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. Garamis
    Sep 17, 2013
    5
    Just do some research on what this company says it is going to do and look at what has been accomplished after 2 years and several millions of its fan base's money.

    Aventurine (Darkfall) ring a bell here..... These two companies are so close in how they operate it is amazing.
  2. dtfauss
    Sep 17, 2013
    2
    CW is vaporware, which leaves no purpose/endgame.
    PGI/IGP has significantly changed directions, have poor communication, and I have no faith in them.
    It's worth a shot, fun for a bit, but as with all deathmatch games, boredom and balance issues make it tiresome quickly.
  3. Gwaltney
    Sep 17, 2013
    2
    There is no way this game is a 10. Expect to endlessly grind out in game currency using improperly balanced Mech's and weapon systems. Game is DirectX 9 .....REALLY?
    Has a horrible and clunky UI that is a chore to use. 8 basic maps, and two game types, Assault, and Conquest, which end up being played essentially the same.
    If you like grindy, clunky games, where the development team is    There is no way this game is a 10. Expect to endlessly grind out in game currency using improperly balanced Mech's and weapon systems. Game is DirectX 9 .....REALLY?
    Has a horrible and clunky UI that is a chore to use. 8 basic maps, and two game types, Assault, and Conquest, which end up being played essentially the same.

    If you like grindy, clunky games, where the development team is obviously NOT on the ball, play this. If you want a quality product, with a dev team who is responsive, or at least communicative to their PAYING customers, then you should try elsewhere.    … Expand
  4. NotThatGuy42
    Sep 17, 2013
    0
    I have been with MWO since Closed Beta("NotThatGuy42" isn't my MWO handle as I am not ready to have my MWO account banned quite yet). I bought in as a Founder and had high hopes for the franchise reboot. Sadly, it became readily apparent over time that the developer, PGI, is arrogant, dishonest, and incompetent(although there are good people who work there, I am sure). They brought inI have been with MWO since Closed Beta("NotThatGuy42" isn't my MWO handle as I am not ready to have my MWO account banned quite yet). I bought in as a Founder and had high hopes for the franchise reboot. Sadly, it became readily apparent over time that the developer, PGI, is arrogant, dishonest, and incompetent(although there are good people who work there, I am sure). They brought in hated features they promised the die hard fans in the community they would not (Coolant Flush, 3PV) in order to dumb down the game and supposedly broaden the games appeal. To be honest, the game was more playable and balanced better at the end of Closed Beta than it is now. The game does look fairly decent (but still no DX11 and it looked better in Closed Beta) but balance is poor and there are are continuous stream of FOTM weapons and mechs due to wild changes PGI makes to the game at regular intervals (some would cynically say they do this in order to make the hero mechs you can purchase look more appealing...can't say if they are that devious or not). For a new player, I cannot imagine how painful the experience is...the grind makes it tough, especially with sub-par mechs and sub-par heat-management until you can afford double heat sinks. Not to mention that if you aren't "in the know" about what the current FOTM weapon combo or chassis is, you will die painfully, a lot. Also, the matchmaker is totally broken...it supposedly uses a player ranking system (which, BTW is a "secret" only PGi knows but new players and veterans are regularly put together. It also has no "solo drop only" que, so you could be in a group of 12 not-coordinated, not-on voice comms, players and have 3 groups of 4 coordinated, on-comms players on the other team. Nice, huh? Early on, I recommended this game to some friends. I would recommend it to no one at this point. And, to be honest, that makes me kinda sad. I really wanted this to be successful (and put a stupid amount of money into the game in CB and OB) but I am afraid there is nothing that can stop the train wreck now. Play it for free to try it out, but I wouldn't give PGI a thin dime unless they issue a mea culpa and turn this Titanic around...If I could separate my scores I would give MWO, as a Counterstrike-type random 12v12 mech shooter with limited maps and only two game modes, and no meta game (i.e. *why* you are fighting), a 3 or 4 and PGI/IGP a -100. But since those are not an option I give it a "0". It pains me terribly to say that I recommend you stay away from the reboot I, as a huge MW fan, waited 10 years to see. Sigh.… Expand
  5. kaevasel
    Sep 17, 2013
    0
    This game is still plagued with bugs and glitches that have been present since alpha. PGI clearly doesn't care about creating an overall good game experience, all they want is to line their pockets and the presence of these problems after so long and the constant updates with grab deals and hero assets that can only be purchases with real currency are evidence enough of this.
  6. Jaynestown
    Sep 17, 2013
    8
    Download it and try it. It's a fun game. Quite addictive. I have been hoping for more maps and game modes, and the release pace for them has been infuriatingly slow (for example, "Community Warfare" still isn't out at the time I'm posting this). I still love the game though. I've taken a few month-long breaks since I joined in Closed Beta (Founders Program) but I always keep comingDownload it and try it. It's a fun game. Quite addictive. I have been hoping for more maps and game modes, and the release pace for them has been infuriatingly slow (for example, "Community Warfare" still isn't out at the time I'm posting this). I still love the game though. I've taken a few month-long breaks since I joined in Closed Beta (Founders Program) but I always keep coming back for more … Expand
  7. Veev
    Sep 17, 2013
    0
    The game was fun last July.
    During the beta process they have ruined the core aspects of what made it fun trying to chase a different crowd then the one they were marketing it to initially.
    They added a broken version of ECM without the counters in place. They added those counters and nerfed brawling while buffing PPC sniping, it has gone the same since. The developer's really have no    The game was fun last July.
    During the beta process they have ruined the core aspects of what made it fun trying to chase a different crowd then the one they were marketing it to initially.
    They added a broken version of ECM without the counters in place. They added those counters and nerfed brawling while buffing PPC sniping, it has gone the same since. The developer's really have no idea about how to balance or polish a game. They have no grasp about how to treat customers with respect and are surprised when customers get angry about this.
    Bottom line the game is not worth the money nor the time. I am a Mechwarrior fan and this game has been turned into a pile of feces.
    Issues:
    Hit Detection, lag shields, weapon balance, 3PV, the constant lies from devs etc...
    The list can go on, but it is not worth more of my time. The issues are all ongoing and never quite fixed.
    The devs really dont understand Mechwarrior or its fans.    … Expand
  8. limazulu
    Sep 17, 2013
    4
    The story of Overstated Expectations.

    When the new Mechwarrior game was announced after almost 12 years discontinuation, It drew alot of attention of all fans of the series arcade simulator mech-combat game based on Battletech tabletop game universe along with Battletech's own fans. That's because developer team declared maximum possible proximity to the tabletop game rules as a goal    The story of Overstated Expectations.

    When the new Mechwarrior game was announced after almost 12 years discontinuation, It drew alot of attention of all fans of the series arcade simulator mech-combat game based on Battletech tabletop game universe along with Battletech's own fans. That's because developer team declared maximum possible proximity to the tabletop game rules as a goal for a first time of long (since 1989) Mechwarrior games history.

    In addition, a lot of features were announced: dynamic global map reflecting outcome of every match, multiple game factions and loyalty/reputation system, first person view only, deep combat roles system, day-to-day matching with universe rich and deep history, and a plethora of other things.
    Matched 12 vs.12 combat game mode were chosen as a backbone, with f2p as business model and Cryengine3 for graphics. As a concept it looked near-to-awesome.

    Closed beta started with very limited assets available for players four mechs, one map, one 8x8 game mode. Despite multiple stability issues, UI bugs and optimization issues, it was a solid base for a true Mechwarrior game. It had all core mechanics we all loved in MW series: multiple weapons, twisting torsos, separately armored locations etc. Graphics wasn't bad, even without DX11 support and interactive environment, while still far from Crysis level. But even then first problems emerged some tabletop stuff like ranges and weapon parameters weren't perfect for real-time action game, witch caused a lot of imbalance. Mechlab your battle machine customization system turned out to be another balance issue while giving alot of freedom in customization, it became a clear step back from the previous game Mechwarrior 4 in terms of balance and Battletech rules and lore proximity.

    With addition of new weapons and equipment, balance issues became more and more crucial, but developers decided to not change the core mechanics, adding some very anti-intuitive and complicated solutions instead. And that's not only about combat mechanics for example, economic system, implying repair and rearming your mech after battles, was completely removed as "unbalanceable".

    Combat role system was reduced to a bunch of very simple and totally linear "+N% to something" unlockable perks.

    Day-to-day concept also proved itself insolent, because of slow development process, unable to keep in pace with key universe dates event.

    Alot of improvement and content were added during Closed and Open betas, such as bugfixing and networking, alot of new mechs and maps, but core game wasn't really improved to the release date: it still offers very limited lobby capabilities (only random matchmaking for individual players and groups), only two no-respawn game modes without any match-to-match connections global map and faction system were postponed too and are not included to the 17th September release along with DirectX11 support, destructable environment. With every new patch game comes further from Mechwarrior and Battletech basics, desperately trying to be playable, but still weighted down by unresolved core mechanic issues. Optimization still is not a bright side too even on minimum graphics settings you'll likely need a quad-core CPU and descent graphic card along with 4gb of RAM.

    Now, after game left Beta state, it's very unlikely that small developers team will make a massive overhaul, and a lot of time will be required to achieve announced features, which weren't canceled completely. For now "release" is only a word in the profile.

    The bright side, actually, is business model unlike many f2p games, it's definitely not a pay-to-win. Despite players were able to buy premium subscriptions and mech for real money since closed beta, there is no way to receive any ultimate advantages this way.

    If you aren't hardcore Battletech/Mechwarrior fan, ready to forgive drawbacks just because you're crazy of mechs, you'd better wait for a moment, when game really will have something more than 12x12 15 minutes matches. There is a chance it will happen, after all.
    If you are, you'd better know, that the game world clock stopped just before Clans invasion, so you'll not see some iconic clan mechs of previous games, at least for a while.    … Expand
  9. KingCurt
    Sep 17, 2013
    10
    A frantically fun free-for-all for free! I wouldn't miss out on Mechwarrior: Online. I've been playing Mechwarrior: Online since the early open beta it's still chilling the pangs of memories that eminate from the sound of stomping metal feet, pulsating pulse laser blasts and Betty keeping me updated. A game I play every day, highly recommended.
  10. Berjj
    Sep 17, 2013
    8
    MWO is not all that the developers envisioned and promised it to be, but at it's core it is a solid and greatly entertaining game. Look at the fother reviews. Clearly the game is entertaining, but people are still disappointed with how the devs are handling it.

    The main problems people have with the game is that the devs have added features they promised would never make it into the    MWO is not all that the developers envisioned and promised it to be, but at it's core it is a solid and greatly entertaining game. Look at the fother reviews. Clearly the game is entertaining, but people are still disappointed with how the devs are handling it.

    The main problems people have with the game is that the devs have added features they promised would never make it into the game as well as the continued delay of certain core features such as community warfare and an updated UI. Couple that with a too early launch and you've a furious community. People are quick to forget that this is actually the norm of game development, so why people are making such an incredibly big deal out of it is beyond me. Blizzard are notorious for their delays in development. They haven't shipped a game on schedule to date and are known to cut features and sometimes entire products they deem non-functional. Halo 2, being hailed as one of the best shooters of all time on the Xbox by console gamers, even shipped with non-existing features despite the actual game packaging claiming the opposite!

    Indeed, I get the feeling that the publisher has pulled some strings (Like they often do) and forced this early launch as well as certain features to be included despite the community's vocal disappointment. None of this makes it any more OK, but people should remember that it's a much more common occurance than they make it seem to be.

    What I cannot defend the developers from is how they handle balancing and relay information to the community. Features and changes are often excluded from patch notes and news information is often displayed in a much brighter light in an attempt to hide the community's current dismay. Balancing certain weapons has also proven to take much longer than it should, sometimes severely tipping the scales in favour for a certain weapon type and then waiting weeks before addressing the obvious issue in a proper manner.

    FINAL VERDICT:

    MWO is an immensely entertaining game with solid core elements in place. It is quite rough around the edges though and it's future is made uncertain by seemingly odd design decisions and a community that has decided to initiate a full scale war against the developers for not getting their vision of the game 100% correct.    … Expand
  11. Horation
    Sep 17, 2013
    0
    1. Game released whilst not finished.
    2. Developers buff weapons to sell mechs for real money then nerf the weapons the patch after the sale.
    3. Developers will say one thing, then go back on their word saying that "that was our position at the time." 4. Unintuitive systems such as ghost heat are not mentioned anywhere in the mech lab, how will newbies know? 5. Developers overpromise    1. Game released whilst not finished.
    2. Developers buff weapons to sell mechs for real money then nerf the weapons the patch after the sale.
    3. Developers will say one thing, then go back on their word saying that "that was our position at the time."
    4. Unintuitive systems such as ghost heat are not mentioned anywhere in the mech lab, how will newbies know?
    5. Developers overpromise and under deliver, often taking two steps back.

    This game is not fit for release, let alone charging players for content. Half the game is missing, clan wars are not in neither is Community Warfare. This means that the game becomes stale rather fast.

    My recommendation is that if you do decide to play this game, do not spend any money lest you become disappointed.    … Expand
  12. Qyzer
    Sep 17, 2013
    3
    Great potential and great art ruined by poor planning, bad game design, broken promises, bad math, terrible communication and unwillingness to listen to anyone but the most sycophantic of followers.
  13. Dracol
    Sep 17, 2013
    7
    Been playing since closed beta almost everyday. Game play is fun, graphics look better then any previous Mechwarrior title. Only recently has game balance leveled out making the drops an even better experience.

    If you're the type of person who doesn't enjoy the drive, just the destination, you may want to wait on getting into MWO. Right now it's like playing soccer for fun... a lot    Been playing since closed beta almost everyday. Game play is fun, graphics look better then any previous Mechwarrior title. Only recently has game balance leveled out making the drops an even better experience.

    If you're the type of person who doesn't enjoy the drive, just the destination, you may want to wait on getting into MWO. Right now it's like playing soccer for fun... a lot of fun to play, challenging each time against a variety of real people, but after the game you go your separate ways. Community created groups and events have helped give the battles a little more context, but until community warfare is added, I'm just playing to have fun and improve my skills.    … Expand
  14. Genxcraig
    Sep 17, 2013
    5
    Gameplay despite all it's faults and delays 7/10
    Developer competence and interaction 3/10

    Average 5/10

    Still the same as it was 6 months ago except for a couple new maps and a regularly updated cash shop. Pretty disappointed.
  15. japes
    Sep 17, 2013
    3
    A game with plenty of potential that is currently being let down by slow, dishonest, arrogant, and just plain deceitful development. In its current state it's not even close to ready for launch.
  16. Khobai
    Sep 17, 2013
    5
    The good: MWO is free to play and fun when played in moderation. The mechs look great, the weapons look and sound great, and the mech combat is truly convincing.

    The bad: MWO lacks the immersion factor of previous mechwarrior titles. The gamemodes are boring and make no sense. The game lacks the compulsory ambient/techno/industrial soundtrack of other mechwarrior games. Game is also    The good: MWO is free to play and fun when played in moderation. The mechs look great, the weapons look and sound great, and the mech combat is truly convincing.

    The bad: MWO lacks the immersion factor of previous mechwarrior titles. The gamemodes are boring and make no sense. The game lacks the compulsory ambient/techno/industrial soundtrack of other mechwarrior games. Game is also plagued with balance issues and devs making false promises. Anyone looking for something "more" than just a barebones game isnt going to find it.    … Expand
  17. Troggy
    Sep 17, 2013
    8
    MWO is a very entertaining F2P game, with a tonne of potential. Like so many F2P games early in its development cycle, it lacks a full feature set, and could use a little polish. Nonetheless, MWO has addictive gameplay, and a very involved and vocal community (clearly). It is absolutely worth checking out!
  18. Voivode
    Sep 17, 2013
    9
    MWO is based on Battletech and the popular Mechwarrior franchise of games. As such, it has inherited some hardcore fans. The thing about hardcore fans of any intellectual property is they are irritating and impossible to please. Those hardcore fans will be the most consistently unpleasant part of playing the game.

    That's not to say there aren't things that could be better. The learning    MWO is based on Battletech and the popular Mechwarrior franchise of games. As such, it has inherited some hardcore fans. The thing about hardcore fans of any intellectual property is they are irritating and impossible to please. Those hardcore fans will be the most consistently unpleasant part of playing the game.

    That's not to say there aren't things that could be better. The learning curve (as with most multiplayer only games) is rather steep. Expect to die a lot while you get used to the gameplay. It's frustrating, but it's worth it, because once you figure out how to play, the game is extremely fun and addicting.

    The studio producing this game is small and new. Don't expect lightning development. If you are OK with being patient you will be rewarded with a solid game experience. If you have a cool idea for the game and post it in the forums, they will not release your idea in a patch a week later. There are people who expect this (see hardcore fan inheritance above) and want some kind of "player revolt" because a game they were in no way obliged to pay money for made by a company of 40 people didn't do exactly what they wanted exactly when they wanted it. Yes. A "player revolt" rather than just not playing. It makes no sense. As I said, these people will be the worst part of the game.

    There are some things that could be improved upon, and some that will soon be improved upon. There is a totally new User Interface coming out and a strong in game component to improve cooperative gameplay in the next few months. Several new maps will be out soon that will round out the map rotation. The content tends to be released in a very gradual way rather than in large installments.

    All in all, I love playing this game. Like all multiplayer only games it has a sharp learning curve and can be frustrating if you get a slew of bad matches. That just comes with the multiplayer only territory. The development is from a small company so it is slow but the gameplay is solid and extremely fun.    … Expand
  19. 8RoundsRapid
    Sep 17, 2013
    4
    This game is awful. If you are a lover of the Battletech IP, stear well clear of this stinker. If you're not necessarily a lover of the Battletech IP, stear well clear of this stinker.

    The gameplay is insultingly simplistic, the maps are extremely tiny, and the mech sizes are way off. The game modes are ridiculous, and there is no community warfare (which was promised over a year    This game is awful. If you are a lover of the Battletech IP, stear well clear of this stinker. If you're not necessarily a lover of the Battletech IP, stear well clear of this stinker.

    The gameplay is insultingly simplistic, the maps are extremely tiny, and the mech sizes are way off.

    The game modes are ridiculous, and there is no community warfare (which was promised over a year ago), there is no new User Interface 2.0. Which is the reason the development of the game was put on hold, to develop UI2.0, without which none of the stuff that makes this anything more than a 10min arena deathmatch can be implemented.

    We were told last fall, that CW and UI2.0 would be in within 30 days after open beta, then it was within 60 days, then it was quarter1 of 2013, and then it became summer/fall of 2013, and now its within 60 days of launch.

    This game is being developed by an incompetent, unprofessional, and unethical group of individuals who continually add 'features' that are unwanted, anasked for, and unannounced.

    There have been several attempts to add in P2W features, and the actual development of the game is virtually nonexistent.

    In short, this game is an insult to the Battletech franchise, and an insult to the intelligence and loyalty of Battletech fans the world over.

    But don't take my word for it. Try it yourself, and see for yourself.

    The only reason this is getting even a 4/10 is because of FlyingDebris art. Simply outsanding!    … Expand
  20. fenix0742
    Sep 17, 2013
    4
    This game is absolutely unforgiving to people who have no experience with the source material. There is little to no information explaining complex game mechanics that are partially lifted from the original Battletech rules and sometimes heavily altered. The only source of information for these mechanics are buried in patch notes that may be months old, hidden in archives on the officialThis game is absolutely unforgiving to people who have no experience with the source material. There is little to no information explaining complex game mechanics that are partially lifted from the original Battletech rules and sometimes heavily altered. The only source of information for these mechanics are buried in patch notes that may be months old, hidden in archives on the official website. The barebones ingame tutorial is delivered entirely via textbox, without any voiceover, and only covers movement; it does nothing to describe the arcane construction rules. On top of that, the ingame income rate is very slow, meaning an uninformed purchase can cost several gameplay hours to reverse. Steep learning curves aren't in and of themselves bad things, but this isn't like a flight sim where you get a manual with your purchase. There is absolutely no reason for there not to be a rules compendium or some other reference guide provided in the UI.

    Additionally the game looks pretty ugly. It's hard to believe this runs on CryEngine 3. Textures are low res, muddled, and repetitive. Foliage is sparse or non-existant. Pallettes are bland. The mechs themselves look good enough, but the environments you get to use them in are boring and uninspired.

    It has the potential to be good, but there's a lot of work to be done concerning fidelity and ease-of-use. I wouldn't recommend this game to anyone at this point in time. However, if you like big robots, there are so very few games in the genre, it's at least worth checking in on in the future, as UI overhauls are common in F2P games.    … Expand
  21. Inertiaman
    Sep 17, 2013
    2
    Free to play is the only good thing about this unfinished Mechwarrior game. There is no rich progression, only a series of pay incentives to climb over in order to reach what little additional skills are available. There are no class or pilot trees to diversify into, leaving only a handful of module slots to fill in order to make your character unique. Of these modules, two are soFree to play is the only good thing about this unfinished Mechwarrior game. There is no rich progression, only a series of pay incentives to climb over in order to reach what little additional skills are available. There are no class or pilot trees to diversify into, leaving only a handful of module slots to fill in order to make your character unique. Of these modules, two are so ludicrously good that there is little reason to equip anything else.

    The art is great, but the performance is poor and the handful of levels range from average (against current standards) to mediocre. One map, alpine features textures so badly warped you can see individual original pixels interpolated across great areas of the texture.

    Whilst sound is mostly good there is a near constant audio warning of missiles incoming even if you are not being fired at that drove me crazy

    It might be good when they finish it. As it stands there does seem to be much gameplay difference between this and the version I bought a founders pack for over a year ago. As such there's little to hold the attention.    … Expand
  22. Marsh3055
    Sep 17, 2013
    4
    I can't use my real name for fear of ban from the game itself. I started out with high hopes on this game because they pitched high hopes. I wanted a game that wasn't just run and gun deathmatch, I wanted something with the substance to feel like I was fighting for an empire.
    What I got was typical run and gun robot fighting.
    The Community Warfare and updated User Interface still    I can't use my real name for fear of ban from the game itself. I started out with high hopes on this game because they pitched high hopes. I wanted a game that wasn't just run and gun deathmatch, I wanted something with the substance to feel like I was fighting for an empire.
    What I got was typical run and gun robot fighting.

    The Community Warfare and updated User Interface still haven't come in despite all the promises of "soon".

    Then the company tries to have their pitchmen sell this game again on their pet podcast show which tries to disguise itself as a fan podcast. The talking heads still babble on and on about other neat things they want to do but haven't event fixed or completed the stuff they promised more than a year ago.

    You keep reading and hearing about publisher problems, forum oppression, and overall mismanagement of a really good title. All I can say is some of this is absolutely true. The game has great potential, but it isn't really reaching it yet. I advise people to come back after a year and a half if they want something more than run and gun.

    For those that just want simple shooting fun with no substance and the same game mode over and over again, pop in a download it is free after all. Though be prepared to spend some money on champion Mechs because of the blasted meta gaming.    … Expand
  23. Sandshrew
    Sep 17, 2013
    3
    Gameplay: there's a fun Mechwarrior pseudo-simulator in there somewhere when you can get a good match of rompy-stompy robots in you can have a lot of fun. The problem is, it's buried far beneath the mess of poor balance (1-2 weapons are almost always head and shoulders above the rest while others like flamers have never been useful), poor design decisions (only two game modes and theyGameplay: there's a fun Mechwarrior pseudo-simulator in there somewhere when you can get a good match of rompy-stompy robots in you can have a lot of fun. The problem is, it's buried far beneath the mess of poor balance (1-2 weapons are almost always head and shoulders above the rest while others like flamers have never been useful), poor design decisions (only two game modes and they both suck, poor matchmaking system/no lobbies, 'mech size scaling, "ghost heat"), awful maps (in both design and implementation), and bugs unending (getting stuck in terrain, hit registration). I highly recommend finding experienced players to get started with instead of doing so alone, as many incredibly important aspects to the game are never explained to a new player in-game how heat sinks work, especially double heatsinks for instance; or why you want to disable arm-lock in the options. There's no tutorial and the player base is so small that you'll be matched up against people who know what they're doing, so having people to help you out is a must.

    The game consists of only two game modes, Assault and Conquest, which are both functionally deathmatch but with a side of "stand-in-the-square-to-win". 0-damage matches are less common with the introduction of 12v12 matches but the game modes are nonetheless a horribly-designed source of annoyance. In practice it has the feel of a very slow arena shooter with no respawns other F2P titles such as World of Tanks and the like are a good point of reference, despite the developer's insistence otherwise.

    Features: a major draw of the MW games has always been customization. Mech sticks in many ways to the classic Battletech rules the way weight and critical slots work, for instance, only mechs have limited 'weapon hardpoints' to give them variety and (in theory) balance them. Again, it is an arcane system however plagued by balance problems and lack of information. The best source of mech customization info is actually a 3rd party website (look up Smurfy's mwo reference). For instance new player wouldn't know that Double Heat Sinks are essentially mandatory on most mechs, despite being absent on most trial mechs the developers put out, or which modules are actually worthwhile.

    Related to this, a big problem at the moment is the game's economy. Now with real-money-fueled "Premium Time" a player will make roughly the same c-bills as a player without Premium Time used to. Players not using Premium Time now make a pittance after the Cadet Bonus new players earn, if they buy a bad mech or otherwise spend their cbills poorly they will be stuck with their choice for a long time (dozens if not hundreds of matches, depending on what they want to buy next). As such many players, especially newer ones, will have a hard time than they used to.

    Of course, a new player could just buy MC to bypass the grind. But there's no other way to put this: mechs are downright absurdly expensive to buy with real money. Assault mechs, last I bothered looking, cost in the range of $30 USD a piece. I will say that again: thirty dollars to unlock a single mech. There is absolutely no defending the pricing scheme PGI has put in place, and it's highly unlikely that they will ever have a sale on MC again.

    As long as I'm on features, there's an extremely lengthy list of promised features that have not made it into the game: DX11 support, lobby system, Community Warfare, etc. It's not clear when most of these features will be in the game in any meaningful way.

    Visuals and Audio: the game frankly just doesn't look very good. Maps are the worst offenders, whether through bland colors, awful visual filters (Forest Colony), or bad textures/geometry (Tourmaline Desert). A game running on the Cryengine 3 in 2013 has no business looking as bad as it does.

    The one thing the game does right more than anything else is the mech designs the art team, led in this aspect by Flyingdebris/Alex Iglesias, has given us some of the best Battletech art the franchise has ever seen. On many of the mechs after the original four, however, this has not translated well to the actual game. Size is the primary issue, with many mechs being far larger than they should be, for flavor and for balance reasons.

    The game has some good sound effects (my favorite personal touch being the clanking sound an Atlas makes as it torso-twists) but there are issues and bugs with them at times. There's no music to speak of, despite there being a music volume slider in the options.

    Final: MWO is a game that could and should be so much better than it is. Through incompetence and flat-out lying, PGI has 'delivered' a buggy, broken experience that deserves a far better team working on it. It's salvageable, but considering PGI's hostile attitude to their own player base I don't have a lot of hope.    … Expand
  24. CmndoBrndo
    Sep 17, 2013
    3
    Overpromised and underdelivered. What was an ambitious undertaking fell flat through what I believe are uninterested development and engineering teams.
  25. StandingCow
    Sep 17, 2013
    5
    Look, the game is fun, and since it is a F2P title (without P2W in it, thank god) you should at least give it a try. But let me make one thing very clear, it is NOT ready to come out of beta, not by a long shot.
  26. IceSerpent
    Sep 17, 2013
    1
    Pros: good graphics and sound effects.

    Cons: - severe lack of content (just a few maps and only 2 game modes) - badly broken game balance - terrible UI - game is very unfriendly to new players overall - lack of promised galactic conquest overlay (a.k.a Community Warfare) - lack of promised feature of all mechs being equally useful (a.k.a Role Warfare) - broken matchmaker - 3rd    Pros: good graphics and sound effects.

    Cons:
    - severe lack of content (just a few maps and only 2 game modes)
    - badly broken game balance
    - terrible UI
    - game is very unfriendly to new players overall
    - lack of promised galactic conquest overlay (a.k.a Community Warfare)
    - lack of promised feature of all mechs being equally useful (a.k.a Role Warfare)
    - broken matchmaker
    - 3rd person view and 1st person view are not separated (12v12 is 1PV only, but it's unreasonable to be able to have 11 more players available at all times). 3PV comes with all the peek-around-corners advantages one would expect from it.
    - game has very little to do with Battletech (aside from skins and names), despite promises to keep it as close as possible.

    Overall, a boring and repetitive arcade shooter.    … Expand
  27. Heffay
    Sep 17, 2013
    8
    The game is a lot of fun. The gameplay is solid, and team tactics make a huge difference (as is true for any team based game). You can run almost any mech and contribute your fair share to the team.

    The graphics and animation are just beautiful! Watching a mech explode right in front of you is an awe inspiring experience. The game does lack some content; could use more maps, and    The game is a lot of fun. The gameplay is solid, and team tactics make a huge difference (as is true for any team based game). You can run almost any mech and contribute your fair share to the team.

    The graphics and animation are just beautiful! Watching a mech explode right in front of you is an awe inspiring experience.

    The game does lack some content; could use more maps, and the community warfare portion is still missing. It will allegedly be released in the next month or two, which should dramatically increase the content available. More game modes, more maps, more mechs. That's what it really needs right now.    … Expand
  28. ZORLY
    Sep 17, 2013
    3
    This game has two game modes, Conquest (capture points and hold) and Assault (team deathmatch) and a handful of maps. The amount of grinding needed in order to get a mech of your own isn't bad, for the 1st 20 games, after that it is a terrible grindfest. The game quickly gets redundant and stale. There are no incentives to use a light, cheaper mech to capture points in conquest because theThis game has two game modes, Conquest (capture points and hold) and Assault (team deathmatch) and a handful of maps. The amount of grinding needed in order to get a mech of your own isn't bad, for the 1st 20 games, after that it is a terrible grindfest. The game quickly gets redundant and stale. There are no incentives to use a light, cheaper mech to capture points in conquest because the reward is so low. There appears to be no matchmaking balance as brand new players go up against founders. There are very little instructions on how to pilot, and nothing on combat training; with such a steep learning curve, the tutorial is practically useless. The user interface is clunky and trying to form a group is made unnecessarily difficult. There are alleged promises for a new user interface, but a quick look at the forums shows an angry player base crying for that "UI 2.0" that had been "promised" to be available long before launch. I often find my weapons firing into invisible barriers, my giant mech can't seem to step over a rock no bigger than its foot and terrain that looks like it should be easily traversed will often leave you looking for a new route, if you don't get stuck.

    I honestly feel that anyone scoring this higher than a 5 or 6 but lower than 3 or 4 is not giving an objective review. Many people are reviewing this game on the publisher and developer and their behavior.

    I score this game a 3 for its many flaws and overall feel of being incomplete, coupled with your choice between a money grabbing Free To Play model (the sooner we gamers stop giving our money to F2P, the better) or redundant grindfest. Even if you do chose the money pit, you are still in for plenty of redundancy.    … Expand
  29. VKsjg
    Sep 17, 2013
    5
    So much potential wasted, so many promises broken, so many deadlines slipped. The game was hyped as one thing and is turning into a kiddie game. I've been playing since closed beta and though the game still can be fun, it has progressed so slowly and a lot of the promised features have yet to arrive. Add to the snarkiness of the certain members of the dev team and a near total disregardSo much potential wasted, so many promises broken, so many deadlines slipped. The game was hyped as one thing and is turning into a kiddie game. I've been playing since closed beta and though the game still can be fun, it has progressed so slowly and a lot of the promised features have yet to arrive. Add to the snarkiness of the certain members of the dev team and a near total disregard for what should have been their core base leaves me in doubt about the future of this game.

    Some good: It is fun if you take it for what it is. The artwork isn't too bad. They have captured I think, the flavor of big stompy mechs beating on each other. The mechs can be customized to a great degree and a lot of the fun is just throwing different builds together and giving it a whirl. The maps are decent in look though some would be better as 8vs8 instead of 12vs12 and two would be good as 16vs16. The weapon balance is OK. Still needs tweaking but the majority of weapons are useful. Lots of mechs are available to use and in general, they look good though there is some scaling issues. They made "Sarah's Jenner" to raise money for charity was pretty solid of them.

    The Bad: 3rd PV, should never have been put in the game or if we must have that trash, the queues should be split as promised. Match imbalances are still a bane both in weight and skill. There is only two modes of play. Maps come slowly and they often have spots that your huge mech should be able to step over but it fail such as a stone embankment/wall on the river city map. Community warfare is no where to be seen. The new UI that has been much hyped, still hasn't made an appearance beyond a screenshot. The devs have essentially made it clear that the Founders are not their target audience any more. 10 year olds that cannot grasp torso twist apparently is the new target. The promised role-warfare is still pretty sketchy. C-bills have been nerfed a great deal. Takes forever to earn the money for a new mech. You would think they would want to sell more mech bays but I guess they are betting on premium time sales. No integrated voice yet. No lobby. No custom match making.

    Can they recover? I have my doubts. I hope they can get themselves sorted as in spite of everything, the game does show promise. I just am not sure if the PGI crew has the moxie to make things right.    … Expand
  30. MwHighlander
    Sep 17, 2013
    5
    Its been over a decade since the last official MechWarrior title has been released, so lets go over the pro's and con's of this one. Btw, its NOT pay to win.

    Pros: The artwork and renditions of many of the in-game 'Battlemechs' are fantastic and well done. The sound effects and visuals are quite good. Sadly, not as good as it could be. The game nothing like average FPS by a long shot,    Its been over a decade since the last official MechWarrior title has been released, so lets go over the pro's and con's of this one. Btw, its NOT pay to win.

    Pros: The artwork and renditions of many of the in-game 'Battlemechs' are fantastic and well done. The sound effects and visuals are quite good. Sadly, not as good as it could be. The game nothing like average FPS by a long shot, rewarding patients and tactics over raw firepower. Those who often perform the best in this "Action-Sim" are those who keep calm and their head down, taking full potential of opportunities as they present themselves. Those who are used to the "run and gun" style of game-play of the current over saturated marked be ware. This is the fastest way for you to find yourself at the wrong end of the enemy teams gun barrels. Tact and Teamwork is the key here you won't 'one man army' your way to victory.

    The Mechlab is what gives this game far, FAR more depth than any other current FPS out there today, including other mecha competition. It stands a step above games like HAWKEN, gameplay wise giving a much more indepth feel over piloting mecha and plenty of feel for scale. Many players find themselves in the mechlab trying to build that elusive "perfect mech" more than being in game itself.

    Cons: The game's development cycle is slow, has its fair share of bugs and is clearly going through several growing pains. So lets start off shall we?

    First is the learning curve. Those who are new to the FPS genre in general will find this game abysmally difficult. Many small things are needed to be learned to even become a 'sub-par' mech pilot. All things from learning the individual weapons, torso twisting, aiming, setting weapon groups, heat management, learning how to build "good" mechs in the mechlab, etc. Of course this comes from simply playing the game, but the game itself does not help at all.

    The "Trial Mech System" is the process in which players obtain their first mech, and ooh boy. Are these mechs fubar beyond belief. Although yes these mechs are based on "TRO's" (Tactical Read Outs) from the Table Top game MechWarrior was based on 25 years ago, these mechs do not translate well into a FPS environment. This has to do with many problems, such as low armor values, misplaced mech roles (some mechs are meant for Anti-Air or Anti-Infantry, neither of which are a part of the game), broken heat scale system (The Awesome Mech for instance, is useless because of artificial systems in placed to prevent it from doing its standard loadout of using large energy based weaponry) and so forth. The sooner the new player gets his "Cadet Bonus" and purchases his/her own mech the sooner. You also cannot customize the "Trial Mechs" which is half the game. Furthermore, in order to ask for help on the forums, you cannot post until you have completed your initial 25 games with this horrid system. You MUST drudge through the garbage before you effectively can start playing.

    The second problem is weapon/equipment balance in game. Simply put, there is none.
    LRMs (Long Range Missles) are fubar, don't use them
    SRMs (Short Range Missiles) have hit detection issues
    Pulse Lasers are Heavier, shorter range hotter crap versions of regular lasers. Don't use them
    The LB-10X autocannon does not work at all like it is supposed to in canon or like previous MechWarrior Titles. It is also the most expensive weapon in the game. Don't waste your precious C-Bills on it and don't use it. Just take my word for it, its bad.
    Machine Guns are completely ineffective against armored mechs. Armored mechs are the only enemies you have in the game. See where I'm going with this?
    Flamers, see above.
    Autocanon 2's are too puny, heavy and run hot. They are only effective in LARGE groups, and even then are penalized by a system called "Ghost Heat". They are bad and the game punishes you from trying to use them effectively. So don't use them at all.
    ECM, this broken peice of equipment makes you immune to lock-on missiles! Yes, its as broken as it sounds, it also does not follow what its supposed to do canon wise.
    BAP, hard counters ECM and has no other purpose. Also does not follow canon rules what so ever
    Command Console, does nothing!
    NARC Beacon, is broken and weighs ALOT. So, effectively also does nothing!
    Streak SRM2's, have the same lock on mechanic as LRMs, so there is a bug where the "Artemis Upgrade" also benefits them with literally no tonnage/crit cost!
    3rd Person View, Turn it on to see enemies around hills then turn it back off to fight! Its like its own build in wall hack!
    C-Bill grind! This is the games in-money system, and you will earn almost nothing after the cadet bonus finishes, because the Devs think we earn too many!

    Lastly, No collisions, no lobbies, horrid chat system, game crashes, no DFA, no alt. ammo types, Horrible frame rates, no eye candy, no destrucable enviorments, no Dx11, bad game modes, TINY MAPS, etc.

    Enjoy    … Expand
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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.
    Read full review
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