death Match” or “Conquest which usually results in “Team Death match” anyway,.
    2. There is no Community Warfare or Role Warfare and while it has been stated information is forthcoming, many older players in the community have heard this too many times before.
    3. New maps get released but you cannot choose which map to play on and at times you can get the same map 10- 20 times in an evening with maybe a couple of different maps thrown in.

    For a new player running a trial mech coming into these sort of battles is going to leave a very sour taste in your mouth as you won’t survive for very long.
    • The only way to get anywhere in the Game is grind out the CBills to buy a semi decent mech and just keep grinding (if you can manage to do this as a PUG congratulations because it is very tough),
    • The alternative is to your fork out real money “MC” to buy a better mech or a hero Mech. This isn’t “Pay to win?”
    • Or join a organised unit so they can help you improve and help your survivability and win/loss ration

    Most games now degenerate into sniping battles and this meta has been prevalent for over 6 months in MWO (Why “ghost Heat” was introduced to attempt to combat this)
    • You will find the majority of the experienced players running almost exactly the same builds across different mech chassis as the weapon load out is the only way to win i.e.
    • 2 x PPC/ERPPC and Gauss rifle or
    • Triple UAC 5 mechs, or
    • DUAL AC20 Mechs.... you get the picture.

    The learning curve for new players is atrocious, the new movement tutorial barely even touches what a new player needs to learn to pilot a Mech effectively.
    There are no tutorials on Weapons, mech configuration customization as yet.

    Overall I do love this game and I want it to succeed but at this moment in time the game is not even “polished” in my opinion and does nothing to help the new players in learning the game and also does not provide any substance for the competitive players who need more that a “Big Stompy robot Shooter” .

    In closing the game is not a MechWarrior Simulation, there is no substance to the game currently and there are major technical issues with the game itself and in my opinion the development of the game.
    So I will be watching and waiting over the next three months to see if a lot of the current issues are fixed with DX11, UI2.0 and Community Warfare as it has been stated they should be released over the next three months but i don’t have any hope of this time frame being stuck too.

    Play and enjoy the game but don’t expect too much from it.    … Expand
  76. shadow7pr
    Sep 18, 2013
    0
    The Disappointment of the Year. I regret having invested in the game.

    The mechs and their variants, can not change everything. example: catapult mech must have 2 LRM'S They must make a reconstruction of the founder mech, that can change the visuals of changed weapons. Leveling system to raise and be able to unlock mech for level. Would be good a game mode    The Disappointment of the Year. I regret having invested in the game.

    The mechs and their variants, can not change everything. example: catapult mech must have 2 LRM'S
    They must make a reconstruction of the founder mech, that can change the visuals of changed weapons.
    Leveling system to raise and be able to unlock mech for level.
    Would be good a game mode that allows repair. or all game use some repair system.
    Game system one can use 3 mech slots per game. example, if you die you can choose the other 2 remaining mech for the next drop
    In addition restore back 8vs8 game mode,as additional option of 12vs12 mode.
    Voting maps in server.
    Jumpjets can move sitewide, forward backward.
    Upgrade to DX11.
    Improve physical on shoot, (recoil system)
    Improve physical movements.
    Enhancing effects of mech damage. (visual)
    If the game crashes or network, can you reconnect? NO

    http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/136159-welcome-to-launch-mechwarriors/page__st__1340__gopid__2764743#entry2764743    … Expand
  77. MWLL
    Sep 18, 2013
    0
    I tried the game sadly it's worse then mechwarrior 4, which of course well all know is the worst of the series.
    But, have heart MWLL is still going come let us all go to mechwarrior living legends and have fun again
  78. WhiteKnight
    Sep 18, 2013
    0
    This game is not terrible, but it is far, far less than was promised, and very little progress has been made since open beta a year ago. The lobbies, community warfare, and even the UI update are not done, though they have been promised features for over a year.
  79. Mathiustheone
    Sep 18, 2013
    0
    Avoid this game at all costs if you're a true Battletech Fan. The amount of lying and false expectations PGI/IGP has put out on money grabbing schemes make evil companies like Microsoft or EA look like angel's.
    someone said it better then I could
  80. RyanSteel
    Sep 18, 2013
    0
    Zentoad said it best
    Sadly this is not the game any Battletech/mechwarrior fan has waited for. It was cast as such, but lately the developers have pulled it towards a sad action shooter clone. I would stay clear if I was you.. there are other games out there that does arcade shooter better than this. Buggy and unbalanced.
  81. Coldsniper
    Sep 18, 2013
    0
    I wouldn't play this game again if you had a knife to my mothers throat.
    Yes it is indeed that bad, just the fact that white knights are giving false scores to this game should be warning enough
  82. DOA
    Sep 18, 2013
    0
    No community interface
    - Terrible joystick support
    - Weapons are not balanced
    - Mech "hit boxes" are bugged
    - Server relay (position) is bugged.......
  83. hindenburgpop
    Sep 18, 2013
    0
    go play star citizen after monetizing "open beta", they refused to listen to their beta testers, even demeaning them on twitter and other sites. Deadlines pass, promises broken, and the game has devolved into which team has the larger alpha strike capability.
  84. bigbang
    Sep 18, 2013
    0
    The game is sadly being released in very unfinished state. The UI hasn't changed since closed beta and they were supposed to deliver the completely rewritten and much more polished UI for the launch, but they failed. It is supposed to come in a month...or two.
  85. Voiceofreason70
    Sep 18, 2013
    0
    Silentcontrol 1 Game, game play and balance based on LIES Utterly bad communication with community [community warfare is just war against the community] censorship everywhere on the forum because they can stand criticism or good suggestion. This is getting stupidly complex because PGI don' t want to use existing and simple solution, trying to look smart but they are super dumb.
    as another    Silentcontrol 1 Game, game play and balance based on LIES Utterly bad communication with community [community warfare is just war against the community] censorship everywhere on the forum because they can stand criticism or good suggestion. This is getting stupidly complex because PGI don' t want to use existing and simple solution, trying to look smart but they are super dumb.
    as another person said this    … Expand
  86. IAmVeranova
    Sep 18, 2013
    7
    The game is still very young and still in full on development, but it's great fun to play on your own or (especially) with a team.
    Those who love mechs will love every minute of it, but some deeper features (Achievements, Leveling, Community Warface, varied game modes, and a large variety of maps) are yet to materialise.
    They are a small dev team so patience is important, and it's worth    The game is still very young and still in full on development, but it's great fun to play on your own or (especially) with a team.
    Those who love mechs will love every minute of it, but some deeper features (Achievements, Leveling, Community Warface, varied game modes, and a large variety of maps) are yet to materialise.
    They are a small dev team so patience is important, and it's worth checking in every now and again to see how the game develops.

    Overall I highly recommend it, but it will be a while until casual mech lovers will be glued to this game. However those dedicated mech lovers are already glued to it, as it's highly enjoyable, better balanced than any previous Mechwarrior title, and constantly evolving to something better.    … Expand
  87. BigBlue481
    Sep 18, 2013
    5
    No rational being can give this game an absolute top or absolute bottom score. That is the true problem, for all their effort PGI has turned out a mediocre game.
    As a “hardcore” MechWarrior player I will continue to play, mainly because it is the only game in town, and it is free to play. I was an early beta contributor, but I have become so disillusioned by the rationalized non- canon    No rational being can give this game an absolute top or absolute bottom score. That is the true problem, for all their effort PGI has turned out a mediocre game.
    As a “hardcore” MechWarrior player I will continue to play, mainly because it is the only game in town, and it is free to play. I was an early beta contributor, but I have become so disillusioned by the rationalized non- canon attitude that each tweak flip flops the game play.
    My intention is to continue in the ftp mode, but purchases will only be enough to keep this alive and certainly never anything large ever again.
    If something bright and shiny catches my interest; I will migrate to a new game.
    MechWarrior 2 Mercenaries and MechWarrior 3 remain the BattleTech computer game high water marks.    … Expand
  88. ZenDragon
    Sep 18, 2013
    6
    Positives:
    Visually the graphics are good, and the game does a decent job of bringing some of my favorite mechs to life.
    The game offers a FPS experience that is fast paced, and takes an enjoyable level of skill to do well. Compared to other FPS titles I have tried, I found this one extremely easy to get into. Meh: Technology I would like to see the game fully support multiple    Positives:
    Visually the graphics are good, and the game does a decent job of bringing some of my favorite mechs to life.

    The game offers a FPS experience that is fast paced, and takes an enjoyable level of skill to do well. Compared to other FPS titles I have tried, I found this one extremely easy to get into.

    Meh:
    Technology
    I would like to see the game fully support multiple monitors and SLI. The controls really need to be waay more configurable. The game has a problematic implementation of 3PV by default, in short it should prompt you to select which view you would prefer.

    Gameplay
    There is currently no metagame, in-game story, or honestly reason to be fighting to speak of, and a limited number of static battle grounds to play on. In short, the game play starts feeling redundant quickly. The game does have potential and hopefully it will start to be realized in the short term.    … Expand
  89. cypherhalo
    Sep 18, 2013
    4
    Sorry but put me in the crowd that doesn't like this game. there is some serious promise here but ultimately it simply doesn't work. You might like it, I can see some aspects of it that are good. Unfortunately, the package doesn't work in my opinion. In short, it is a grindy game that is too expensive and needs major overhauls. For a longer explanation, you can see below.

    1 The    Sorry but put me in the crowd that doesn't like this game. there is some serious promise here but ultimately it simply doesn't work. You might like it, I can see some aspects of it that are good. Unfortunately, the package doesn't work in my opinion. In short, it is a grindy game that is too expensive and needs major overhauls. For a longer explanation, you can see below.

    1 The game does not have enough content. It only has two game modes and they're both basically identical. While they have a lot of mechs, this is a double-edged sword as each mech has multiple variants and to unlock all the goodies, you need to buy multiple variants. This involves A LOT of grinding or if you think you can pay, it's going to cost you more then a full-price game most likely. Mind, this is just to purchase all the variants for ONE single mech and there are over 20.

    2 That just leads right into my second gripe, prices are through the roof. We're talking $20-$30 for a single variant of a single mech. In a day and age when I can buy triple A games from Steam for $10, these prices are simply absurd.

    3 Lackluster tutorial. Not an issue for an old mechhead like me but a big issue for new players.

    4 The GRIND, it hurts so much.

    5 No respawns. I don't get this one at all but if you bring it up on the forums, prepare to be flamed by the "true mechwarrior fans". I mean, if they want to have a game mode with no respawns, that's awesome. But in this day and age, to not offer it at all? Just doesn't make much sense and it contributes directly to issue 6.

    6 Completely unbalanced play. One, the no respawns rule means that the first team to destroy 2 or 3 enemy mechs is probably going to win. So, matches become one-sided affairs and are not as fun as say Hawken or League of Legends where a team can pull a come-from-behind victory. Two, the no respawn rule means that even though your "objective" is to "capture" territory, most matches just become team deathmatch as it is far easier and more fun to kill everyone then stand on a spot to "capture" it. Three, premade teams absolutely destroy casual/lone wolf/PUG players ALL THE TIME.

    7 the GRIND, it hurts so much.

    Sorry, I'm repeating myself aren't I? Well, it bears repeating. This game seriously needs respawns, bot matches, reasonable prices, and game modes that are actually different. Then, it might be a fun game. Right now, the biggest pluses it has are that it is very pretty and that the mech designs are absolutely phenomenal.    … Expand
  90. Skaiths
    Sep 18, 2013
    8
    this game is awesome, it is the best MechWarrior game I have played.. ever. you have to understand that it is new and still getting its content cranked out there will be changes it will get better and continue to get better, its impressive that IGP and PGI have done this well with the resources they had available to them. compared to bigger companies like blizz and bioware.... all I seethis game is awesome, it is the best MechWarrior game I have played.. ever. you have to understand that it is new and still getting its content cranked out there will be changes it will get better and continue to get better, its impressive that IGP and PGI have done this well with the resources they had available to them. compared to bigger companies like blizz and bioware.... all I see in the reviews here is "the game sucks" what about the game sucks??? 3rd person push f3..... problem solved. mad bout paying for stuff? don't put money into it.... its free. lied to? WHAT PROMISE? nothing was promised about the game, all the devs said was this is what we hope to accomplish. when you people complain your not making any factual points.. just statements about how bad it is, are you just that bad at playing the game that you need a "god mode" just to win? did you launch and die in 2 seconds so the game is bad? if you want to complain do it constructively and wait for the changes, or idk learn to program and help.… Expand
  91. DarthMolen
    Sep 18, 2013
    8
    I have never had more fun with any other Mechwarrior game than this one. Sure, there are parts missing, yet the real meat are the mechs, and watching them blow up.... and there's plenty of that to go around. PLUS ITS FREE! Not free to play. You only pay for cosmetics and mech bays.... Best bang for the buck IMHO
  92. Pnakotic
    Sep 18, 2013
    7
    Most of the reviews I'm reading aren't telling a new player anything useful about the game itself, so I'm submitting a revised review to capture things that might be useful for the uninitiated.

    MWO is a fun game. The 'mechs are beautiful reimaginings of classic Battletech designs, weapons types are varied, and the hardpoint customization system and chassis quirks system give each design    Most of the reviews I'm reading aren't telling a new player anything useful about the game itself, so I'm submitting a revised review to capture things that might be useful for the uninitiated.

    MWO is a fun game. The 'mechs are beautiful reimaginings of classic Battletech designs, weapons types are varied, and the hardpoint customization system and chassis quirks system give each design a unique piloting experience and customization options.

    Customization gives way to balance problems, and a lot of development time has been devoted to balance tweaking instead of introducing new content. As a result, some core features are not progressed as far as might be desired at this point. There are only two game modes at present, and no overarching metagame or lobby system. The lack of lobbies is ameliorated by a number of publicly run Teamspeak servers which provide a place for new players to group up with more experienced ones, and to socialize.

    On the topic of teamwork, it is OP, as should be the case in any team/squad tactics game. Charging out the gate blasting wildly is the surest and shortest route to a dirtnap, and "sticking together" and focusing fire with teammates is essential. Despite paucity of game modes, the flexibility of tactics, loadouts and chassis gives the game good replay value. I've been playing the Beta at a moderate level of activity for over a year now, and the game is still more consistently entertaining than anything else I've picked up in that time.

    Game pacing is good with matches now in 12v12 mode (formerly 8v8) time-to-kill is a bit too short IMO for new players, but the pacing of spotting, sniping, flanking and maneuvering leading up to a decisive engagement lends a satisfying layer of dramatic tension to the matches.

    Grind is... a matter of individual preference. The good and bad on MWO: new players get an incentive bonus for their first 25 matches which should allow them to purchase and customize their first mech within the first few hours of playing, but after that point, cash earnings drop off rather sharply. The reward system was reduced in the wake of 12v12 over fears that players would accumulate cash and XP too fast, but at the moment it's a bit too sluggish. C-Bills can be earned and spent on new 'mech chassis, on customizing owned chassis, and on purchasing "Modules" or consumables which grant bonus abilities. XP can be spent on purchasing "efficiencies" which improve 'mech performance, and on unlocking better modules and consumables. Without a metagame in place, there really isn't any high-level goal to grind for (if you're into that).

    The efficiency trees are the same for every 'mech, which limits role specialization and skill-tree development. The "Modules" are intended to supplement this, but the number available is limited, and some are obviously better choices regardless of your combat role. A revisiting of this system would make the game more interesting IMO, but it would set off another round of re-balancing.

    Back to the topic of balance, it is currently pretty decent. "Medium" chassis (40 tons 55 tons) are a bit weak, and the meta currently favors the heaviest chassis the most, as does the XP/C-Bill rewards systems that heavily weights high damage and number of kills.

    Certain design features are confusing and poorly explained firing large numbers of the same type of weapon together applies bonus heat penalties which can overheat your 'mech, shutting it down and causing engine damage. Steep slopes will slow down units crossing them (more of an issue for bigger mechs), and in some areas there are map bugs that can cause you to become hung up on what is appears to be flat land. Battlemech controls are also not well documented, though the new movement tutorial is pretty good.

    The forums (if you couldn't guess from the reviews here) are like a game of Dwarf Fortress gone bad everything is on fire, everyone is screaming and insane, the moderators are striking people down, and the nauseating maisma hangs over the entire mess. I wouldn't recommend visiting there except the Developers Corner, where you can get some insight into how some of the less-comprehensible gameplay features are designed.

    Monetization is good as F2P games go, there isn't anything you can buy for real money that will help you win more than what you can grind for (and very few things you can't get in an exact, or at least equivalent version). You can speed advancement with Premium XP/C-Bill bonuses and buying new 'mech chassis, and lots of customization trinkets like special paint jobs. Be careful, as its easy to blow money fast!

    I'd give MWO a higher rating, but it isn't ready for a Launch with no "Community Warfare" metagame, sparse "Role Warfare" and "Information Warfare" features, only two game modes, harsh learning curve, balance fixes that are counter-intuitive and poorly documented, and severe communication and public-relations issues between the developers and playerbase.    … Expand
  93. jtay620
    Sep 18, 2013
    8
    A relatively fun game that requires a lot of strategy and planning.

    Pros: Stompy Mechs Fun team coordination (definitely get on a voice chat server) more strategy than your standard "fps" Many mech customisation options Better grind model than other free to plays (You can get many mechs with significantly less playtime than other f2p games) cons: Needs more game mode variety    A relatively fun game that requires a lot of strategy and planning.

    Pros:
    Stompy Mechs
    Fun team coordination (definitely get on a voice chat server)
    more strategy than your standard "fps"
    Many mech customisation options
    Better grind model than other free to plays (You can get many mechs with significantly less playtime than other f2p games)

    cons:
    Needs more game mode variety
    Need to buy MC to get more than 4 mechs at a time (a non issue for me, but some people dont like to pay)

    Summation:
    Overall this game has a decent community that is comprised of older individuals and is highly enjoyable. Ignore all the 0s and give it a shot to see for yourself.    … Expand
  94. Calico01
    Sep 18, 2013
    6
    From a midaged, old time BT Fan with medium Income that has been playing for about 3 Months.

    Positive: - Overall Gameplay is Fun and has somewhat suceeded in catching the "Mechwarrior Feel" of previous Titles. - Decent Graphics: Not very good but not bad either. Less then what you would expect from a game running Cryengine 3, but most Online-Games tend do to the same to increase    From a midaged, old time BT Fan with medium Income that has been playing for about 3 Months.

    Positive:

    - Overall Gameplay is Fun and has somewhat suceeded in catching the "Mechwarrior Feel" of previous Titles.

    - Decent Graphics: Not very good but not bad either. Less then what you would expect from a game running Cryengine 3, but most Online-Games tend do to the same to increase performance on low end specs, so i guess it's ok.

    - Niche Game: The only "real" Mechwarrior/Battletech Game out there. If you loved BT or previous MW Titles, there is really no alternative ATM.

    - No Pay-to-Win: Although there are a few things that are borderline or maybe even a step over it, the overall feel is that your skills count a lot more then bought consumables or HeroMechs.

    Negative:

    - No Metagame: The by far biggest failure in IMHO. One Year Beta and still only 2 Gamemodes on less then a dozen Maps. It was promised that "Community Warfare" would fill this gap, but with launch we still miss any real infomations about this. This hurts longtime playability very much.
    Recent Income Nerfs reduce playability for active but low budget Players.

    - Bad communication from the Devs: PGI is lacking some fundamental skills in Communication. Explanations are usally rare and/or late. With some broken promises in between (which lead to the almost 300 negative reviews right now). Forums are a wasteland.

    - Bugs/other missing Conten/Balancet: Most features that could have improved Gameplay have been delayed and are still not implemented (UI 2.00 for one). There are still issues with Hit Detection, frequent Disconnects and a lot of smaller Bugs. Balance is ever changing, with sometimes overly complicated changes. Annoying, but mostly not game breaking.

    - New Player experience: The Ingame Tutorial only features very basic movement. Forum Threads are poorly maintened and often have very outdated Data. Some crucial things arent even explained ingame, like the famous Ghost Heat. People who dont read the Forums/Patchnotes very regularly are at a disadvantage.

    Fazit:

    If you love the BT Franchise, give it a try. If you like to shoot People but are annoyed from the usual arcade style shooters and want to try something with a bit more "simulation" feel, this could still be a game for you. Despite all its drawbacks the fact remains that the overall Gameplay is fun and it doesnt feel like a Pay-to-Win.
    Still, this Game is far away from beeing a AAA Game and there is no hiding in the fact that PGI are a small and inexperienced studio that still have a lot to learn.    … Expand
  95. Mkawesome
    Sep 18, 2013
    8
    Game has obvious flaws, and hasn't had as many new features implemented as some community members would like, but it is still a fun quality game. it's also F2P with no real pay to win option, so I recommend just downloading the client and seeing for your self. The real issue with the game is the community, not that it's a bad community (not the best but not bad either) the issue is thatGame has obvious flaws, and hasn't had as many new features implemented as some community members would like, but it is still a fun quality game. it's also F2P with no real pay to win option, so I recommend just downloading the client and seeing for your self. The real issue with the game is the community, not that it's a bad community (not the best but not bad either) the issue is that anyone who spent any money feels that they're entitled to their opinion and no one else is entitled to theirs'. Thus you find large divides on opinion on whether x was good or bad, and entire articles for why.... ignore all of these over biased rants, for better or worse none of the players opinions have anything to do with the actual game play, so ignore them and make your own decision, I definitely recommend it, but if you don't like it... it's f2p so just quit, no more said.… Expand
  96. CalebLee
    Sep 18, 2013
    4
    Long time Battletech/Mechwarrior fan here. I've read the books, played all the games and was quite excited for this game and that someone was finally bringing the title back from the dump Microsoft put it in. At the start, it was a love relationship and felt good to pilot a mech again and have a thinking man's game where strategy mattered.

    Over a year later and I could care less if they    Long time Battletech/Mechwarrior fan here. I've read the books, played all the games and was quite excited for this game and that someone was finally bringing the title back from the dump Microsoft put it in. At the start, it was a love relationship and felt good to pilot a mech again and have a thinking man's game where strategy mattered.

    Over a year later and I could care less if they tank and can't recommend the game to anyone. They've broken promises multiple times regarding 1st person view which completely ruined the meta game, no more surprise flanks or strategy which was the final straw. All my friends have quite playing and while the 12v12 queues don't have 3rd person forced on them I can't get anyone to play with me let alone 11 others.

    As for game balance and features, if you know anything about Battletech then you'll understand how badly they broke/deviated table top and prior games:

    1) Hardpoints They basically made most Inner Sphere mechs into Omni-mechs (Clan) similar to Mechwarrior 3, as they can fit whatever weapons they want. I.E. A Catapult K2 ever since beta can mount 2 Gauss Rifles where the model only allowed Machine Guns. This breaks gameplay and forced them to implement gimmick fixes like...

    2) Ghost Heat As a result of point #1, people were boating insane loadouts like 6xPPC Stalkers that could insta kill most mechs. So they 'fixed it', and now If you fire more than X number of a particular weapon, i.e. you can only fire one AC20 and not two in an Alpha strike or you suffer huge heat penalties. The problem is, some mechs were boat mechs with PPC or Gauss Rifle loadout, especially among the clans. I.E. Hunchback 4P can't fire it's 'stock' medium laser loadout in an Alpha strike.

    3) Game Balance If you don't get the trend so far, they've so deviated from BT/TT rules they can never go back. They deviated weapon specs so much they have to keep yo-yoing them around to try and balance them. Streaks for example are auto-lock and never miss pulling off 180 degree shots etc.., they had to do this to counter light mechs cause hit detection was bad. They introduced game breakers like ECM where they combined three separate systems in one and then spent months coming up with gimmick fixes like PPC EMP disruption for 3 seconds. Ever tried hitting a light mech consistently with a PPC in a game where the hit code keeps breaking?

    4) Game Play The game has 2, get it, 2 modes of game play. A capture and deathmatch system that still boils down to the same thing, destroy the enemy team and you win. Or you can do a quick base capture on the large maps where all you have to do is stand in a square. They haven't changed gameplay at all in over a year of beta in any meaningful sense of the word so it's rather boring.

    All in all, it had potential but the devs stopped listening to their core fan base and tried to compete with World of Tanks and ended up serving them the same bad customer service, pushing a huge portion of the community away. They've turned it into the same point and shoot 3rd person shooter with very limited gameplay as there's no such thing as tactics any longer thanks to 3rd person view.

    In a nutshell, this may carry the Mechwarrior title but it's no closer to Mecharrior than Hawken or any other armored, shooter.    … Expand
  97. DPACK
    Sep 18, 2013
    5
    I'm bad at leading into things, so here we go:

    Actual Gameplay: 9/10: FANTASTIC! Mech combat is epic and very fun and designing mechs is immensely satisfying. The first time you build a mech and break 1000 damage testing the build... The feeling can't be easily described, but I can tell you it's good. The number of matches I've walked away from with my pulse pounding in my ears and my    I'm bad at leading into things, so here we go:

    Actual Gameplay: 9/10: FANTASTIC! Mech combat is epic and very fun and designing mechs is immensely satisfying. The first time you build a mech and break 1000 damage testing the build... The feeling can't be easily described, but I can tell you it's good. The number of matches I've walked away from with my pulse pounding in my ears and my whole body shaking with adrenaline... This bit is really good.

    Mechlab UI: 4/10: UI seems unfinished for a launched product. The Mechbays at the bottom can't be sorted so if you have more than 10-20 mechs and you like to switch around a lot it's really a pain to keep scrolling. Devs advised this would be corrected in UI 2.0 which has been pushed back enough times to miss launch. Bottom line, it's ok for a beta, but launch should have a more robust UI.

    Free to Playness: 8/10 Game feels greedy like more F2P products, but my $340 has been enough to keep me in premium time, hero mechs, founder pack, project phoenix. It's a little harder to look at, but I'm an accountant, when I got to that much cash I compared it to a standard mmo with a 60$ purchase price and a 30$ expansion with $15/month sub and I was within 5 bucks. Also, you can't get anything that impacts gameplay with cash that you can't get with c-bills. Single mech prices still feel a bit high, but with packs like project phoneix 12 mechs+mechbays+90 days of premium time+in pretty things $80. Bundles feel like a good deal, single mechs are a little steep.

    IGP/PGI: 2/10: I really dislike how the developers treat the playerbase and how dishonest they are. When I payed in my founders cash the devs were singing the praises of the core MW community. First person only, no coolant flush, no pay to win. Along the way it was the dishonesty around these 3 components that caused me to lose faith in this developer. The first issue was when consumables came out. The cash version was better than the c-bill version. They weren't equal after being told that everything game changing was c-bill and cash accessible. The community slapped em and they apologized and fixed it. Coolant flush is one of those modules, again, something that they stated would never be in the game in the game. Then they had a 3rd person view issue. They announced it and the community rejected it. So they told us we'd never have to use or play with others using 3PV. Then they added 3PV, but required everyone to drop into a mixed queue where anyone can switch from 1st to 3rd at any time. Then they posted that any opposing opinion was part of a 'vocal minority'. What I'm trying to illustrate is that I'm not a fan of the developers because they won't communicate with the players on anything because when they do communicate they lie to us. To be exceptionally clear. I do not care about consumables, 3PV, or coolant flush. But I do care when someone acts contrary to what they've said while asking for and accepting my money. (My apologies this section is longer. I wanted to shed some light into why the playerbase is upset in as objective a way I could within a subjective review)

    Nerf/Buff Cycle: Things get buffed(increased in utility), then they're OP(Overpowered), then they get nerfed(reduced in utility), well now they're UP(underpowered) and need a buff again. To see what happens next, reread the first sentence. This cycle is an oscillation that seems to be reducing in magnitude, but is still something to know about.

    Metagame: 0/10: The game isn't finished yet but they hit the launch date so they removed the beta tag. Community warfare was to be the main pull for competitive players. This content was supposed to be coming out shortly after open beta, then sometime in open beta, then just before the end of beta, then just after launch. As of right now the matchmaker is random, to play a match with a specific group you jump into teamspeak, have someone count down and try to launch at the same time and hope luck matches you up. There's nothing to do but drop 12 people against another 12 people over and over.

    TL:DR; If you like skillful fighting, try it. F4 is the key to switch between 1st and 3rd person. If doing business with a developer that has difficulty communicating with players and will outright lie to your face isn't something you think sounds like fun, you may want to look elsewhere. (Also posting under an Alias to avoid being banned for giving an honest review.)

    On the plus side the game itself is good and gathered up a lot more cash than expected so even if MWO flops there's a strong chance the IP won't lie dormant for another decade.    … Expand
  98. hzlmurphy
    Sep 18, 2013
    8
    Mechwarrior Online is a Free to Play game based on the popular Mechwarrior Franchise. Wonderful graphics and sound. Most of the negative reviews seem to be founded on a lack of content or features. I don't recall any AAA titles in the past few years that didn't need major updates at the time of launch. Some with have you believe that you need to "grind" for months to have a good mech. ThisMechwarrior Online is a Free to Play game based on the popular Mechwarrior Franchise. Wonderful graphics and sound. Most of the negative reviews seem to be founded on a lack of content or features. I don't recall any AAA titles in the past few years that didn't need major updates at the time of launch. Some with have you believe that you need to "grind" for months to have a good mech. This is simply not true. You will have enough money to buy the biggest mechs in the game in under 30 matches played. Try that in ANY other free to play title. I challenge you.

    This is a wonderful title with many exciting features on the horizon. There is just a lot of internet negativity and many childish people who have nothing better to do than to give the game horrid reviews.

    All that matters is YOUR opinion. Play the game and see for yourself. The fun speaks for itself.    … Expand
  99. GholaX
    Sep 18, 2013
    6
    The game is fun to play, once you get the hang of it. Something to watch out for :
    * You cannot edit the loadout of a starter Mech, you have to buy one to do that
    * The purchase and configuration processes are convoluted, but are supposed to be fixed in UI2.0 * you make a lot of money up front as a new player for the first 25 matches, after that you grind for every CBILL. Buy a Mech you    The game is fun to play, once you get the hang of it. Something to watch out for :
    * You cannot edit the loadout of a starter Mech, you have to buy one to do that
    * The purchase and configuration processes are convoluted, but are supposed to be fixed in UI2.0
    * you make a lot of money up front as a new player for the first 25 matches, after that you grind for every CBILL. Buy a Mech you like, because you will be playing it alot to buy equipment and/or the next one.

    The Developers chose to launch the game without many key features, such as the meta game (the point of playing, beyond blowing things up) or the updated UI. Why this is, only they know. Communication with the Devs is spotty at best, as I am sure other reviewers have espoused profusely.

    If they game had the major gameplay features that really make the game, then I would have given a higher score. Today, they are not there, despite being overdue by a year, and so I leave you with this: The game is fun to play, but it has its problems, replayability being a major one. It just gets stale after a while. Despite that, I can't put it down.    … Expand
  100. Brenticus
    Sep 18, 2013
    8
    A great game that adds some much-needed depth to the FPS genre. The only marks against it are for not living up to its full potential by launch. The User Interface is useable but lacking in many respects, and there are only two game modes. That said, this is stil what it was called some time ago: "a thinking man's FPS."
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Awards & Rankings

13
#13 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013
96
#96 Most Shared PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
68

Mixed or average reviews - based on 10 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. IGN Italia
    Sep 14, 2014
    85
    Nice gameplay and deep strategy for the latest incarnation of Mechwarrior. Too bad it lacks any kind of Single Player content.
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  2. PC Gamer
    Nov 4, 2013
    83
    Slightly overpriced, but a more than worthy successor to one of PC gaming’s greatest franchises that nails the important part: combat.
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  3. Multiplayer.it
    Oct 22, 2013
    65
    MechWarrior Online does a pretty good job in balancing out the gameplay and gives you lots of BattleMechs, weapons and items to buy, but it's got only two game modes and it's definitely not that fun.
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