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. Deadguy
    Sep 17, 2013
    1
    A game with huge potential that has been let down by arrogant money grubbing developers. The game has promised so many development but has delivered none and game play continues to deteriorate with poor fixes that do not address game play. Developers do not involve themselves with forums other than to deliver the odd post that has already been done elsewhere. Suggested fixes are ignoredA game with huge potential that has been let down by arrogant money grubbing developers. The game has promised so many development but has delivered none and game play continues to deteriorate with poor fixes that do not address game play. Developers do not involve themselves with forums other than to deliver the odd post that has already been done elsewhere. Suggested fixes are ignored and criticism is openly disparaged. Now rules have been posted that any negative comment will lead to "moderation". The founders of this programme (the alpha and beta investor) are leaving in droves after multiple promises have been broken.
    Clan war has been just around the corner for over a year. The launch was a patch that was to fix game bugs. The gameplay has been stuck in the same two modes for a year.

    Appalling attitude from developers and clearly waining interest in making the game successful. This is now just a grab for cash before it collapses.    … Expand
  2. BeefHands
    Sep 18, 2013
    2
    This game is not complete, weapons balance still swings like a pendulum, the graphics remain underwhelming, the netcode is still infuriating, and there is literally nothing to do besides grind endlessly. Promises of new features should be looked at closely as the developers have abandoned promised features, been unable to deliver promised features, and have delivered unwanted features. TheThis game is not complete, weapons balance still swings like a pendulum, the graphics remain underwhelming, the netcode is still infuriating, and there is literally nothing to do besides grind endlessly. Promises of new features should be looked at closely as the developers have abandoned promised features, been unable to deliver promised features, and have delivered unwanted features. The current grind is hellish unless you want to pay for expensive premium time in addition to paying for a pay only "hero" mech (avg 10 dollars) that retains a permanent bonus.… Expand
  3. 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
  4. garhent
    Sep 17, 2013
    3
    MWO has a lot of issues. I could not at this time recommend the game to anyone to actually spend money on. It would be ok to play for free, but its not worth money at this time.

    A lot of promises were made involving the ability to play as part of the inner sphere, clan invasion, and the ability to allow hits to register on mech (yes the game has been in beta for over a year and there    MWO has a lot of issues. I could not at this time recommend the game to anyone to actually spend money on. It would be ok to play for free, but its not worth money at this time.

    A lot of promises were made involving the ability to play as part of the inner sphere, clan invasion, and the ability to allow hits to register on mech (yes the game has been in beta for over a year and there are problems with hits actually registering) are not something the DEV's have been able to deliver on yet.

    The DEV's have been working on monetization primarily with easy to code camouflage, items, hero mechs and additional packages of mechs.

    At this point, the current state of the game is what the Devs are actually able to code and deliver. I would not expect much else from Piranha at this time.

    The best mech in the game now is a 30 ton mech that has ridiculous issues with hits registering. The devs have known about this for months and aren't doing much about it. The game is a disappointment compared to the first video they released to the founders package with the promises they made and what they actually delivered. The game is the first time since I was 16 and got swindled by carnies on a bait and switch scheme. Yup, MWO Bait and Switch, its that bad in delivering what they promised.    … Expand
  5. 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
  6. 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
  7. Lynxy
    Sep 17, 2013
    1
    If you waited for good and deep gameplay, just how it was advertised before closed beta start, you'll find none of that. It's simple random TDM 12x12 battles right now. No new features for greater replayability in one and half year. Good game for few hours in a week, but boring as after 2-3 weeks of continuous everyday play.

    Also this game have very steep learning curve. First 3-5    If you waited for good and deep gameplay, just how it was advertised before closed beta start, you'll find none of that. It's simple random TDM 12x12 battles right now. No new features for greater replayability in one and half year. Good game for few hours in a week, but boring as after 2-3 weeks of continuous everyday play.

    Also this game have very steep learning curve. First 3-5 hours of play will consist from your continuous deaths without chance to kill anyone by your own. And you'll need about 80-100 hours to get your first mastered chassis with good fitting, so you can play on even level with everyone else.    … Expand
  8. Haroldwolf
    Sep 17, 2013
    1
    At the best this game is a glorified mech simulator. The RPG elements are a joke. PGI project and program management skills are amateurist at best. Communication with their player base is spotty and the launch was like a drive by.

    It's a shame that FASA's Mechwarrior has come to this.
  9. warp103
    Sep 17, 2013
    2
    this launch is basically the same game from the day it when open beta with 2 more maps and a few more mechs.
    Things that are lacking.
    1 No real support for a analog joystick. 2 no dx 11 support. 3 no community warfare 4. ploy counts is low for being on the cry engine 3. 5. no optimization for fps. Again it on the cry engine 3 and FPS is worst the crysis2 6. has ladder system 7 no    this launch is basically the same game from the day it when open beta with 2 more maps and a few more mechs.
    Things that are lacking.
    1 No real support for a analog joystick.
    2 no dx 11 support.
    3 no community warfare
    4. ploy counts is low for being on the cry engine 3.
    5. no optimization for fps. Again it on the cry engine 3 and FPS is worst the crysis2
    6. has ladder system
    7 no clan tech
    8 weapons system very unbalance
    9 bad hit detection
    10 bad UI it not even full screen
    11 some mech are not hittable namely need 4 mech to take out one spider
    12 no crossfire or sli
    13 missing 1pv only game
    14 no private fighting
    15 no lobby system
    16 no comm system like teamspeak
    17 so many more to list that PGI stand was going to be in here for launch i would need 20 more spaces    … Expand
  10. JokerVictor
    Nov 4, 2013
    3
    Where to start with the biggest letdown in my gaming career? It's hard to describe succinctly how far this game missed the mark, but I'll attempt to tell the story of MWO's development as honestly as I can.

    During the early summer last year, the developers of MWO (Piranha Games PGI) offered a Founder's Program to help fund the game and bring in tons of fans to test and provide feedback    Where to start with the biggest letdown in my gaming career? It's hard to describe succinctly how far this game missed the mark, but I'll attempt to tell the story of MWO's development as honestly as I can.

    During the early summer last year, the developers of MWO (Piranha Games PGI) offered a Founder's Program to help fund the game and bring in tons of fans to test and provide feedback on the game. There was a grand vision of where the game was going, it was all documented in the dev blogs, and this is the vision that was used to market the game at this stage.

    In closed beta at this time (I bought in to the beta through the founder's program) the game was essentially a giant trainwreck. The UI was completely awful, and often crashed your game. Actually, nearly everything crashed your game at this point. The netcode was awful, the game only had one mode, and there was a very thin selection of mechs and maps. However, this was the point where the game most closely resembled a proper mechwarrior game, and it's only gone downhill from this point.

    I should also point out, that at this point there were many strong positives about the game. It was gorgeous, for starters, and the combat pacing was excellent. It was still early in development, so the massive problems could be overlooked, as there was a shining gem underneath all of that.

    Over the nearly year and a half since I joined the beta, I've watched poor decision after poor decision completely erode that shining gem underneath into a dull, bland, rock. All the while repeatedly missing development milestones, and completely forgetting about or willfully ignoring the original vision that the game was sold on.

    A small list of features this game was supposed have had months ago:
    -DX11
    -New game modes (dropship mode, and asymmetrical assault)
    -UI 2.0
    -Lobbies (yes, an online game that doesn't have lobbies of any kind)
    -In-game VOIP (yes, an online game that doesn't have in-game voice of any kind)
    -Community Warfare (the large overarching meta-game system)
    -Mech tonnage limits
    -Functional bases with turrets and capture mechanics
    -Clan mechs
    -Role Warfare (systems and skills that made each mech class and role unique and useful this in particular has completely failed and this doesn't exist in the game at all. You either go fast and cap bases, or carry lots of guns)

    And now, here we are at launch day. The game has seen exactly 0 of the promised features actually make it into the game. Instead, PGI utterly ignored its community and wasted immense amounts of time developing features that no one wanted, like P2W consumables and third-person view.

    So, in closing MWO is an incomplete mess of a game that has changed very very little from its closed beta state.

    Graphics: 5/10 This was a 8/10 before, but continued 'optimizations' have steadily ruined this department. Mech scaling to the environment has always felt completely off as well.
    Sound: 9/10 Quite good, actually... a highlight.
    Music: 0/10 Lol, they forgot this feature.
    Presentation: 2/10 The UI is extremely bad, dense, and non-intuitive
    Gameplay: 1/10 Perpetually bad decision making has taken what was once an extremely fun stompy robot game and made it a bland twitch shooter. There are only two game modes, which are both extremely simple and essentially 'stand in square or kill everyone.' The game is horribly imbalanced, and is extremely unfriendly to newbies. You can expect to have your face used as a bullet sponge when you first attempt to play, as the matchmaker will happily drop you against grizzled veterans that have mechs far far more powerful than what you start with.

    This game gets a 3/10 overall for nostalgia reasons only, I had tons of fun playing this once upon a time. The current game is a shallow grindfest, and looks like that is going to continue for a very long time. I can't say don't try it, as it is free, but do not be tempted to spend money, you will later regret it.

    PS I will likely be banned from the game for this review. Yes... PGI actually are complete dicks like that.

    Update: I've been banned (and received zero notification of it). Thanks for proving my point!    … Expand
  11. 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
  12. Valdimar
    Sep 17, 2013
    4
    Allow me to preface this by saying this game is a far cry from what it could have been.

    Currently it is lacking in several core features promised to be the game 'within 90 days' of open beta. These features include DX11 support, new game modes, inclusion of community warfare, a revamped user interface, and announcements for clan tech. With the continual pushing back of much anticipated    Allow me to preface this by saying this game is a far cry from what it could have been.

    Currently it is lacking in several core features promised to be the game 'within 90 days' of open beta. These features include DX11 support, new game modes, inclusion of community warfare, a revamped user interface, and announcements for clan tech. With the continual pushing back of much anticipated features the game itself just drags on with little to look forward to.

    Game play wise there are only two game modes: assault and conquest. Assault features two opposing teams fighting each other with a base capture mechanic as a side goal while Conquest features a resource point mechanic in which you fight for five different resource points. However with only eleven maps (three of which are alt versions of other maps) these modes to get bland after a while.

    The other driving point is the customization of your battlemechs. With 21 mech chassis and a total of 92 variants to choose from (including the paid only variants) there is quite a bit available here to chose from and what I consider to be this games strongest suit currently. The downside to this however is that some mechs play very similar to each other or with minute differences. Even worse is that after a recent patch in which earnings were nerfed (personally I saw a 1/3 reduction on average) it can take a long time to save up for a new mech after your first 25 matches; during which you receive a significant boost to income. After this patch the grind has become unbearable and effectively killing what I looked forward to.

    In the end it is my opinion that MWO is the promise of a great game that was ruined by it's own developers. I will continue playing it in the hopes that it will one day become the game it should be but for now I can only give this game a 4/10.    … Expand
  13. 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.
  14. RoniYiu
    Sep 29, 2013
    0
    Extremely disappointed. This company trashed the IP with it's shoddy incomplete product and premiupricing. Steer clear of this one if you are a MW fan, it's a hollow world of tanks ripoff more than a true MW game.
  15. Kilron
    Sep 25, 2013
    1
    Very disappointing game at its launch there's just the core component of the game (robot deathmatches) they've worked on.
    UI did not change from closed beta and really need to improve, no endgame, no lobby etc.
  16. Propofol
    Sep 18, 2013
    5
    Long time fan of tabletop Battletech, Battletech MU**'s and Mechwarrior series of PC games. Would gladly pour money into this game if there was some sense of purpose to it. The game itself is beautiful (and I don't have a high end PC) and you get the sense that you really are piloting one of those mechs. But it can get old quickly and I find myself having more fun playing Minecraft. ILong time fan of tabletop Battletech, Battletech MU**'s and Mechwarrior series of PC games. Would gladly pour money into this game if there was some sense of purpose to it. The game itself is beautiful (and I don't have a high end PC) and you get the sense that you really are piloting one of those mechs. But it can get old quickly and I find myself having more fun playing Minecraft. I really want to like this game....I really do....Heck I'd even pay a monthly sub if I felt it were worth it.....… Expand
  17. Redmacher
    Sep 24, 2013
    1
    The art is the only redeeming thing about this game. Gameplay has only 2 modes which may as well be the same. Both are 12v12 (which makes death happen very fast, and you only get one life per match), and the only difference is one mode has 5 bases to capture and the other has 2. The UI is terrible, with extra clicks needed all over the place where only 1 could have been used. The biggestThe art is the only redeeming thing about this game. Gameplay has only 2 modes which may as well be the same. Both are 12v12 (which makes death happen very fast, and you only get one life per match), and the only difference is one mode has 5 bases to capture and the other has 2. The UI is terrible, with extra clicks needed all over the place where only 1 could have been used. The biggest problem is probably the developers. They promise one thing (no 3rd person view ever!) then do the opposite. They promise features (community warfare, clans, and a new UI have all been coming "soon" for about a year and a half now) and then never deliver. They implemented ghost heat: a confusing, convoluted system to solve a problem that not only doesn't solve the problem it was intended for, but also ruins lots of things that weren't problems. perhaps worst of all is that ghost heat is hidden in the game and you would never know about it unless you read the forums. They regularly troll legitimate questions on twitter. They edit users' posts on the forums to make it look like they're saying something positive when they weren't.… Expand
  18. DastardlyPete
    Sep 24, 2013
    1
    I would almost never give a game a single star, but this game promised so much, and at first it appeared to deliver on said promises. Now we're a year and a half later and we have very little to show for it. If I could refund my initial investment in this game I would in a heartbeat.
  19. Kotrin
    Sep 22, 2013
    3
    Fun at times, Mechwarrior Online is by no means a "thinking first person's shooter": first, it's not FPS anymore, second, matchmaking is poor, and finally, everyone plays the same Flavor of the Month build (an array of Particle Projection Cannons at time of writing). There are plenty of giant robots to choose from but only a handful maps to play with and only 2-3 new maps seems to beFun at times, Mechwarrior Online is by no means a "thinking first person's shooter": first, it's not FPS anymore, second, matchmaking is poor, and finally, everyone plays the same Flavor of the Month build (an array of Particle Projection Cannons at time of writing). There are plenty of giant robots to choose from but only a handful maps to play with and only 2-3 new maps seems to be released every year.

    Mechwarrior Online crew fails to impress and fails to deliver. Given its recent track record and inability to make any significant advances in feature implementation, game balance, and blatantly lying to its community no one can recommend this game as worthy of your money and this is a diehard fan of the Battletech franchise writing this. Yet, it's a free game so you may jump in and judge for yourself without any cost. Be sure however to invest a good amount of time in the game and before investing any real money.    … Expand
  20. Wonko
    Sep 17, 2013
    4
    A disappointing experience all-around. This is not like any Mechwarrior game that came before...don't expect MW5. It may be worth playing for a couple of hours just for the graphics...they are pretty good because of the detail of the mechs. But everything is concealed behind some sort of hazy grainy-vision. The time one plays will consist of mostly 4-8 minute games, repeated over andA disappointing experience all-around. This is not like any Mechwarrior game that came before...don't expect MW5. It may be worth playing for a couple of hours just for the graphics...they are pretty good because of the detail of the mechs. But everything is concealed behind some sort of hazy grainy-vision. The time one plays will consist of mostly 4-8 minute games, repeated over and over on poorly proportioned maps. The game is terribly frustrating with the strange weapon quirks that make no sense and the heat penalties that reduce one's effectiveness and ability to survive (no in-game description of the arcane heat system either). Be prepared to grind (a LOT) to get your mech improved enough to be competitive...because you have to level THREE variants of each mech. One must deal with incomplete and unbalanced weaponry; some weapons systems seem overpowered, while others are a total waste of space/weight. There's only one real roll: get the biggest mech there is with the biggest weapons it can hold, tag as many enemy as you can, then get/steal as many kills as you can. Scouting and support roles are rewarded at a much lower level. This design forces one to discard real teamwork in favor of selfish play...and one will see a LOT of it. Adding to the teamwork problem is a lack of in-game communication hot-buttons....or anything other than typing, unless you are in a group on TeamSpeak. The community is terribly full of mean-spirited and hateful people, both in-game and in the forums. The devs/admin are arrogant and condescending. STAY AWAY FROM THE FORUMS! It doesn't matter what one posts; it will be flamed by either a 'this game sucks' troll or a brown-nosing admin-lover, and either (both) will try to explain why they are so smart while demeaning any opposing view. I wasted time on this game (since closed beta) but no longer play it. Loved it once, hate the entire experience now.… Expand
  21. 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
  22. Lakota_Wolf
    Sep 18, 2013
    5
    Overall the game itself isn't horrible. I look at the launch and consider it to be the worst launch of any game in recent history though. The one thing in this game that is really bad, the player base. I have never seen so many hateful minds in one location in my entire gaming history. The game itself has a good balance of mechs to choose from, the maps look really good, and as with allOverall the game itself isn't horrible. I look at the launch and consider it to be the worst launch of any game in recent history though. The one thing in this game that is really bad, the player base. I have never seen so many hateful minds in one location in my entire gaming history. The game itself has a good balance of mechs to choose from, the maps look really good, and as with all online games balancing weapons seems to be in constant flux. I have seen a lot of people complain but I'm having fun with this game, to me that's the bottom line.… Expand
  23. PunkRoadkill
    Sep 26, 2013
    0
    Been playing since very early on and its been nothing but one crushing disappointment after another, and from that early on its been clear the only objective here is to milk money as fast as possible and to hell with what people are actually interested in playing
  24. 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
  25. Tyzh
    Sep 17, 2013
    4
    The game has been chronically poorly balanced and buggy. Progress during closed beta was mostly spent going backwards. The real issue is that the game is now "launching" out of closed beta when it is neither stable nor feature complete. Core aspects of the game concept and design remain not simply incomplete, but excluded from the game entirely.

    It's not all doom and gloom. The core    The game has been chronically poorly balanced and buggy. Progress during closed beta was mostly spent going backwards. The real issue is that the game is now "launching" out of closed beta when it is neither stable nor feature complete. Core aspects of the game concept and design remain not simply incomplete, but excluded from the game entirely.

    It's not all doom and gloom. The core function of the game, shooting at other 'mechs, is really fun. The basics of combat have been right from the start. There is hope for the game to eventually be one of the best games for PC, but evaluating this launch as a complete game I cannot review it favorably.    … Expand
  26. 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
  27. maxblaster44
    Sep 21, 2013
    0
    I have played this game for at least 6 months and have heavy and assault mechs up to elites. And for all that time, up to launch day, the progress of the development team has been molasses slow. The game runs ok on a good gaming rig, and the net code is competent, but the game itself falls apart much after that.

    There is NO CONTENT. It is just to flavors, conquest and resources, and    I have played this game for at least 6 months and have heavy and assault mechs up to elites. And for all that time, up to launch day, the progress of the development team has been molasses slow. The game runs ok on a good gaming rig, and the net code is competent, but the game itself falls apart much after that.

    There is NO CONTENT. It is just to flavors, conquest and resources, and that is only against other players that may be much better or worse than you are. The majority of games one side is steamrolled by the other..

    On top of that COMMUNICATIONS is ABYSMAL NO VOICE IP CHAT.. and the chat window is horrendously awfull that text just goes away and you can not even respond intelegently.

    It is sad really, this game had a lot of promise in early beta, and then it all went to the managements head and pocket books, because they sure as hell did not spend it on the game.

    As it is right now, its god awful for new players, and the old players have had it.. most have parked thier mechs and walked away from this disaster.    … Expand
  28. OrbMonky
    Sep 17, 2013
    3
    Ultimately, MWO aspires to be much more than it is. However, after 2 years of development, it is tragically short of an enjoyable experience. How long PGI and IGP can keep this game breathing remains to be seen, however they have already reversed course on multiple design pillars and other promises that they used in order to sell the game to their customer base. It seems to be a classicUltimately, MWO aspires to be much more than it is. However, after 2 years of development, it is tragically short of an enjoyable experience. How long PGI and IGP can keep this game breathing remains to be seen, however they have already reversed course on multiple design pillars and other promises that they used in order to sell the game to their customer base. It seems to be a classic case of changing horses mid stream current rumors point to a potential XBONE port which may have greased the palms required to accomplish such a consumer unfriendly change in course.

    The game itself is marginally satisfying, if you're all about deathmatch in robots with counterstrike like rounds (no respawns), but for many, this will likely wear thin very quickly for all but the die-hard.

    Hope remains that this franchise will eventually be rebooted with a realistic and honestly presented set of goals and implementations.    … Expand
  29. Lukoi
    Sep 17, 2013
    5
    Ok, so unlike alot of reviews here I'm not going to discuss the progression of this game since Closed Beta, through Open Beta to today. Today is what matters, as the game has officially LAUNCHED.

    Video fx/Graphics (8): The artwork for the Mechs is fantastic. Even if you don't necessarily agree with the direction of the Art team or modeling of the Mechs, they still look well done and    Ok, so unlike alot of reviews here I'm not going to discuss the progression of this game since Closed Beta, through Open Beta to today. Today is what matters, as the game has officially LAUNCHED.

    Video fx/Graphics (8): The artwork for the Mechs is fantastic. Even if you don't necessarily agree with the direction of the Art team or modeling of the Mechs, they still look well done and attractive. Intimidating and lethal, they look much as any fan of the intellectual property of BattleTech might imagine. I deducted points here due to a lack of DX11 support (it's 2013 folks), some pixelated terrain that looks like a game from 2003 in places and some odd modeling mistakes. Overall, a great effort and all indications are this will get better.

    Audio (9): Again, barring some minor aesthitic disagreements, the sound effects are well done and the game sounds good during gameplay. Autocannons have a great bang/crunch mechanic, lasers sound vicious and explosions/getting hit add to the immersion.

    Immersion (5): This is where the video excellence and audio excellence fall short, in tandem with other things that are decidedly lacking. There's no musical backdrop to get you pumped up right before the matches start, no backround music of even immersive backround noises while you are in the Mechlab/game join screens. If I'm in some giant bay somewhere modifying a 60-ton warmachine, shouldn't there at least be some air-wrenches screaming or the sounds of metal clanging or SOMETHING besides pure silence when I'm in there? Missed opportunity there. Additionally, there's no tie to a back story within the game. If you're not already familiar with the IP, most of the game will mean nothing to you nor does the game give you any significant information in that respect.

    Backstory (0): PGI makes no effort to tie the grand-lore that sets this IP apart from any other "walking-tanks" battlesim and misses out hugely there. Hiring some writers or poaching directly from the novels/game books that are associated with the IP would make sense here, but there's no history at all. Just some forum links to community based websites (such as sarna.net) that are great efforts, but in no way as reach, or as accurate as actually being source material.

    Gameplay (7): Purely from a gameplay mechanics and fun aspect, I enjoy playing it BUT I've been playing it for months. The initial stings of playing through the learning curve are long past for me. I can enjoy the new Mechs as they are introduced immediately for their various strengths and weaknesses. I'm not sure its the same for new players.

    Balance (6): The game's archaic, ill-articulated math to balance weapons, armor, modules and other effects in the game lacks synergy. "Ghost-heat" mechanics that are not explained in the game anywhere effectively, combined with confusing additional rules for mobility make it hard for the player (who's not a constant forum archeologist) to dig up how to build his machines most effectively or even to guess how to do so. The weapons have some balance issues that are bound to be improved upon but are not intuitive to the player. The Mechs themselves as the platforms have some glaring optimal performers and some glaringly bad Mechs, with the majority in the comfortable middle. If all Mechs had useful roles, even if those roles were not purely combat related, that would improve their value immensely.

    Modes/Replayability (2): The game has two modes....assault, where teams can kill the enemy team or capture a slow-ticking objective on their opponents' side of the map or conquest, where teams can the enemy team or earn points by owning up to 5 slow-ticking objectives scattered between the two teams. There is nothing else to the game right now, no other modes. I hope this changes soon, but right now...horrible for a released game that advertises itself as a thinking-person's shooter and Mech combat sim.

    EndGame/Why play factor (2): Once the fun wears off in playing the same two modes, you're left with grinding new Mech chassis for the sake of collecting them. Something called "community warfare" has been discussed for quite sometime but its launch and there's still nothing. Without a driving reason to fight AND no lobby system that allows players to set up private matches that could be used in community driven leaque or planetary conquest leagues, you're literally just playing because you enjoy the shootem up portion or to make your collection larger.

    F2P factors: There's no penalty to P4F, as the "hero Mechs" don't represent a real leg up in any true sense, but it does cut into the grind ALOT to pay for premium time.

    Clarity (2): Outside of limited tool tips and the occasional pre-match tip on your screen, there's only ONE rather dinky tutorial. A PDF attached to the game that would show information on the ghost heat, mobility rules, some lore backround etc would help immensely.

    Hopeful the game will improve but not great so far.    … Expand
  30. elhimp
    Sep 17, 2013
    0
    Like a game programmer I just can't look at this game without tears in my eyes. Net code, movement system, hit boxes every technical detail is completely screwed. Add to this balance issues, non obvious mechanics and you get first not-fun mechwarrior.
  31. 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.
  32. AC273
    Sep 17, 2013
    2
    Super unintuitive. Devs that don't listen to the community. Lack of a purpose to the game. Makes me miss MechWarrior 4.

    The graphic COULD be good, since I have played all the Crysis games, and they look wonderful. The screen is filled with this grainy grit that makes it look like your watching the game on an old school TV. Why? How can a game build on the same engine as Crysis    Super unintuitive. Devs that don't listen to the community. Lack of a purpose to the game. Makes me miss MechWarrior 4.

    The graphic COULD be good, since I have played all the Crysis games, and they look wonderful. The screen is filled with this grainy grit that makes it look like your watching the game on an old school TV. Why? How can a game build on the same engine as Crysis look so bad!    … Expand
  33. Ryoma
    Sep 17, 2013
    4
    Let's seee.....

    Forced to use a trial mech for about 5 hours to buy your own mech. Less than intuitive game play mechanics like ghost heat with few tutorials. Very little money made per match, so it takes forever to buy a mech, then another day to even outfit it. Only 2 gameplay modes. 3PV corner peaking. MC mechs costing too much. Rude devs/forum mods. 4/10 is the    Let's seee.....

    Forced to use a trial mech for about 5 hours to buy your own mech.

    Less than intuitive game play mechanics like ghost heat with few tutorials.

    Very little money made per match, so it takes forever to buy a mech, then another day to even outfit it.

    Only 2 gameplay modes.

    3PV corner peaking.

    MC mechs costing too much.

    Rude devs/forum mods.

    4/10 is the best I can give    … Expand
  34. SixStringSamuri
    Feb 8, 2014
    2
    This is by far the worst game development I have ever witnessed. UI 2.0 is yet another example of the PGI development strategy of ignore your users, release unfinished poorly thought out content. Looking at it I have to wonder just "what" or whom they were designing it for. The promised CW has seen more development in the heated exchanges on the now 2 Reddit communities then we will everThis is by far the worst game development I have ever witnessed. UI 2.0 is yet another example of the PGI development strategy of ignore your users, release unfinished poorly thought out content. Looking at it I have to wonder just "what" or whom they were designing it for. The promised CW has seen more development in the heated exchanges on the now 2 Reddit communities then we will ever likely see in game. This is a product I would avoid as I do not see it lasting another year unless some serious editing is done to the staff at PGI.… Expand
  35. Huntrava
    Sep 18, 2013
    3
    Pay no attention to the man behind that curtain!

    Just as with the Great and Powerful Oz, once you pull back the curtain the magic of Mechwarrior Online is irrevocably gone forever. September 17--the Mechwarrior Online launch date--signaled the end of the closed beta. This is how the closed beta ends; not with a bang, but a whimper. The game is built on CryEngine which has a poor    Pay no attention to the man behind that curtain!

    Just as with the Great and Powerful Oz, once you pull back the curtain the magic of Mechwarrior Online is irrevocably gone forever.

    September 17--the Mechwarrior Online launch date--signaled the end of the closed beta. This is how the closed beta ends; not with a bang, but a whimper.

    The game is built on CryEngine which has a poor track record when it comes to netcode optimization. The result is a jumbled mess of poor hit detection and a decidedly incompetent development team who seem more interested in creating skins and mech ornaments (that cost real money) rather than correcting underlying imbalances and gameplay issues. Unlike other F2P games such as World of Tanks, War Thunder, etc, there is no discernible progression. The game quite literally limits itself to buying mechs and upgrades via C-BILLS that are earned in matches. By that standard, there is more advancement strategy in Battlefield 3.

    The initial awe of the game eventually gives way to the grim reality: MWO looks pretty, but the looks are only skin deep. What could have been a rich, fulfilling addition to the Mechwarrior franchise is instead seen as a money-grab by PGI who upsold the game during the closed-beta period. At this point, the minimal differences between the final version and the closed-beta don't justify a years' worth of development and certainly don't deserve your hard earned monies.

    These aren't the droids you're looking for.    … Expand
  36. 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
  37. potapal
    Sep 17, 2013
    3
    Mechwarrior online isn't a game with a cash shop so much as a cash shop with a minimum-effort game attached. PGI-management becomes angered when they have to actually work and develop content it seems due to their allergy. They launched on 9/17 with massive censorship campaigns on their forums in what I imagine was an attempt to suppress game reviewers from browsing their forum in it'sMechwarrior online isn't a game with a cash shop so much as a cash shop with a minimum-effort game attached. PGI-management becomes angered when they have to actually work and develop content it seems due to their allergy. They launched on 9/17 with massive censorship campaigns on their forums in what I imagine was an attempt to suppress game reviewers from browsing their forum in it's honest state. It is completely possible to be banned from the game and lose all your real-money investments into MWO's content for posting a negative review on a website such as this or elsewhere IE reddit. That should tell you what kind of development mentality has gone into this game. It's aweful, they made a terrible attempt at intentionally imbalancing the meta-game for the past year by allowing certain weapons to be overpowered and selling special super-mechs that can use those weapons to maximum effect for the last year. This however lasted a year and alienated the playerbase. The mechwarrior-concept itself is amazingly solid and great, it's just dead from greed at this point. PGI isn't developing the game past the point of ever being a dry-bare-bones arena shooter and are already trying to port it onto xbox to.. and I quote... "get the call of duty audience" Yeah, spend your money and time elsewhere, let this brutalized victim of a franchise die with some dignity for what it once was. Incompetent developers that add more bugs than they fix with every patch, barely know the engine they code in, let alone knowing code at all, and a greedy cash-grab mentality around minimal effort and maximizing the amount of money people give them will really leave a sour taste in your mouth. Any strength the game has can be found in previous releases and in much stronger experiences for a significantly smaller investment of money and time. This is a dead boat.… Expand
  38. 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.
  39. 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.
  40. Saevus
    Sep 17, 2013
    3
    MechWarrior Online needs to be judged by the sum total of its parts. We can't use the "Beta" excuse anymore. That means the game's mechanics, gameplay, development cycle and developer are all fair game.

    MWO is a very good mechanical example of how the Cry Engine can be used to create a first person shooter. The concepts are extremely solid and the IP (BattleTech) is second to none.    MechWarrior Online needs to be judged by the sum total of its parts. We can't use the "Beta" excuse anymore. That means the game's mechanics, gameplay, development cycle and developer are all fair game.

    MWO is a very good mechanical example of how the Cry Engine can be used to create a first person shooter. The concepts are extremely solid and the IP (BattleTech) is second to none.

    MWO is not a very good game.

    I say this because in order for there to be a game, there has to be a reason to play the game. Something to drive you. Unless dumping real money on paint schemes and custom one off mechs that are marginally useless is a gameplay mechanic, then we are left with shooting other mechs, which on the surface is great. Except once the shiny has worn off, you realize you are facing the same 3 mechs with the same 2 weapons over and over. Weapon balance is broken, hit detection is broken, features that were promised a year ago are now over the horizon, the communication in the forums is dead, unless you follow their very specific guidelines and say only nice things.

    At the end of the day, I personally play games because they are fun. I had a lot of fun with MWO when I knew I was playing a beta that had a lot of polish yet to come. But over time, it became clear the developer doesn't quite understand what it has or where it wants to take it. The weapon balance is a perfect example, the weapons go through FOTM phases, as they nerf/change one weapon, another rises, and they have literally gone in a complete circle. What is good today, at launch, was good 1 year ago in beta, and is EXACTLY the same. The play style, the mechanics, none of it have changed for the better.

    In the end, the game hasn't made any real progress in the last year mechanically. They have added more mechs and more maps (Some of which are just god awful, I am sorry, that is what $250k in man hours gets you? I am sorry to hear that..) but the mechs all play the same. It's a matter of finding the FOTM weapons and fitting them to the one you like the most. The matchmaker is a joke, there are no lobbies, no community warfare. I've watched dedicated unit after dedicated unit (Including mine) walk away rather than deal with this hot mess.

    As a F2P shooter, to waste a weekend playing? Give it a shot. As a game you can throw yourself into? Not even close. Might be one day. I for one don't join the doom and gloom crowd, the game is a solid mechanical base for a game. I also won't jump in the bandwagon of all the guys giving it a 10, I recognized no less than 25 names as people associated with or closely aligned with PGI in the reviews that gave 10's. Just sad.    … Expand
  41. JHBS
    Sep 17, 2013
    0
    One day MechWarrior Online will be in textbooks, as a lesson for students in inept design, poor communication, and terrible development. All this after getting $5 million out of pre-purchases.

    The pros: 1) Combat feels good. 2) The weapons sound wonderful. The Cons (in no particular order): 1) Horrible new player experience: the trial mechs are generally trash, and deathboxes, and    One day MechWarrior Online will be in textbooks, as a lesson for students in inept design, poor communication, and terrible development. All this after getting $5 million out of pre-purchases.

    The pros:
    1) Combat feels good.
    2) The weapons sound wonderful.

    The Cons (in no particular order):
    1) Horrible new player experience: the trial mechs are generally trash, and deathboxes, and the game defaults options that hamstring players.
    2) Terrible Graphics. The game looked better 12 months ago.
    3) Subpar hit recognition. Has hardly improved over 12 months of development.
    4) Ridiculous pricing for a free-to-play game. Mechs average 10 to 30 dollars a piece. And you need three to completely "level" the mech.
    5) A horrible grind to get anywhere near a competitive mech if you aren't looking to spend an arm and a leg. Low "c-bills" (in game currency) per match means 20+ of grinding for a single mech, if you don't want to spend money. Then you have to level it, and outfit it with all the necessary upgrades.
    6) Clunky user interface that is not at all intuitive. It's a nightmare if you aren't used to it. Took me five minutes to just launch a game the first time I started.
    7) Hilarious balance choices. For example: ECM is far to powerful an item for the weight and size.
    8) Glacially slow balancing cycles. The develops see fit to take months on altering an xml file to balance the weapons. Metas emerge that persist for months and stifle the game.
    9) Terrible communication with the community. The devs feel fit to ignore and insult the community, and constantly speak of a silent majority they are seeking to serve.
    10) Piss poor end game content: you grind for pilot trees for modules. No choices, as all are eventually unlockable. No strategy.
    11) Overly complicated, hidden mechanics. Example: Ghost heat. Too complicated to explain in a review, but just be aware its a dumb mechanic on firing multiple weapons of the same kind at once. Not documented or communicated to players in any way.
    12) No music, no cinematics, no story. No point. There is no community warfare, no overarching goal here. Just grind, and give money to PGI to lessen the grind.
    13) Poor balance from one chassis to another. The game doesn't balance for weight classes, and the classes are not well balanced against one another, though the devs promised that too. Most mediums are deathtraps, and if you want to make any in game currency, you need to pilot a heavy or assault as only damaging enemies earns you cash.
    14) Poor incentives in the game that only reward doing damage. No point in piloting anything other than the heaviest mech you can afford.
    14) One game mode: stand in a box, or fight the enemy. Oh, one wrinkle: may be two or five boxes in the game.
    15) Failure to make good on promises. The publisher and devs have promised many features, or promised not to implement other features. They have reneged on those they said they wouldn't introduce (3 person view; coolant flush) and have not delivered any of the content they promised (better UI, more game modes, collisions, community warfare).

    Bottom line: Big promises but they haven't delivered in any way. The game had immense promise, but the developers are incompetent, and what was once fun is a lesson in frustration and disappointment. Don't spend a penny, but if you're curious, fire it up and try to survive.    … Expand
  42. SWUnderhive
    Sep 18, 2013
    0
    TLDR; This game sucks.

    Just an arena shooter with a cash shop. That's it. If you want to throw your money away, at least give it to a worthy charity.
  43. 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
  44. SmellTheGlove
    Sep 18, 2013
    0
    This game is incomplete. User interface is clunky. There appears to be no matchmaking system as new players are put up against players that have been around since closed beta. The game only has two game modes and is very repetitive. Graphics and sound are nice, except for the the pilot models; they look like something from the 1990's. I would score this game a 4, but there are entirely tooThis game is incomplete. User interface is clunky. There appears to be no matchmaking system as new players are put up against players that have been around since closed beta. The game only has two game modes and is very repetitive. Graphics and sound are nice, except for the the pilot models; they look like something from the 1990's. I would score this game a 4, but there are entirely too many people giving it a dishonest score of 10 to try to counter the low scores.… Expand
  45. ZiGSSF
    Sep 18, 2013
    0
    I've been playing this game since Closed Beta, and I've never had a worse experience between the developers and the community and I've never had a worse experience dreading updates to the game. The game, after a year of "beta" has terrible balance/meta, runs horribly on my machine that well exceeds recommended specs, and is such an extreme disappointment compared to what was promised lastI've been playing this game since Closed Beta, and I've never had a worse experience between the developers and the community and I've never had a worse experience dreading updates to the game. The game, after a year of "beta" has terrible balance/meta, runs horribly on my machine that well exceeds recommended specs, and is such an extreme disappointment compared to what was promised last year. Not even going into what was promised but never delivered, the game has a terrible new user experience, only a handful of viable mech variants, and just... such poor optimization, poor balancing, poor gameplay, it takes far too long to earn a new mech or outfit it with what should have if you want to pilot it effectively and just... the game is bad. If you enjoyed Mechwarrior 3 or 4, just pass on this, especially if you enjoyed the MekTek release. The only way you'll like this game is if you are a hardcore battletech fan too invested in the franchise to pass this up, everyone else, stay away.… Expand
  46. 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
  47. ScottieQD
    Sep 27, 2013
    0
    The game is tolerable for short periods, recurring video problems as well as crashing issues make the game a iffy proposition if you're going to play with friends.

    The dev's are a huge weak point for this product and as of launch the games design pillars are almost all missing. The devs take months to do simple things for instance it generally takes a full month to review a weapon    The game is tolerable for short periods, recurring video problems as well as crashing issues make the game a iffy proposition if you're going to play with friends.

    The dev's are a huge weak point for this product and as of launch the games design pillars are almost all missing. The devs take months to do simple things for instance it generally takes a full month to review a weapon tweak, sometimes it's more than that leaving the flavor of the month to last entire seasons, the summer of the sniper meta for instance. Map bugs are also long lasting, and map design is weak in general.

    These same devs are reprtedly are working hard on the key design pillars but after almost a year in open beta they’re still missing and given their shady history of lying about what will and won’t be in the game you have to wonder if any of the stated design pillars will ever make it into the product.

    In the end I’d say to go to other products which have a more constant history of telling the truth, as well as more stable products and more professional developers.

    TL;DR
    Just don't do it man, you'd be better off with any of the other possible F2P games    … Expand
  48. ConnorSinclair
    Sep 17, 2013
    5
    Review from Kong's Connor Sinclair,

    Mechwarrior online can only be described as snatching the failure out of the jaws of success. A mediocre game with lack luster content, random bugs and a balancing act that would terrify a gymnast. The game is patched together with DX9 fixes while awaiting a DX11 release, meaning MWO is a powder keg just waiting for a spark. The UI is a shoddy mess    Review from Kong's Connor Sinclair,

    Mechwarrior online can only be described as snatching the failure out of the jaws of success. A mediocre game with lack luster content, random bugs and a balancing act that would terrify a gymnast. The game is patched together with DX9 fixes while awaiting a DX11 release, meaning MWO is a powder keg just waiting for a spark.

    The UI is a shoddy mess from its Alpha, with little modification since then outside a single sound notification. Many of the maps have assets simply floating in the air or clipping through one another and some still suffer texture errors.

    The game defaults a control system more complex than previous game releases and often punishes new players. The games ranking system is invisible, preventing a player to see their standing, even worse it appears to not effect the games at all. New players are pitted against the best players, with the best equipment and their teams.

    The weapons range from either being useless or being glass cannons, completely destroying any competition. The developers themselves show a lack of empathy for their players and will often lay blame on them for their mistakes. The hit registration is the closest thing to fantasy magic that you will ever see in the real world, it either works or it doesn't. Often times firing a weapons at an enemy will result in no damage, throwing your ammo completely away.

    Enjoy a night of confusion frustration with mechwarrior online.    … Expand
  49. pantherrr0
    Sep 17, 2013
    0
    heh my review got cut in half.

    Bugs that have existed since close beta. This non-event launch the only 'deadline' they have met in over a year the out right lies of the dev team concerning features they sold the game on re coolant and 3pv the taunts to people pointing out the lies and bait and switch tactics. the horrible new player experience with a broken clunky unwanted 3pv    heh my review got cut in half.

    Bugs that have existed since close beta.
    This non-event launch the only 'deadline' they have met in over a year
    the out right lies of the dev team concerning features they sold the game on re coolant and 3pv
    the taunts to people pointing out the lies and bait and switch tactics.
    the horrible new player experience with a broken clunky unwanted 3pv forced into the game ahead of much needed in game voice coms a decent text chat, lobbies, a robust tutorial.
    slow development with months passing with broken unbalanced weapon builds due to incompetent internal testing and the devs not willing to give up on a failed idea ecm ghost heat convergence 3pv)
    tacking increasingly more complex counters onto said failed ideas to try and balance them despite said features being 'working as intended'
    (for the issue of 3pv being introduced youtube first versus third person view arma by dslyecxi )

    imo this game is about ready to enter open beta, it is not feature complete nor is there any time table as to when it would be even near so. a lot of the decisions made have alienated the people they put their hat out to for funding of their 'game' and imo if they go the way of eve and actually back track on the broken promises and apologise they may be able to right this derailed train wreck that has got steadily worse since closed beta

    TL DR
    game is buggy unbalance and is being dumbed down to try and reach more of the lowest common denominator. the development is slow the dev team has the worse community management I have ever come across. If your a BT MechWarrior fan or looking for a first person thinking mans game avoid this game.
    im writing off 140 spent as wasted money.    … Expand
  50. 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.
  51. MintFrog
    Sep 17, 2013
    3
    The game has significant issues. It's still possible to play and have fun, but you are going to fight the developer's vision every step of the way in order to do it.
  52. Toner
    Sep 17, 2013
    3
    The game in it's current state is passable. There are no objectives, nothing more than drop in shoot at things for a bit and repeat. Until more meat is added, you'll play for a while and then get bored.
    That isn't why it scores so low.
    The reason for the pathetic score is the developers. They outright promised the gaming community certain features, and then when the community called    The game in it's current state is passable. There are no objectives, nothing more than drop in shoot at things for a bit and repeat. Until more meat is added, you'll play for a while and then get bored.
    That isn't why it scores so low.

    The reason for the pathetic score is the developers. They outright promised the gaming community certain features, and then when the community called them out for lying after the exact opposite of what was promised was put into the game the devs said it was the communities fault for ever having believed them in the first place.

    I will not be lied to, and then be told I am in the wrong for being upset about it.

    My advice is play for free for two weeks, then walk away and never come back. You'll get everything good, without any of the pain those of us who put lots of real money into it received for our support. I say this as an elite founder, the highest tier of closed beta supporter.    … Expand
  53. DAutry
    Sep 17, 2013
    3
    This game is not ready for prime time. The only reason it has made it this far is due to the name "BattleTech" attached to it. There are better free simulations and shooters out there: Hawken, World of Tanks, and War Thunder.

    - No community interface
    - Terrible joystick support
    - Weapons are not balanced
    - Mech "hit boxes" are bugged
    - Server relay (position) is bugged
  54. 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.
  55. eta508
    Sep 17, 2013
    5
    If you're an old timer, who doesn't remember the beloved PC Mechwarrior Games? While this game has been in development for almost a year and a half, and taking people's money during that whole time in beta, it's borderline criminal the state the game is in and how the developers have consistently missed deadlines, overstated intentions, and straight gone back on their word they promised toIf you're an old timer, who doesn't remember the beloved PC Mechwarrior Games? While this game has been in development for almost a year and a half, and taking people's money during that whole time in beta, it's borderline criminal the state the game is in and how the developers have consistently missed deadlines, overstated intentions, and straight gone back on their word they promised to the community.

    However, the real problem lies in that they are completely out of their league and element in designing a well-rounded game. A big portion of online games is weapon balance. They have failed miserably time and time again by instituting bandaid solutions to the problem instead of fixing the issues directly. They are completely guessing at balance by the HUGE swings in nerf/buff in weapons that go on constantly. If they are not incompetent in their balancing decisions then the only other answer lies in them wanting to spend your hardearned CBills (or real money MechWarrior Credits) on constantly revising the loadouts your mechs use (armor+engine+weapons+heatsink mix).

    There is simply no future in this game and will be die within a year.

    HOWEVER, the good news is the game is actually FUN and SATISFYING on a superficial level. While the graphics aren't great, they're passable. While the team play function is hit or miss, there are GEMS of games that are amazing.

    You'll think this is a great and fun game for a few months, but after a while, it's literally the same game then as it was one year ago. Make no mistake, it's worth playing, and you'll enjoy yourself for a time, but don't drop so much money it thinking you'll be playing forever. Support them for the month or two you play and consider yourself lucky.    … Expand
  56. Astrolux
    Sep 17, 2013
    1
    Hit registration still does not work after a very extended beta period. Too many unbalanced weapons that go both ways, either completely worthless or absolutely mandatory. The devs are slow to make any positive changes, 7 months of PPC Gauss lameness. Convoluted game systems being implemented to counter overpowered systems in the game. See Ghost heat and Gauss desync. Uninteresting pilotHit registration still does not work after a very extended beta period. Too many unbalanced weapons that go both ways, either completely worthless or absolutely mandatory. The devs are slow to make any positive changes, 7 months of PPC Gauss lameness. Convoluted game systems being implemented to counter overpowered systems in the game. See Ghost heat and Gauss desync. Uninteresting pilot skill trees that are the same for every mech with one of the skills not actually functioning (convergence one). There is no content just a few maps and TDM. The devs soul focus is selling packages of mechs right now. That is all they care about. They've had so much time to fix the little things but they have not even got those down yet. It's an embarrassment of game development where it feels like our money is being used to send the developers to Devry University to learn how to code and build games. The optimization for the game is terrible, with so little going on in a match the game runs like molasses for a large part of the community. I could keep going but you get the idea.… Expand
  57. Kong
    Sep 18, 2013
    0
    Weapons balance is a joke, it was actually BETTER during closed beta. Think about that, today they are FINALLY launching the game and it is less balanced than it was in closed beta. When they do try and balance weapons they always take far too long leaving broken BS in the game for months at a time, then over react to the point of either buffing a weapon to god like, or nerfing it to theWeapons balance is a joke, it was actually BETTER during closed beta. Think about that, today they are FINALLY launching the game and it is less balanced than it was in closed beta. When they do try and balance weapons they always take far too long leaving broken BS in the game for months at a time, then over react to the point of either buffing a weapon to god like, or nerfing it to the point that everyone removes it from their builds. This has caused multiple Long range missile apocalypses and most recently several months of a stale and boring sniper only meta. A meta that they “fixed” with a “feature” called “ghost heat” that is in no way documented or explained in addition to flat out breaking the Awesome chassis along with several other variants. The best part? MWO is still a long range crap fest, but now with UAC5’s rather than Gauss and PPC.… Expand
  58. CSPshala
    Sep 17, 2013
    4
    Chipped in for the "crowd funding of the game" and it WAS fun for the first few months. The next year after open beta though, it went downhill.

    Currently game has no lobbies, matchmaking is simplistic at best, and the graphics are actually worse than they were a year ago. Also expect to be confused for a WHILE after you start playing. Protip: Ask someone to explain ghost heat to you.    Chipped in for the "crowd funding of the game" and it WAS fun for the first few months. The next year after open beta though, it went downhill.

    Currently game has no lobbies, matchmaking is simplistic at best, and the graphics are actually worse than they were a year ago. Also expect to be confused for a WHILE after you start playing. Protip: Ask someone to explain ghost heat to you.

    The game as been more-or-less in its current state for ALMOST A YEAR. If that doesn't tell you much about the game, I don't know what will. It's gotten stale, and the design decisions the development team has taken with the things they have changed range from confusing at best to outright bad for the game.

    Play if you like mechs. You might have fun for awhile, but unless the game changes in any real meaningful way anytime soon, expect to be bored after that time.

    Also I'd advise against spending money unless you clearly agree with where the game is and where it's going. Don't let the developers place that "carrot on a stick" with some promises. They haven't delivered on any of them yet, don't expect that to change.    … Expand
  59. 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
  60. Fedakka
    Sep 17, 2013
    1
    Despite being someone who has sunk money into the game and adores the BattleTech franchise, I cannot in good conscience recommend this game to anyone. The unfortunate reality is that the developers have entrenched themselves against the "vocal minority" of the community and have no desire to step down from their lofty perches. Meaningful communication is long dead and will not return inDespite being someone who has sunk money into the game and adores the BattleTech franchise, I cannot in good conscience recommend this game to anyone. The unfortunate reality is that the developers have entrenched themselves against the "vocal minority" of the community and have no desire to step down from their lofty perches. Meaningful communication is long dead and will not return in the foreseeable future. The devs have delivered unto us their gem; despite lacking many of their touted features with no discernible timeline or direction if we cannot fathom the greatness of their labors, then we do not deserve to partake in them. As many have said, their newest posts and Code of Conduct reflect this attitude under the comic tinge of role-playing are draconian policies that can and will silence critics, stifle meaningful conversation, and give the moderators unprecedented leeway in restricting account access.

    Instead of building onto the game, much of the development time is spent fixing problems they themselves have created. The frequency of updates does not reflect the quality(and the frequency is nothing to be proud of)- a mech once or twice a month that also happens to be PGI's income source. Where are the Community Warfare updates promised, the tons of new maps, the Clan Tech, the UI changes? Where is one positive change over the past six months that doesn't have a dollar value attached to it?

    Weapons follow a cyclic and predictable pattern of being over or under powered and more concerning, the Hero Mech sales seem to follow these trends as well. Maps are infrequently added and many of the recent ones are among the least popular. There is no content outside of two equally unimaginative death match modes. There are a solid number of mechs to play, but advancement in the game is designed so as to restrict you to grinding up one singular chassis for months on end to unlock minor but important performance boosts. Furthermore, the economy has been recently modified to decrease the already meager currency earning, which is simply unacceptable for players who do not choose to spend $10+ a month on a premium account and drop $15-30 on a Hero mech.

    The only positive decisions this company seems interested in making are the ones it can take to the bank. Even those, like community designed trial mechs, took an eternity happen. Don't be conned into investing in the game because of the massive recruit bonuses or the pomp and ceremony of a launch you'll rapidly become one of the jaded, angry "trolls" that PGI ignores or bans.    … Expand
  61. montecristo
    Sep 18, 2013
    4
    The idea of Mechwarrrior Online brought about the return of many players back to the franchise. The funding program was feature focused and the idea of the game grew even greater in the minds of loyal fans. Financial commitments were made by a large number of players whom eventually saw their dream game come together during closed beta. The epitome of the vision was published in theThe idea of Mechwarrrior Online brought about the return of many players back to the franchise. The funding program was feature focused and the idea of the game grew even greater in the minds of loyal fans. Financial commitments were made by a large number of players whom eventually saw their dream game come together during closed beta. The epitome of the vision was published in the December 2012 Issue of PC Gamer and the launch of Open Beta.

    Ten and a half months of Open Beta proved to be complicated period for the game. Many promises by the developer were unfulfilled or implemented in a manner that divided the core player community. The original vision faded away and the game which once had a loyal target audience, is now made up of those that won't spend another dollar on the game, and those that will praise the game because they fear that it will be the last Mechwarrior title.

    It is hard to ignore the fact that since the commencement of Open Beta nearly 11 months ago, that there has been very little engaging content added to a game that still struggles with gameplay issues.    … Expand
  62. Sidhewyn
    Sep 21, 2013
    2
    I have played MWO from closed Beta on as a founder. Logged many an hour on this game. Fundamentally the game suffers from poor development of a beloved franchise and too many undelivered promises. MWO live and dies by community warfare. Can vs clan vs Inner Sphere and so forth. Right now it is just a Mech sim with no point. Even there is wonky at best. The development teams seem toI have played MWO from closed Beta on as a founder. Logged many an hour on this game. Fundamentally the game suffers from poor development of a beloved franchise and too many undelivered promises. MWO live and dies by community warfare. Can vs clan vs Inner Sphere and so forth. Right now it is just a Mech sim with no point. Even there is wonky at best. The development teams seem to prioritize game/weapon balance in a "Rube Goldberg" style. They add and add weird constraints and mechanics making the system increasingly brittle and hard for new people to understand. Its simple because they built their game on a bad foundation and are trying to correct it ever since. They also have incredibly poor interactions with a community that is desperate to help test and balance. I am no Battle tech guru but there is tons of knowledge out their for them to use not fight. If you are new to MW then you can have fun playing but since the game HAS NO LOBBIES! Its hard to hook up and play against friends or have ladder leagues etc.....eg the game is for casuals...who know maybe that is where the money is these day. Too bad this could have been fun.....… Expand
  63. 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?
  64. EirikrSim
    Sep 17, 2013
    0
    This game is not of launch quality, yet the IGP/PGI decided to launch the product them despite the community's concerns. A lot features which are not completed and are unpolished.

    Lots of promises, including a promise that "Community Warfare", a major feature of the game would be in the game 90 days from Open Beta, yet the community have seen the shadow of it, 1 year from Open Beta.    This game is not of launch quality, yet the IGP/PGI decided to launch the product them despite the community's concerns. A lot features which are not completed and are unpolished.

    Lots of promises, including a promise that "Community Warfare", a major feature of the game would be in the game 90 days from Open Beta, yet the community have seen the shadow of it, 1 year from Open Beta.

    Never mind that, lots of broken promises, promises made to the community in order to get their money, and yet, they changed their mind later down the road.    … Expand
  65. bearless75
    Sep 17, 2013
    5
    This is a game with potential, however only the basic combat sim exists at this time. It should have been given another 6 months to complete basic community warfare features, though it should be acknowledged the developers have been unable to implement this so far despite it being on the timetabled for release at the start of the year.
    Graphics are good, combat is fun rather than fast,    This is a game with potential, however only the basic combat sim exists at this time. It should have been given another 6 months to complete basic community warfare features, though it should be acknowledged the developers have been unable to implement this so far despite it being on the timetabled for release at the start of the year.
    Graphics are good, combat is fun rather than fast, evoking the feel of big stompy robots! Weapon balancing is badly off though this is a recurring theme when trying to apply a tabletop model to a first person game, with some truly bizarre methods chosen to try to balance direct fire weapons.
    Expect a steep learning curve. Starting equipment is decidedly sub-par due to the balancing issues mentioned, but this makes the rewards for sticking with the game significant once you can afford to buy and customise your first mech you will quickly notice the difference it makes.
    Hopefully we soon have more than just a combat simulation to give us all something to fight for!    … Expand
  66. KravenKor
    Sep 18, 2013
    5
    What you see going on here is a war between those who support PGI giving 10 ratings to counteract those who hate PGI who are giving low, low, low ratings.

    There are accusations here of forum censorship: I am Kraven Kor on the forums, they have yet to ban me or put me on moderation preview, and I have little positive to say. The truth is: MWO is a good, but not great, robot shooter.    What you see going on here is a war between those who support PGI giving 10 ratings to counteract those who hate PGI who are giving low, low, low ratings.

    There are accusations here of forum censorship: I am Kraven Kor on the forums, they have yet to ban me or put me on moderation preview, and I have little positive to say.

    The truth is: MWO is a good, but not great, robot shooter. The major uproar here and everywhere is all about PGI making big promises early on, which they failed to deliver on, and then the fiasco that was the introduction of the Third Person View feature where they directly went back on their previous promises of 1PV-only players never being forced to play with or against 3PV.

    Any way you slice it, PGI has mishandled this in various ways, and the game is far from where they originally stated it would be. The community's response was "the summer of rage" and it has done jack and squat to improve anything.

    Buyer beware: MWO is a lot of fun, the mechs look great, but the game is overall very repetitive with very few maps, only the two game-modes, no real overarching metagame or storyline type stuff, no ability to set up custom matches for the various Mechwarrior clans to arrange matches or challenges or tournaments, and is filled with a lot of angry geeks.    … Expand
  67. 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.
  68. soarra
    Sep 17, 2013
    5
    PGi has had trouble balancing this game since CB, with major adjustments instead of small tweaks.
    The game is lacking substance, all you have is team deathmatch with a square box for base capture.
    Many promised features have not been introduced yet, like community warfare, UI 2.0, lobbies, private matches. Most maps are rather boring, with some being way too small for 12v12. Game was a    PGi has had trouble balancing this game since CB, with major adjustments instead of small tweaks.
    The game is lacking substance, all you have is team deathmatch with a square box for base capture.
    Many promised features have not been introduced yet, like community warfare, UI 2.0, lobbies, private matches.
    Most maps are rather boring, with some being way too small for 12v12.
    Game was a lot more fun back in CB, since then PGI has stopped listening to their beta testers and added things that were not needed and wanted by its playerbase, like 3pv.
    Developers going back on their word on a few items like, 3PV and coolant flush.
    PGI's lack of communication is a major problem, unless you go digging through 4 different twitters, reddit and facebook, instead of posting on their forums.    … Expand
  69. Cylence
    Sep 17, 2013
    3
    I came into this game in closed beta, and after initial impressions contributed to the founders program. The game was fun, and much was promised that gave me high hopes for the future. Today, I have absolutely the opposite opinion. While in short bursts, the game might still have some of the enjoyment it once promised, it is held back by awful balance issues and a horrendously slowI came into this game in closed beta, and after initial impressions contributed to the founders program. The game was fun, and much was promised that gave me high hopes for the future. Today, I have absolutely the opposite opinion. While in short bursts, the game might still have some of the enjoyment it once promised, it is held back by awful balance issues and a horrendously slow grind if you have any desire to purchase a new mech without spending real money on it. Development pace has been outstandingly slow, with balance issues and bugs taking months to be even partially addressed, if at all. And frankly, communication from the developers has moved from involved community interaction to alternatingly condescending, utterly out of touch, or non-existent.

    For a cryengine 3 game, the game's graphics are pathetic. DX11 support has been in development for a year and is not present, and the visual presentation is outdated at best. I actually believe graphics were better earlier in development, as the developers struggle to work with the engine has forced them to disable features once available.

    New players face a tough uphill climb. The game only recently introduced its first tutorial, which barely presents anything useful to the newcomer. Online and in game documentation is non-existent, and recent balance changes have introduced complicated heat mechanics that can only be found buried in the forums. Until today, new players have been forced to play their initial matches using stock mechs, which are woefully underpowered compared to the customized chassis used by long term players. While today they have slightly improved "champion" chassis to choose from, there is no evidence this will remain the norm. Starting players do receive a rapid infusion of in game currency over the first 25 games, which will allow them to choose a customizable chassis and equipment, but those who do not research their choices may find themselves locked into something they do not enjoy, and forced to a drawn out grind that has been recently made even slower in order to acquire a different mech.

    New players are also initially thrown into third person view, a much maligned feature that has caused a vast division between players and developers. Intended to make it easier to see the legs of the mech, with most chassis the view point is too high for this purpose. This viewpoint also locks the targeting crosshairs to the terrain, causing it to jitter and bounce frequently it is recommended that players go into the options and switch to first person view and just learn to play the game as it was initially intended to be played.

    The game is highly imbalanced, favoring long ranged weaponry and heavier chassis over shorter range weapons and the lighter mechs. The developers have long promised to balance out the mech roles, but so far this has been nothing more than slight adjustments to torso twist and arm movement range and speed, along with much derided weapon balancing done in rare, heavy handed changes rather than the frequent small tweaks one would expect to see.

    Long term, the game has little staying power. The game has had only two game modes for a year, with nothing on the horizon beyond the same statements made while in closed beta. The much anticipated metagame is almost a year late, and no where to be seen. The game has 5 base maps, with a few duplicated with environmental changes to increase variety. As mentioned before, purchasing a new mech chassis requires either real currency or a long slow grind. The advancement tree requires purchasing 3 similar variants (same mech, different equipment hard points) in order to move through it, and with some mechs, the difference is very little. The end of the advancement tree is to provide an additional equipment module slot for the mech; while for some mechs this is useful, players can expect to devote as much if not more time to grind out the in game currency to purchase a module as they did for the mech itself.

    Ultimately, give the game a try, but don't be surprised to be frustrated early on, to burn out, or to see the game flop under failed promises and greed.    … Expand
  70. VictorTyne
    Sep 18, 2013
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. CONS: A severe lack of content, plentiful game-crashing bugs, and the staggering incompetence of the developer make MechWarrior Online a title to pass on for all but the ultra-casual.

    PROS: The beautifully-rendered 'Mechs are fully customizable (after a considerable grind, of course) and will appeal to any Mechwarrior fan's sense of nostalgia.

    FULL REVIEW

    At launch, the game contained two variations of the same game mode (2 capture points or 5 capture points), 6 maps, and fewer than a dozen playable mechs. The game is player-versus-player only; there is no battling against the computer.

    The developer collected more than 5 million dollars from potential players to fund the development of this game, but there is so little content that many people are wondering where all this money went. The first player/investors, or "Founders", were sold on the concept of a "first-person tactical Mech combat simulator". When the developer added a third-person camera a month before the launch, many Founders saw this as a bait-and-switch, demanding refunds by the hundreds.

    Final Verdict? Download it and play. It's free, costing you nothing but disk space. Play until you get bored of it (something that happens far too quickly) but don't spend any money on it. You'd be better off flushing that money down an actual toilet, as the enjoyment of watching it spin around the bowl would far outstrip any you could get from paying for this game.    … Expand
  71. Phontomen
    Sep 18, 2013
    0
    The Developers of MWO have shown and acknowledged a willful disregard for the wishes of the original backer community that in overwhelmingly high spirit bought into their game based on their promises made during this time. they have abandoned almost all of those promises and have even launched a totally incomplete game in varying states of decay and dysfunction in hopes of finding a newThe Developers of MWO have shown and acknowledged a willful disregard for the wishes of the original backer community that in overwhelmingly high spirit bought into their game based on their promises made during this time. they have abandoned almost all of those promises and have even launched a totally incomplete game in varying states of decay and dysfunction in hopes of finding a new playerbase of gullible casual players that don't complain as loudly. the game has changed little since the closed beta phase, problems that existed then are still problems today and in some areas has even gotten worse. new content is appallingly slow to come as the developers leave us to bang rocks together to find entertainment within a half done game while they do god knows what while ether not responding to or being unable to adequately address legitimate questions and criticisms or deleting said questions and criticisms from the official forums outright.

    I was not born yesterday and did not start playing video games this evening, I know that developers and publishers of AAA games do not admit they are wrong until they have one hand on the bankruptcy paperwork.

    In good faith I can't give this anything but a zero, it's not the game I was promised nor the one I paid for, this is unacceptable behavior by a developer towards it's community and customers and a completely unacceptable condition to "ship" a game that has been in beta for almost two years with little or no progress.    … Expand
  72. 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
  73. Myssi
    Sep 17, 2013
    2
    Game has only two game modes, all this hype about community warfare earlier and it's nowhere to be seen at launch and the same goes with their UI improvements and DX11 implementation.
    No VOIP of any kind in a team based game, new content slow to roll in. 2 years in development and a handfull of maps.
    If you are looking for a mech simulator, this isn't one. Arcade shooter with mechs,    Game has only two game modes, all this hype about community warfare earlier and it's nowhere to be seen at launch and the same goes with their UI improvements and DX11 implementation.
    No VOIP of any kind in a team based game, new content slow to roll in. 2 years in development and a handfull of maps.
    If you are looking for a mech simulator, this isn't one. Arcade shooter with mechs, sure.
    Development team extremely bad at communicating with the community and keeping their decisions.

    Mech art is nice though and there's clearly some effort put into it.    … Expand
  74. wolf777
    Sep 17, 2013
    0
    Unfortunately as a Legendary Founder and someone who has paid for Overlord and MC (Mechwarrior credits) $300+ this game has gone nowhere fast. Instead of fixing and balancing they spend time adding "features" like 3PV. Instead of adding Community Warfare the add a couple of new maps and continue with basically 2 versions of death matches. Instead of listening to people who pay moneyUnfortunately as a Legendary Founder and someone who has paid for Overlord and MC (Mechwarrior credits) $300+ this game has gone nowhere fast. Instead of fixing and balancing they spend time adding "features" like 3PV. Instead of adding Community Warfare the add a couple of new maps and continue with basically 2 versions of death matches. Instead of listening to people who pay money they dismiss many of us as the vocal minority as the silent majority must agree with them cause they don't have any issues... and their forum MODs reguarly delete or edit (redact) posts if the feel it disagrees with them.
    Wanted to like them through ups and downs of closed beta and beta... but even with the "release" this is still no better than a beta. It is sad that PC gamer who gave away stuff last year had a recent issue devoted to Free to Play and Mechwarrior online was not mentioned... we'll it was mentioned in passing when they were talking about Hawken another F2P.    … Expand
  75. DracheM
    Sep 17, 2013
    2
    MWO has good innovation on the Mechwarrior game in a few areas, utilizing modern technology and coding to implement things that may not have been feasible in previous titles. Some of these things that MWO gets "right" are:

    * Line-of-Sight radar * Armor Internals split hp * Arm reticule moves separate from torso reticule Unfortunately, there are also some areas where it falls short    MWO has good innovation on the Mechwarrior game in a few areas, utilizing modern technology and coding to implement things that may not have been feasible in previous titles. Some of these things that MWO gets "right" are:

    * Line-of-Sight radar
    * Armor Internals split hp
    * Arm reticule moves separate from torso reticule

    Unfortunately, there are also some areas where it falls short of the mark. For example, Heat is an interesting system but here, it is implemented the same as it was in previous Mechwarrior titles, with an automatic shutdown after a certain threshold. This seems like a wasted opportunity to leverage modern programming to bring the same granularity of mechanics into the game.

    There is also a certain lack of immersion from being in a big stompy robot. This immersion seems to end at the startup sequence, with the rest of a game's "match" becoming increasingly gamist, with points being shown as the player accomplishes tasks, number of players remaining, and concluding with a kill-cam.

    The purpose of the matches also lacks immersion. In the Assault game mode, players win by either killing all enemies or by capturing the enemy oil rig by standing near it until the bar goes down. In the Conquest game mode, players win by either killing all enemies or by reaching a number of points that increase based on the number of oil rigs they control. The points are just that a number; there is no further explanation to what these resources are that are being captured or their purpose.

    The terrain and visuals also miss the mark for giving a sense of scale. The exception to this is one map, River City, which pits players against each other in an urban environment. However, the terrain doesn't have a strong sense of detail at a close-up level.

    Further reducing the immersion are the lack of interaction with the environment. The "big stompy robot" feel is lost when one cannot affect the terrain or collide with enemy (or friendly) mechs.

    All-in-all, the game has a few new innovations for some of the older mechanics, but otherwise has a striking lack of attention to detail. I'm tempted to say that with a free to play game, you get what you pay for, but I can't see that any of the purchasable content would improve this game's fundamental flaws.    … Expand
  76. 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
  77. 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.
  78. 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
  79. payne4evr
    Oct 10, 2013
    0
    I was putting together a review that would best describe my opinion for this game, when i ran across an article on GameFront. The article is called, "A Cautionary Tale: The Rage of the Mechwarrior Online Community." It's written very intelligently. I would recommend that everyone read it so they can understand why there are so many negative opinions of this game as a whole. I won't includeI was putting together a review that would best describe my opinion for this game, when i ran across an article on GameFront. The article is called, "A Cautionary Tale: The Rage of the Mechwarrior Online Community." It's written very intelligently. I would recommend that everyone read it so they can understand why there are so many negative opinions of this game as a whole. I won't include a link since that's not kosher here.. but u can plug the quoted phrase into any search engine and find it.

    People may gripe that it deserves a better review. They'll say, "People are complaining about the publisher. The game is good." Now, think about this. This game was crowd funded. Normally, whoever makes a game to sell pays for it up front. They try to craft something that will sell the most games. WIth crowd funding, they take your money first. They get it because they promise you a game that you will want and tell you everything that you want to hear. Shouldn't they feel obligated to deliver on those promises?

    Now, if you wanted your house painted blue, paid someone to paint it blue, and came home to a red house, wouldn't you be the least bit angry? Wouldn't you at least question why and expect a straight answer? Of course they offer to repaint it. The next day, however, your house is green. They convince you that you wanted it green. Green is better then blue. They promised you blue, but after taking your money, you end up with green. Would you be happy? Something to think about.

    update 10/10
    I didn't think it could get any worse, but sadly I can't drop the score any lower. I have been encountering swarms of bugs and game freezes since my review posted that have been present since early game. I had believed these to be fixed, but they seem to re-emerge with each new patch. I will be putting together a review soon of the "new player experience." in it, you'll see exactly how much time and effort are required to get to a playable state (ie "not" overheating constantly and dying early). it will include detailed stats at each milestone, unlike pgi.. that just makes up numbers based on "theoretical averages" to blow smoke up your butt. yes, real numbers.    … Expand
  80. 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
  81. digicaf
    Sep 17, 2013
    1
    The game has potential, but so far has been completely underdeveloped and horrendously mismanaged.

    Current issues: 1. The game struggles with constant and absurd balancing issues, which PGI exacerbates by introducing mechanics that haven't been thought out in the least. Obvious and game-breaking issues have gone unaddressed for over half a year, and even simple changes take months and    The game has potential, but so far has been completely underdeveloped and horrendously mismanaged.

    Current issues:
    1. The game struggles with constant and absurd balancing issues, which PGI exacerbates by introducing mechanics that haven't been thought out in the least. Obvious and game-breaking issues have gone unaddressed for over half a year, and even simple changes take months and are often mis-implemented.

    2. The grind is entirely too long. PGI has recently decreased the earning rate of in-game currency to the point where it takes close to 20 hours of gameplay to buy and equip a single medium mech. Assault mechs can take 30 to 40 hours.

    3. Content is extremely lacking and PGI shows no sign of speeding up development. There are only a handful of maps in the game, and they are released at around 1 new map every 3 months or so.

    4. There are only two game modes, and they're both effectively deathmatch.

    5. PGI has routinely missed deadlines pertaining to core game elements. Community warfare is more than 8 months behind deadline with no release in sight. Private matches, Lobbies, DX11, UI 2.0, and other game features have been promised time after time and then failed to materialize with no real comment from PGI.

    6. The game has changed directions whimsically, with no notice, and despite promises and statements made to people who contribute monetarily to the game.

    7. PGI holds it's own user community in contempt and even the top executives of the company have resorted to trolling paying members on twitter and in the forums.    … Expand
  82. Weeble00
    Sep 17, 2013
    0
    Little to no content other than 'mech paint and patterns for real money.
    Developers promised a game true to the BT franchise and were supported with financial backing of "founders". They have since reneged or failed to implement any of these (lack of any progress on Clan Warfare over the last year).
  83. sandpit
    Sep 17, 2013
    2
    I write this poor review with a heavy heart. At the core this game is not horrible, not good, but not horrible. Game play is actually fun, for a few weeks. The problem is that eventually you will grow tired of the repetition.
    Buy mech, outfit mech with weapon systems and armor, shoot other mechs, rinse repeat.
    The game developers attempted to alleviate this by adding "objectives" but    I write this poor review with a heavy heart. At the core this game is not horrible, not good, but not horrible. Game play is actually fun, for a few weeks. The problem is that eventually you will grow tired of the repetition.
    Buy mech, outfit mech with weapon systems and armor, shoot other mechs, rinse repeat.
    The game developers attempted to alleviate this by adding "objectives" but they essentially boil down to shoot mechs at specified locations. There is no real depth or reason to replay this game other than playing a deathmatch. If you're a fan of CoD then you will enjoy the game play mechanics. Sounds good right? Stomping around in a walking machine of death with lasers, missiles, and gauss rifles sounds fantastic right?
    Well you would be half right. There are several things standing in your way. There is a very steep learning curve that will frustrate many new players. Every weapon system has it's own unique damage, heat, firing rates, and weight profiles. The tutorials and in game help are minimal at best. Old school battletech players will feel right at home (the heat and damage profiles do not equate to an exact tabletop replication but still feel very familiar). New players can easily become overwhelmed by the slew of controls and near endless weapon, armor, weight, and engine combinations.
    To it's credit the devs added a 3rd person view (much to the chagrin of approximately 90% of the existing player base) which is touted as being a tutorial tool for new players. Unfortunately this does not replace a good tutorial and explanation of controls and functions. Instead of developing an in-game tutorial the development team opted to include videos on for year's that the complete lack of in-game tutorial options would be extremely detrimental.
    The actual game play is fun for a quick game but quickly get stale. There is no core game other than shoot the other guy. There is no interactive terrain. There is no in game communication except for text chat, which can quickly lead to a severe loss if you are playing against a team using a third party voip tool. Don't get me wrong, shooting the other guy in the head with my lasers is somewhat satisfying but there are absolutely no accomplishment to be made or had. No leaderboards, no badges to be earned, no planetary faction to earn stats for, nothing.
    That leads me to my final, and biggest, point of contention. YEARS(I cannot stress that enough, it is not a hyperbole but literally years) a feature called community warfare was promised. Many of the founders bought founder packages based solely on this feature. To date this feature has not even been hinted at. This feature is essentially what would give players a replayability factor. An entire galaxy full of planets that are fought for by different factions. Ownership of the planets dynamically changing hands as players face off for control of the planet and resources it offers. Unfortunately it was promised before final release and has, as of yet, even been mentioned as to having any kind of release date.
    The game itself is fun for a short period. It's free to play so you have nothing to lose by giving it a try but if you are looking for something deeper than "run out there and shoot the other guy" then pass this one by. I really wanted to give this game a great review but due to consistently missing the mark, failing to follow through with promised features, disregard and lack of communications on the forums by the dev team I simply cannot recommend this game.
    In closing this game ALMOST delivered. I suppose there is still a lot of potential but as a final release this is a very shallow game. I can easily get the same type of game play out of free games offered on my tablet and smartphone. In today's market you simply must offer more than just point and shoot gaming.
    Gameplay:5
    Audio:2
    Story:0
    Social functions(voip, player communication options in game, lobby to chat with other players):0

    Unfortunately the complete lack of being able to communicate effectively in a PC MMO is unforgivable

    That averages to a 1.75    … Expand
  84. 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.......
  85. 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
  86. 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.
  87. Davionguard
    Sep 17, 2013
    3
    Mechwarrior Online, after 2 years of development, and over a year of "beta" is finally launching. The tale of its development has been a rather sordid affair, with a massive plummet in player morale, from those that happily funded it, to those that now viciously attack it. For more information on the lead-up to this, and the poor handling of the community, numerous, very eloquentMechwarrior Online, after 2 years of development, and over a year of "beta" is finally launching. The tale of its development has been a rather sordid affair, with a massive plummet in player morale, from those that happily funded it, to those that now viciously attack it. For more information on the lead-up to this, and the poor handling of the community, numerous, very eloquent articles have been written.

    From all of this, we are left with the "Launched" Mechwarrior Online. It has decent graphics, and is an interesting take on the beloved Battletech franchise. Weapons sound and feel powerful, giving the "fidelity" that PGI devs have talked about since its inception. However, this cursory glance at the game's visuals are the most appealing.

    The game is launching without many of the core features promised, possibly most-importantly, any sort of actual "goal". Where most competitve F2P games have a way to compete and "win". (Ranking systems, persistent worlds, and such, all promised), MWO has none. Matches are an endless grind to receive more equipment and play more matches.

    This grind is greatly apparent, and more frustrating, at the beginning (and often end) of a player's life-cycle. Coming fresh to the game, the player can only play awful mechs more prone to shutting themselves down than aiding their team. In addition, tutorials on actually playing the game (An incredibly complex affair, fraught with many hidden variables) are mostly player-made, with the exception of a minor movement tutorial. This problem is completely ignored by devs who urge players to not watch teammates and learn, but to rush through as many matches as possible to get out of this "tier" of play.

    If a player is able to "grind through" this painful beginning of being curb-stomped by those that know more, they can finally begin to see the game proper. Two game-modes exist, both painfully drab that come down to sitting on a small square, just as often as actually fighting something. Maps are also fraught with numerous bugs and seem cramped for the giant mechs on the battlefield. These players then play in optimized mechs and destroy those that are newly learning, making a rather vicious circle.

    Lastly, progress of the game is at a complete crawl. Features promised since early stages of development are broken into phases and given time-tables of "soon". With no plan ahead to any kind of player-goals, an awful new-user experience, and numerous problems that are solved very slowly, MWO is a game to avoid by anyone but the most patient and easily-amused.    … Expand
  88. 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.
  89. 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.
  90. PleaseTryAgain
    Sep 17, 2013
    0
    This game is a sinking ship. The game lacks content, and the devs are some of the most morally corrupt I have ever seen. This game has little chance of making past another year. Save your money and enjoy the ride to the bottom.
  91. valore
    Sep 23, 2013
    0
    For all of those trying to figure out if the upset customers are simply entitled trolls who are posting bad reviews out of unwarranted anger, I can summarise things simply.

    Play the game for free. Enjoy what you can. The experience itself is fine if you're not paying a cent. However, do not, AT ANY TIME, spend a cent on the basis of any promises the developers make. These devs lie    For all of those trying to figure out if the upset customers are simply entitled trolls who are posting bad reviews out of unwarranted anger, I can summarise things simply.

    Play the game for free. Enjoy what you can. The experience itself is fine if you're not paying a cent.

    However, do not, AT ANY TIME, spend a cent on the basis of any promises the developers make. These devs lie through their teeth, and have no respect for their customers whatsoever.

    If you would like concrete examples, here are a few I'll share.

    One of the key promises made back when they were soliciting funds from fans back a year ago was 'No third person'. There is now third person in the game.

    Breaking a promise is bad enough, but perhaps it is fair to argue that things change, and sometimes developers don't have a choice in the matter.

    However, the developers of this game proceeded to lie twice. First they said 'sorry, we need third person in this game to cater to a bigger audience. But we will have both first person and third person only queues, so you'll all be happy'.

    There are no seperate queues.

    When confronted with this lie, they were ONLY pushed into action because several players finally had enough and asked for refunds which they were forced to give, because they had no other option: They had marketed and sold a product that turned out to be something it wasn't, and they risked legal action otherwise.

    Their official written response was also a passive-aggressive half apology which basically blamed the fans for being too demanding. You can find the release for yourself on the official forums.

    Players who were upset at various aspects of the game wanted to meet up in a sychronised fashion to show how many of them were upset at various decisions that had been made in the game.

    The response by the devs was 'We should shut the servers down just as they're meeting up, just to f*** with them'.

    This wasn't just a rare case of a dev having a bad day.

    Devs have also responded to legitimate concerns voiced in very reasonable tones by members, with sarcastic remarks about the player being in a very vocal minority. The most famous term used by a dev towards a player when asked if they were concerned about unhappy players was 'you're on an island'.

    Game stability and reliability is non-existent. Patches can render your game unplayable while 'premium time' you paid for continues to count down. However technical support just shrugs its shoulds and says there's nothing they can do. Bugs of this nature include: Black screen on game launch, crash to desktop, massive rubber banding not involving your ISP, bugged weapons that one shot enemies, etc.

    And just today, in a hilarious inability to see their hypocricy, they've labelled 'premium time' basically a paid for booster that you can buy to increase the rewards you get for playing the game, a 'must have'. This, after trumpeting far and wide that this game was not Pay 2 Win.

    TL;DR

    Play for free, it is fun. Don't pay a cent for their promises, they're not worth that.    … Expand
  92. Razor1611
    Sep 23, 2013
    0
    One of the worst examples of no-communication with the communitiy so far. Developers did not only ignore the will of the communitiy, but went straight against it. Sad to see just how fast a premium IP like Mechwarrior can be driven against the wall by developers. Will not play ever again. Even registered for refund to drive my point home. First time ever i did something like that in my 25One of the worst examples of no-communication with the communitiy so far. Developers did not only ignore the will of the communitiy, but went straight against it. Sad to see just how fast a premium IP like Mechwarrior can be driven against the wall by developers. Will not play ever again. Even registered for refund to drive my point home. First time ever i did something like that in my 25 year gaming career.… Expand
  93. AlienSpaceBats
    Sep 18, 2013
    4
    “In the 30th century, life is cheap, but Battlemechs aren't.” All the white knights and sock account reviews in the world aren't going to save this junk from the criticism it deserves. I began playing MWO since it became open beta (Oct 2012), and have many fond memories of the tabletop BattleTech game and most iterations of FASA's property on home computer from MechCommander through to“In the 30th century, life is cheap, but Battlemechs aren't.” All the white knights and sock account reviews in the world aren't going to save this junk from the criticism it deserves. I began playing MWO since it became open beta (Oct 2012), and have many fond memories of the tabletop BattleTech game and most iterations of FASA's property on home computer from MechCommander through to MW4. MWO began in a tolerable state, but has slowly degenerated and in its current form is an insult to the BattleTech IP, having thrown out or just plain ignored 3 the 4 proposed design pillars of 'Mech combat. A disappointing waste of potential and player time; MechWarrior in name only, the meticulous and engrossing BattleTech universe has been reduced to shallow deathmatch combat, and deviates from 20 years of canon at an alarming rate. There appears to be a lot of underlying technicality, though this solely comes into play when configuring weapon loadouts, heat management, armour slots (as you'd expect). In-game, it makes no difference; a boring and repetitive exercise which consists of two teams of players stomping to the middle of the map and blowing the sh!t out of eachother. Choosing any class other than assault is pointless, players are not encouraged to use light or medium mechs, so its Awesome class all the way. Variants dependent on LRM modules have been made obsolete, by the awfully implemented ECM, thus your carefully constructed LRM boat might as well be walking around with a "Shoot Me!" sign on its back. There are a frighteningly small number of maps, and two game modes: 1. stomp to the middle of the map and shoot the other guys, or 2. stomp to the middle of the map and shoot the other guys with the pretence of base capture. There are no lobbies to join, matchmaking is a disaster and team balancing is terrible. New players in useless trial 'Mechs are thrown in with veteran players and are essentially free kills. 'Mechs are ridiculously expensive, a newb will be looking at grinding 25+ matches in order to earn sufficient C-Bills to afford their first variant, or 5 to 20 hours depending on class. Expect to pay real world money for lacklustre vanity/cosmetic items like fluffy dice or a colour palette. Overall, MWO is a painfully average, dull, unpleasant, diluted POS shooter dressed up in BattleTech clothes that gives little incentive to persevere. The upshot is that you can try it for yourself, free of charge.… Expand
  94. 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
  95. danathos
    Sep 22, 2013
    0
    This game seemed to be so promising, it's a shame how it turned out.
    There are still no european servers, so I'm lucky when I get a ping of 150.
    Matchmaking balance does not seem to exist. I guess it's impossible to create a matchmaking system because there are not enough people playing this game. Beginners with starter-mechs are thrown into battles with veterans who will just farm you    This game seemed to be so promising, it's a shame how it turned out.
    There are still no european servers, so I'm lucky when I get a ping of 150.
    Matchmaking balance does not seem to exist. I guess it's impossible to create a matchmaking system because there are not enough people playing this game. Beginners with starter-mechs are thrown into battles with veterans who will just farm you all day long.
    I played MWO during closed beta and now after it's official release I don't see any improvements except all those new expensive hero mechs you can buy for    … Expand
  96. Miekael
    Sep 17, 2013
    0
    Game is stale, still missing core features, and proper balance. Not worth playing anymore, so many other F2P titles offer more then this game. I would rate the game somewhere along a 4/10 for art direction (not graphics those are still dated) and for basic playability, but since the community is taking the 10 or 0 approach, I will take my side of the line in the sand with a 0.
  97. 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
  98. ultraviper
    Sep 18, 2013
    3
    A game with huge potential, ruined by inexperienced developers refusing to accept input from its community, failing to deliver on long-standing promises (while breaking others), and implementing the strangest balance changes I've ever seen.
  99. Harpyrnon
    Sep 17, 2013
    3
    From the time closed beta started last year, the game has somehow managed to get worse with nearly every update. Graphics details that started out at a high quality have been steadily cut in an attempt to make the game run better on more peoples machines has largely been unsuccessful. Promised game features are largely nonexistent while features promised to be never introduced are added toFrom the time closed beta started last year, the game has somehow managed to get worse with nearly every update. Graphics details that started out at a high quality have been steadily cut in an attempt to make the game run better on more peoples machines has largely been unsuccessful. Promised game features are largely nonexistent while features promised to be never introduced are added to the dismay of their most devoted fans.

    Game balance issues are addressed months on average after they are introduced, and usually addressed in such a heavy handed fashion that the meta game is a wildly swinging pendulum going from one extreme to another. New players can expect to be confused by many systems behind the scenes that impact game play in huge ways, while being stuck in vastly inferior robots for a huge length of time if they are unwilling to pay large sums of their paychecks.

    While free to play games depend on micro transactions for revenue, the prices on most in game items are hugely inflated. Most robots cost more than $20 with some of the larger one costing over $40 for just the bare bones chassis, which will cost even more money to get into a playable state. These huge costs are inflated even more with the requirement to own the same robot 3 times before you can unlock its skill trees upper levels vastly increasing the robots capabilities.

    The basic game play in early closed beta was easily the high point in this games lifetime, with each new addition making the game more time consuming and costly to play. Developers who insult and berate their player base while seeming to actively sabotage their own game are the only things you see when visiting their site and social media.

    A launch has not reached such terrible crescendos since Star Wars: The Old Republic.    … Expand
  100. WynnTTr
    Sep 17, 2013
    2
    The game itself is average. No gamemodes, no diversity, limited maps, no lobby, no built in voice coms, can't choose maps. It's just DM over and over and it's been like this for the past TWO years.
    The devs have taken money and done almost nothing with it. It's been stale and stagnant gameplay for two years. They like making promises BUT NEVER DELIVER.
    The game had potential but the    The game itself is average. No gamemodes, no diversity, limited maps, no lobby, no built in voice coms, can't choose maps. It's just DM over and over and it's been like this for the past TWO years.
    The devs have taken money and done almost nothing with it. It's been stale and stagnant gameplay for two years. They like making promises BUT NEVER DELIVER.
    The game had potential but the devs (PGI) have it up. There is rage on the forums but justified rage in that PGI made promises and pitched the game a certain way, made sure they got everyone's money THEN BROKE ALL PROMISES. The rage is not about the game mostly but about the developer having no integrity, no credibility. You cannot trust them to hold to anything as they're willing to drop a promise even if there's a whiff of a penny on the ground. Sure every company is like that but think about giving money to a company that has no regard to it's clientele they'll drop you if it suited them.
    Yes the official forums are a cesspit but guess who made them that way? We all didn't start as haters. PGI converted us to them and they know it. They've segmented the forums as much as possible, getting rid of general chat to hide all the issues. Don't believe me go visit them yourself.
    Play the game, it is F2P after all, but be very, very cautious in giving them money or supporting them. The next change could affect you. THEY DO NOT DESERVE IT.    … 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

All reviews »
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.
    Read full review
  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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