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5.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 874 Ratings

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  1. Sep 17, 2013
    10
    Really captures the Mechwarrior feel, gotta love them stompy-bots. I have been playing since closed beta and the game progress has been steady and overall the games direction has been really good. can't wait for Clan Warfare to drop!
  2. Sep 17, 2013
    10
    For hardcore fans of the battletech universe this is the finest emulation of all the battletech titles. The problems exist with players who want to play a game instead of battletech. The game developers have had to continually take steps to minimize the consistant flavor of the month players who can really only be bothered with the current best gaming meta. During Alpha/Beta/Open Beta theFor hardcore fans of the battletech universe this is the finest emulation of all the battletech titles. The problems exist with players who want to play a game instead of battletech. The game developers have had to continually take steps to minimize the consistant flavor of the month players who can really only be bothered with the current best gaming meta. During Alpha/Beta/Open Beta the developers were forced by the abusive player community to make the necessary weapon/mech/engine/component fixes to bring the overall flavor as close as possible to the battletech universe as opposed to the elitest gaming meta demanded by players who vocally considered themselves above the casual player community. In reading the majority of the reviews contained in this article be reminded that all of the negative reviews have been submitted by members of the elitest/non casual/meta game who have had to have their playing style forceably changed by the game developers to bring the overall game play as close as possible to the battletech universe and away from the elitest game play styles demanded by flavor of the month/non casual/meta game players. Expand
  3. Sep 17, 2013
    10
    Its F2P and compared to other free to play games it is rather well balanced and has a growing player base that has the ear of the game developers. Content per patch is varied and sometimes is sparse but the game is very enjoyable.
  4. Sep 17, 2013
    10
    Great game, have spent a year playing it.
    Also plenty of good guys in the community who just want to help new people out.
    There are some public TS's you can join in on and have some fun.

    Hope see you guys on the field!
  5. Sep 17, 2013
    10
    The game play is great! Do not be discouraged by the negative reviews based on the developer. The game may be a little difficult to learn right out of the gate, but that makes it so much more rewarding when things start to make sense. The MechWaarrior Online community is what is bringing this great game down, not the developers or the actual game itself. Its free to play (not pay toThe game play is great! Do not be discouraged by the negative reviews based on the developer. The game may be a little difficult to learn right out of the gate, but that makes it so much more rewarding when things start to make sense. The MechWaarrior Online community is what is bringing this great game down, not the developers or the actual game itself. Its free to play (not pay to win) so come check it out for yourself! Expand
  6. Sep 17, 2013
    9
    This is a fun game. Running around in giant robots! Customizing my loadout. I really wonder if I am playing the same game as some of the complainers. But hey, don't take my word for it, it is free. Download it and see if you have fun.
  7. Sep 17, 2013
    10
    Been addicted to this game for a few months now. In the beginning it was difficult to adjust from my usual FPS online gaming. For instance, you cannot just go charging in, sprinting for the enemy. Concentrated fire will chew through you, and you won't do much. You really have to work with your team, whittling away at the enemy's armor, use cover and exploit weaknesses. You see a lotBeen addicted to this game for a few months now. In the beginning it was difficult to adjust from my usual FPS online gaming. For instance, you cannot just go charging in, sprinting for the enemy. Concentrated fire will chew through you, and you won't do much. You really have to work with your team, whittling away at the enemy's armor, use cover and exploit weaknesses. You see a lot of people complaining all of the time about this or that weapon being too powerful, things being unfair, but if that were true, couldn't they just do the same and dominate?

    Another addictive part of the game, as you get used to the game you start thinking "what if I had more lasers instead of this large laser" and get into customizing your mech. You'll get something very effective, then tear it down to try another build. It's fun to mess with closer range brawling, then a build with long range but hot weapons, and so on.

    All in all, if you want a more tactical FPS, where it's not the fastest shot wins, but the survivor survives, it's free, give it a shot. If you really like it, you can pay a fee to give yourself a boost (30%) in money, or purchase mechs, but almost everything can be had just by building up money playing.
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  8. Sep 17, 2013
    10
    Mechwarrior Online is the long waited game in the line of other battletech games which have been all but forgotten please give this game a chance it's a free to play mech stomping action game, whats not to love
  9. Sep 17, 2013
    9
    I'm not sure the cause of all the hate. Frankly, it's an excellent game, especially for a FTP one. The "leveling" system of earning credits works well, and if you'd like to sink a bit of money in for options/unique mechs, that's cool too. You buy options (and a quicker path to mechs) but not wins, as the game is pretty well balanced. I've been playing for several months, and have paidI'm not sure the cause of all the hate. Frankly, it's an excellent game, especially for a FTP one. The "leveling" system of earning credits works well, and if you'd like to sink a bit of money in for options/unique mechs, that's cool too. You buy options (and a quicker path to mechs) but not wins, as the game is pretty well balanced. I've been playing for several months, and have paid for a number of items, and am fully satisfied. Expand
  10. Sep 17, 2013
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I chose to look beyond the here and now. Yes at launch there are some things missing and there is more than a few issues that need to be fixed or simply replaced. The game was to be finished just before the Clan invasion then 6 months or so Clan expansion as playable factions, at least that was it felt like that is why I say the game is behind. But on to my review most people look at FTP games as PTW but this game is not like that, the PPC of a free player does the same damage at the same range as a paid sub unlike other FTP games. The only difference between free and sub, is how many C-bills and XP you can get per match. The Mech selection is good although there a few chassis that should be in and a few that shouldn't form a cannon point of view Highlander to begin one of them Love the Mech but in 3050 unless you had a very old one or belonged to Comstar you just didn't see it But it is a fan favorite and one of mine I wont complain about it. As for the weapon systems the biggest gripe I have is with the Ultra Autocannon 5 it is seems just when you get used to the jam rate they change the rules about it but after today patch that might have been worked out, we will see.

    Now to the warfare this is the first time I feel that all the weight classes matter. In the past it was an arms race to the bigger and better chassis. Now it's like I am not a good Assault pilot but I can do awesome things in a light to medium chassis, you aren't forced to change chassis you can get a Spider or Hunchback and never pilot anything else or have a full lance of light Mechs and make a difference. I have found I not the best pilot of any weight class but I am getting better and the Quickdraw is my chassis that I seem to do the best in. The game allows you to be a scout, fire support indirect or direct brawler, I seen builds that allowed the pilot to take on 2 or more roles in combat. The game does take skill and smarts you will have your mech shot out from under you more than once.

    In closing is Mech Warrior online worth playing YES is it worth spending money on Maybe is it a finished Game No and wont be for a few more months. I enjoy the game I play it every day I plan to keep playing the game till the servers are closed down. I know it will be more than it is now and it will be a great trip getting to the finished product.
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  11. Sep 17, 2013
    9
    Let's evaluate this game for what it is today: Launch!

    It's fun. Ridiculously fun. You get to join up with teams and friends (try the Comstar Teamspeak Server or House Davion Teamspeak) and run around in robots. It's not perfect, but if you're new to the game and or never played since Mechwarrior 2,3,4 and or never played Mechwarrior, you're in for a treat it sounds great, looks
    Let's evaluate this game for what it is today: Launch!

    It's fun. Ridiculously fun. You get to join up with teams and friends (try the Comstar Teamspeak Server or House Davion Teamspeak) and run around in robots.

    It's not perfect, but if you're new to the game and or never played since Mechwarrior 2,3,4 and or never played Mechwarrior, you're in for a treat it sounds great, looks great and probably like me, when I first loaded this game up, are going to be impressed.

    It's not perfect and there's a lot of development to go but a lot of criticism is coming from players like me who have been with the game for the past year and more and expect more from the title. I feel that this is unfair, because the game was in Beta and thus, the game should be evaluated for what it is now.

    Again, not perfect, but there's a lot to come and it's "fun". I have a lot of experience with this game and have been with since day -1 of open beta. When I look back at the past year, I have had more fun playing this game since I first joined WoW and discovered a great atmosphere of teamwork and eventually raiding.

    I am looking forward to the future of MWO it's bright. I wish it could come quicker.
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  12. Jan 6, 2016
    1
    backed this for 80 dollars in 2011, was not impressed by initial release and thought i'll see how it develops. tried the new version this year and sorry to say even worse than before. lame graphics boring game play, terrible community and devs. Worst kickstarter I backed ever. only value is for teamkilling going forward.
  13. Jan 22, 2016
    1
    the game is really bad. you need to buy stuff or you will be crushed from every one that bought stuff. and that stuff is not cheap at all. 40$ for ONE big robot...
    they try to trick you and give you in your first few matches more ingame currency so you thing you can play it easy for free, but after that starting cash you grind hours just to get 1 mech and after that hours again for the
    the game is really bad. you need to buy stuff or you will be crushed from every one that bought stuff. and that stuff is not cheap at all. 40$ for ONE big robot...
    they try to trick you and give you in your first few matches more ingame currency so you thing you can play it easy for free, but after that starting cash you grind hours just to get 1 mech and after that hours again for the loadout.
    stay far away there are better mech games out there.
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  14. Jan 23, 2016
    0
    This game is only alive because of its franchise. The "game" it self is just bad.
    This is the worst kind of f2p game out there.
    It should be renamend to "free 2 grind 4 ever unless you give us your money".
  15. Jan 5, 2017
    10
    Well, boys and girls, I spent several years of my life on this game.

    In short: worse than heroin. Little longer: great mech design, great nostalgia, great universe, not so much money needed (on the other hand - its a pure money grinding machine), slow tactical gameplay, AWFUL matchmaking, small playerbase, frustrating mathes, no alternatives, intriguing mechlab (like building kit for
    Well, boys and girls, I spent several years of my life on this game.

    In short: worse than heroin.

    Little longer: great mech design, great nostalgia, great universe, not so much money needed (on the other hand - its a pure money grinding machine), slow tactical gameplay, AWFUL matchmaking, small playerbase, frustrating mathes, no alternatives, intriguing mechlab (like building kit for adults).

    Much joy and much suffering, like masochistic love.

    1010
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  16. Jan 14, 2019
    0
    Still terrible after all these years, no surprises here!

    Maps are a joke, always have, always will. They are either small and wide open, or large and wide open, and are generally all very flat and poorly segmented, if at all. Little to no thought was put into their design, and they allow for nearly zero movement options. There is no flow to a match because of this, and many matches
    Still terrible after all these years, no surprises here!

    Maps are a joke, always have, always will. They are either small and wide open, or large and wide open, and are generally all very flat and poorly segmented, if at all. Little to no thought was put into their design, and they allow for nearly zero movement options. There is no flow to a match because of this, and many matches are just simply Mexican standoffs, or head-on charges, as there is literally no way for anyone to actually move without being seen or covered between map segments, making it almost impossible to properly flank or apply any strategy mobility wise. This is probably the single biggest failing concerning MWO's gameplay, and overall design. 24 Players on these maps is simply absurd, and downright boring. They could really badly use another playlist or 2 with tweaked maps, and lower player counts, to help alleviate these issues. Only problem with that, is it would require a little more work, with some more robust servers, and PGI will never pay for more then the bare minimum to support this game.

    As far as load-outs go, there is literally only a single usable "strategy" available, and that is, "which weapons provide the best DPS", and tends to favor specific ranges, and it all depends on what the dev team deems to be the best at any given time. This is frustrating, as mobility, positioning, and flexibility, don't mean squat in the face of nowhere to run (bad, over-crowded, open maps) and superior DPS (especially using Coolshot items). Gameplay is severely limited, and features downright stupid design, for this so called "thinking person's shooter".

    There are still ways to abuse the quickplay matchmaking, and when population starts to thin out later in the day (or it's just plain dead ), you will suddenly find yourself getting damn near 2 shot, by weak, short ranged weapons, from well beyond their effective ranges. I wonder what that could ever possibly be now. Not cheating, no, never! MWO is just TOO PERFECT for that!

    PGI is downright awful about banning known cheaters and grifers, as in, they never do it, despite having a report system. Most griefers can be seen still playing years later, even after tons of reports, from just about everybody they play with.

    Not to mention, for a game that is strictly a competitive one, the servers are literally the absolute worse I have ever seen in a game. Period. My ping in most games that are well looked after and properly maintained, is around an average of 40 ms, over a pure wireless network, with a generic AC wifi card. Wired, and it's generally 20-40 all day. On MWO, however, the highest I have seen for myself, is between 80-90 ms, but wait! It can, and it does (quite frequently), go as high as 250+ ms, regardless of region. I am definitely no expert, but it is BEYOND clear to me, that something is very, very, VERY wrong, with the netcode and server solutions, that are used by PGI. To say the very, damn, least.

    I remember much less lag and connection issues in games such as Tribes and Unreal. That were over dial-up connections. It's a total joke, and completely pathetic.

    They still lock new releases behind pay-walls, then nerf them.

    They still charge way too much, for far too little.

    They still refuse to fix any of the games actual core issues, or legitimately better (THROW OUT) their absolutely obnoxious f2p (pay2not-grind) model.

    Mechwarrior Online is still just a shameless, money grabbing F2P.

    Nothing has really changed with this game, and it never will.

    The core community is as hilarious, as it is outright horrendous. A decent chunk of the players are completely, 100% clueless old timers, who are WAY behind the times, totally out-of touch, and think this is all A-OK, and every-other game is just as horrible and poorly performing. The other half are people who are knowledgeable of these issues, and take full advantage of them, with PGI's blessing, of course. PGI has a nasty habit of giving preferential treatment to those faithful fans who buy mech packs, spend money every now-and-again, and are sure to rub elbows with admins in the forums, or even customer service staff (maybe tell your idiot players to NOT name drop your staff, especially as threats? Right, Patience?). Those faithful are pretty much allowed free-reign over the game, doing as they wish with utter impunity.

    Long-as-hell story short, MWO is a complete and utter cesspool of an experience. It has the bones of something that could have always been great, but was squandered by incredibly short-sighted greed, pandering to an outspoken, idiotic, toxic minority, and general gross incompetence.

    And there are people still paying into this. That genuinely blows my mind.
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  17. Oct 31, 2022
    0
    The physics and actual gameplay of the game r good due to a quality 3rd party game engine (cryengine i believe). However the nuts and bolts that have been done by the company PGI miss the mark entirely, Firstly instead of random grouping when joining, the game rigs the grouping based on previous individuals game results. This however is deeply flawed resulting in ridiculously one sidedThe physics and actual gameplay of the game r good due to a quality 3rd party game engine (cryengine i believe). However the nuts and bolts that have been done by the company PGI miss the mark entirely, Firstly instead of random grouping when joining, the game rigs the grouping based on previous individuals game results. This however is deeply flawed resulting in ridiculously one sided games very frequently. In regular game play it's 12 men per side, 24 total and far too many games end in 12-0 or similar results. This takes away from the enjoyment and penalizes the veteren players as they are often paired with much lesser accomplished players and end up getting wiped out in a regular pug. Conversely you can join with groups of up to 4 players further rigging the outcomes.
    If a veteren player takes in a new mech robot that hasn't been fully leveled up and or lesser than the robot they had previously had good results with, the game does not take this into account. Making it much more difficult to level the mech up. This has been mentioned constantly since the game was released and they still heven't gotten it right. They would have much better success with random groups. Period. Or at least have a separate option to play entirely random games(no group drops no psr) .
    Next is the Mechlab UI. The place where you do all your robot configurations among other things. It's ridiculously counter intuitive and unnecessarily tedious. For example from the main menu it takes at least 9 to 10 mouse clicks on various tabs and buttons to assign one skill point to a new unleveled mech. Once you click save, it automatically and ridiculously kicks you back to the main menu instead of leaving you in the tab you are in, forcing you to go through the whole routine again if you fogotten something or wanted to continue to evaluate the robot you were working on. Horribly conceived.
    Next is the text chat. Again ridiculously clunky and cryptic. Amateur hour here. You have to press different buttons to talk with either just your team or all players in game. This would be fine except it doesn't work this way if you are dead and want to continue to chat. Then it defaults to all chat. This would probably be acceptable except if you die while texting or are texting in transition between game lobby and game starting your message is cut off resulting in unintelligable portions of messages being sent. Horrible! This hasn't been addressed since day one, near 10years.
    Another thing is the banning of certain names. For some reason this company doesn't like the word "NOOB". If you've been found to have this word in any portion of your player name, for example Noobboy or Canadiannooby etc the company unilaterally bans your name and turns it into its generic "mechwarriorxxxxxx". I can't remember when I've ever seen something more anal or ridiculous with a company.
    The game population has dwindled to a shadow of what it once was due to all of the reasons stated above as well as others. They were and are too slow to respond to the majority of paying customers and the exodus was the result. When people became impatient and discontent the company blamed those individuals for the migration instead of immediatley understanding that people were trying to help. They ended up alienating and making their base estranged. Only themselves to blame.
    With the state of this game now I can only conclude that the people responsible for this company have coddled to a very narrow quirky few that are ridiculously rigid and live in a bubble.
    I would give the game a 7 for gameplay but I give it a 0 due to all the things that detract from it and how quickly they make the game get old. Lastly the game is what 10 years old now...and it still has bugs with players getting randomly disconnected. They try to relog quickly to find that while they were rebooting the game they've been killed. They receive a time penalty because they left the game prematurely and they receive no rewards. There's no excuse for this epic a failure to resolve issues that have been there forever. At least none they've given that rings true.
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  18. Sep 28, 2013
    4
    As a Battletech fan, I've played almost all and every game around the franchise, and this iteration brought up a lot of hype back in the day. It was 10 years after the last known official mechwarrior game, and the community was hungry,

    Unfortunately, the game developed by Piranha games is, at launch day, nothing more than a beta. The progress over the last year has been minimum to none,
    As a Battletech fan, I've played almost all and every game around the franchise, and this iteration brought up a lot of hype back in the day. It was 10 years after the last known official mechwarrior game, and the community was hungry,

    Unfortunately, the game developed by Piranha games is, at launch day, nothing more than a beta. The progress over the last year has been minimum to none, and, while it's got a huge potential, more and more features are either delayed or treated the opposite way Piranha sold me a year and a half ago.

    I think I'll wait for the next iteration.
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  19. Sep 28, 2013
    3
    This game lacks any kind of repeatability after about the first week of playing. There are limited maps, even less game modes and the match making has to be one of the worst around. There are many times you will have 10 game losing streaks as your grouped against pre made groups. The game feels more like it should be in closed beta than an official release.
  20. Sep 29, 2013
    6
    An adequate mech shooter marred by a polarised and toxic community, indifferent developers and what appears to be a main screen/menu that's comprised of 80% ads for overpriced in-game items.

    It is recommended that prospective players first approach the forums for information regarding C-Bill spending, as earnings after the initial cadet bonus are abruptly castrated not constructing the
    An adequate mech shooter marred by a polarised and toxic community, indifferent developers and what appears to be a main screen/menu that's comprised of 80% ads for overpriced in-game items.

    It is recommended that prospective players first approach the forums for information regarding C-Bill spending, as earnings after the initial cadet bonus are abruptly castrated not constructing the first owned mech properly can make or break a new user's experience.

    If you're here purely for stompy-shooty, then this is your game. If you seek depth and the big vision of interplanetary mech warfare initially foisted on the wary long-time players by the dubious developers, look elsewhere.

    Teamspeak is a must.
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  21. Sep 28, 2013
    1
    I'm a huge fan of the Mechwarrior and Battletech franchises. I've played them since the original tabletop game came out. It is a universe filled with rich heritage, intricate balance, and unique customization.

    When MW:O was announced I bought the biggest Founder's package they offered, to wholeheartedly offer my support. They promised a continuation of the series that I'd come to
    I'm a huge fan of the Mechwarrior and Battletech franchises. I've played them since the original tabletop game came out. It is a universe filled with rich heritage, intricate balance, and unique customization.

    When MW:O was announced I bought the biggest Founder's package they offered, to wholeheartedly offer my support. They promised a continuation of the series that I'd come to know and love, offering giant stompy mech goodness.

    The promise was one of more faction-driven combat on a galactic scale, with highly customizable battlemechs in unprecedented detail.

    We started with a game that started with a strong foundation and very tried-and-true mechanics, easily tweaked to fit the engine that PGI selected to support it.

    As testing progressed, the game has gotten less glitchy, which is a testament to their work, but the balance has been continuously destroyed. Without any real effect of tonnage in-game, and with broken weapon stats, a 35 ton Spider can easily expect to not only destroy hundred-ton assault mechs like the Atlas, but in fact, to deal far more damage.

    The developer ignores constructive feedback and suggestion, while using draconian measures to hide any hint of dissatisfaction or negativity in the forums.

    When I emailed the developers a few weeks ago, I mentioned that a lot of the game's Founders were very upset with the fact that the game was such a departure from other Mechwarrior games. I specifically asked why so many seemingly random changes were being implemented, and why more of the old Battletech rules were not being utilized. I also asked about aspects of the game that are absent, and unlikely to be added even if Community Warfare is ever implemented.

    Here is a part of the reply I got, unedited, and in context.

    "I feed on the hostility myself as a long time gamer I've come to realize that there will ALWAYS be some who are unhappy for whatever reason. I'm personally enjoying this game quite a bit, although I think it helps that while I played the old MechWarrior games, I wouldn't call myself a huge fan I don't feel like I need to relive my childhood, etc. still that's just my own thoughts."

    Why are people that don't even care for the old MechWarrior games in charge of producing this one?

    As it stands, the game is now just a mindless grind, with total disregard for any reason to be fighting. Twelve mechs at a time batter themselves to bits ineffectually, while their pilots spend more money on a doomed and badly done version of this once-amazing franchise.

    I still love MechWarrior, but MWO isn't it. I've hung up my cooling vest until further notice, folks. Maybe the next generation of this game will be better.
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  22. Oct 10, 2013
    0
    I am a Legendary Founder and have played since closed beta. I was sold on the ideas of a great MechWarrior action game (which this game isn't) with planetary battles/factions via Community Warfare (which they've hardly even started work on even though the game is released).

    The truth of things is that PGI got screwed over by their publisher IGP. A massive amount of cash was raised by
    I am a Legendary Founder and have played since closed beta. I was sold on the ideas of a great MechWarrior action game (which this game isn't) with planetary battles/factions via Community Warfare (which they've hardly even started work on even though the game is released).

    The truth of things is that PGI got screwed over by their publisher IGP. A massive amount of cash was raised by Founders to fund this game, but sadly a lot of it was funnelled away from MechWarrior Online and into other IGP projects. This left PGI in hopelessly over their heads having made promises they couldn't keep.

    The result is a game that has a mediocre online mech gift shop and no gameplay depth whatsoever. It takes mindless grinds to a whole new level. There are so many missing features; there's not even a basic lobby to organise and socialise.

    I have to say in closing that the way the players have been treated has been a demonstration in how not to run a community.
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  23. Sep 28, 2013
    1
    i had expected a lot more from it. Or maybe i had false expectations to begin with. Mechwarrior or rather BattleTech for me is a mixture between RP or character development and tactical mech combat. But what i get here is instanced arenas where players incidentally fight in mechs.

    And the worst part is i do not even recognize most mechs. They are so far from the pen & paper sourcebook
    i had expected a lot more from it. Or maybe i had false expectations to begin with. Mechwarrior or rather BattleTech for me is a mixture between RP or character development and tactical mech combat. But what i get here is instanced arenas where players incidentally fight in mechs.

    And the worst part is i do not even recognize most mechs. They are so far from the pen & paper sourcebook material that some of them are unrecognizable.

    I also found that they do not have sufficient individual characteristics and that the combat was much MUCH more twitch based than having the feeling of piloting some dozens of tons of steel. To me it felt more like one of those "mecha" games where you are in powerarmor and not like you are in a huge robot.

    on the technical side well, i guess it is the engine decision. this engine does not run well on my system, which is entirely my problem though and i do not blame the game for it but for such a small-scale game it does not even look very good.
    the sounds are OK but lack a lot of "punch", the effects are only standard.

    but all that would be irrelevant if the game did not feel like some generic 1st person shooter.

    When it comes to multiplayer i came to the conclusion that the MTX mechwarrior 4 mercs title, which is a free download, is more fun even if by todays standards it looks hideous.

    conclusion: when you regret the download on a "free to play title", something is wrong, or it simply was not "your type of game".
    i like battletech but i wish we d rather get a real mechwarrior 5 than a free to play arena shooter.
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  24. Oct 25, 2013
    0
    If they hadn't promised people that kickstarted their project one thing and did the other, this would just be a half developed game by a C grade game dev. But as it stands, this is a dishonest arrogant and inept developer. Every month the cash shop has new items and expands consistently. And the game, after a year and a half, pretty much stays the same. I could elaborate, but the variousIf they hadn't promised people that kickstarted their project one thing and did the other, this would just be a half developed game by a C grade game dev. But as it stands, this is a dishonest arrogant and inept developer. Every month the cash shop has new items and expands consistently. And the game, after a year and a half, pretty much stays the same. I could elaborate, but the various review sites and player blogs have documented this game devs failings well, no need to repeat. Famous IP, made into a turkey, go Star citizen folks! Expand
  25. Oct 18, 2013
    2
    While a promising category and basis for a game (giant robots!) the game continues to struggle through buggy, repetitive and frustrating gameplay. Although excelling graphically and allowing for a wide range of customizations for your "mech," the failure of the developing company to properly balance the game and resolve recurring bugs has turned its fanbase rabid.

    Throughout its beta
    While a promising category and basis for a game (giant robots!) the game continues to struggle through buggy, repetitive and frustrating gameplay. Although excelling graphically and allowing for a wide range of customizations for your "mech," the failure of the developing company to properly balance the game and resolve recurring bugs has turned its fanbase rabid.

    Throughout its beta phase, the game was plagued with horrible weapon balancing, frequent disconnects, and other issues. Many of these problems remain in current gameplay, even after a year of "beta" testing and feedback. Moreover, and much more painful, is the game's team balancing system. This system, which is ineffective if not totally absent, pits new players against highly experienced players, places light mechs against assault and heavy mechs, and allows teams using outside communications to play against groups comprised of individuals without coordination. The results are predictable... a game which is either repetitive and unskilled, or incredibly frustrating.

    At this point, the developers are almost solely focused on the release of new mech variants, as this is where the game generates its pay-2-win revenue. It is becoming more apparent that the soul of the game has departed the developers, and the game is devolving into a shameless cash-grab.

    Unless you truly intend to play it for free, avoid the game. While the game is promising, it cannot currently deliver. Until these issues are fixed, it is likely your money is best spent elsewhere.
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  26. Dec 17, 2013
    0
    It's a shame a such beautiful and important franchise like Mechwarrior has been devastated by PGI.
    They are currently sacking the users and it looks they'll do it again and again.
    Almost nothing has been done in the last year and some stuff it's just pretty ridiculous (like the low res where you should put the embarrassing stuff they sell for real money). Most of the BT stuff has been
    It's a shame a such beautiful and important franchise like Mechwarrior has been devastated by PGI.
    They are currently sacking the users and it looks they'll do it again and again.
    Almost nothing has been done in the last year and some stuff it's just pretty ridiculous (like the low res where you should put the embarrassing stuff they sell for real money).
    Most of the BT stuff has been just raped and slaughtered, time is frozen and so and so on.
    I hope they we'll get the license revoked as soon as possible.
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  27. Jan 13, 2016
    0
    you are forced to play game modes and maps you dont like.
    grinding XP and ingame currence is a pain in the ass without realmoney premium time.
    stay away from this p2w bull****.
  28. Sep 27, 2013
    3
    I am seeing wide variation in ratings here on Metacritic for Mechwarrior Online. I think I might know why.
    TWO different games are bing rated at the same time, causing lots of confusion:
    1. There is a First Person Shooter using Mechs that is being rated. It is basically the Beta of MWO, which has been somewhat dumbed-down for less knowledgeable players. 2. There is the PROMISED MMO
    I am seeing wide variation in ratings here on Metacritic for Mechwarrior Online. I think I might know why.
    TWO different games are bing rated at the same time, causing lots of confusion:
    1. There is a First Person Shooter using Mechs that is being rated. It is basically the Beta of MWO,
    which has been somewhat dumbed-down for less knowledgeable players.
    2. There is the PROMISED MMO with new UI 2.0, Community Warfare, longterm objectives, AI
    opponents, etc which has been delayed again and again.

    The original Founders paid big money into this game for the development of a rich, in depth BattleTech
    Experience. Instead, apparently most of the money they paid was used to develop another game! The
    title of which has Mechwarrior in it, but it is "tactics".
    So basically, I believe the developers have discovered that diehard BattleTech Fans will pay for a mere
    ghost of the game they were promised, and can be milked for more and more money with more and more
    Empty promises. After a year in open beta, this game has not progressed, it has gone backwards! Many
    supporters have walked away in anger, having figured out they were suckered by an immoral game company. But that is OK! The developers changed this FPS so that with 3rd person view, even the simplest gamer can play it, or so they hope. Then they can milk a new crowd of BattleTech fans for more
    Money before the game DIES.......

    So you will continue to see 10 and 9 ratings, which are actually for the simple Deathmatch game with Mechs. And you will continue to see Zeroes and ones and twos from the people who are angry it is not what was promised and what they PAID for!

    Maybe the developers should change the name of the game to Mechwarrior Deathmatch Online, and be honest for a change? And let another company develop a real BattleTech Game?
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  29. Oct 10, 2013
    1
    dev's disrespect community. features promised not delivered. F2P but P2W. gameplay is so buggy youll miss 90% of your shots. match-making encourages steamrolling or spamming 1 weapon type. litterly 2 or 3 maps that i remember. 2 game modes only 1 mode makes it so that light mecs are KIND OF useful only their mostly garbage. despite looking like complete ass and using directx9 it still hasdev's disrespect community. features promised not delivered. F2P but P2W. gameplay is so buggy youll miss 90% of your shots. match-making encourages steamrolling or spamming 1 weapon type. litterly 2 or 3 maps that i remember. 2 game modes only 1 mode makes it so that light mecs are KIND OF useful only their mostly garbage. despite looking like complete ass and using directx9 it still has the audacity to drop below 60 FPS.

    steer clear. this game is F2P and P2W rolled into one.
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  30. Oct 23, 2013
    0
    For players who are not familiar with battletech don't have any idea about what's going on here. No content, I mean no story or campaign. So why can you chose a faction?! Whats this faction for?! No background info about this game, no missions only multiplayer.
  31. Oct 27, 2013
    0
    This game showed to so much promise, however between the complete lack of any real progress, and the producers repeatedly going back on their word (after cashing in on the investment players made in the game based off false promises) it is drifting farther and farther way from mechwarrior, not to mention good game design and balance. Do Not Recommend.
  32. Dec 10, 2014
    1
    This game has the least consistent player experience and by all indicators one of the least competent development teams whose product I have ever had the displeasure of playing. Over the lifecycle of this product the goals and user-facing feature set have been dramatically altered in unfortunate ways. The developers have not only failed to deliver a coherent product with any level ofThis game has the least consistent player experience and by all indicators one of the least competent development teams whose product I have ever had the displeasure of playing. Over the lifecycle of this product the goals and user-facing feature set have been dramatically altered in unfortunate ways. The developers have not only failed to deliver a coherent product with any level of quality control, but they have also openly mislead and directly insulted their customers over a long two year alpha/beta testing period as well as a "soft launch" period.

    The game promises a foundation of interesting mechanics such as individual avatar customization, a team-based arena combat setting, individual component damage, dynamic and unique weapons with their own situational mechanics, and a large scale persistent universe with separate factions and mercenary corporations all vying for control of a galactic map. Of these things only customization, arena combat, and per-component damage have actually been implemented. Those things which have actually been added to MWO have been implemented with such haphazard and wanton carelessness that basic functions can be expected to misfunction, malfunction, or be so hidden behind convoluted menus and other user interface foibles such that they needn't exist at all.

    By bringing in contractors early into the game's development to design and implement basic systems the developers have been able to produce a partially functional multiplayer game, but after reaching the threshold of minimum viability they have no longer employed competent contractors and have instead relied upon their own spit-and-glue approach to coding and game design and implementation, and the patchwork shows. Simple elements like terrain collision meshes are misplaced, incorrectly sized and scaled to the terrain, or nonexistent, leading to aberrant gameplay and an experience oozing with a sense of low quality. In lieu of optimization the dev team has reduced or completely eliminated graphical effects and high quality rendering options, leaving the game a poorly running mess sure to increase your electric bill beyond any reasonable level regardless of how much you have invested into your PC. While playing the actual game the MechLab function runs in the background, making render calls and tying up system resources otherwise usable for the game client. On top of this, if using a high enough refresh rate monitor, frames of the MechLab will actually *be printed to the monitor* between frames of gameplay, leading to a jarring and unpleasant gaming experience.

    The developers have managed to keep the project floating in two ways: firstly by leveraging the devotion of long-time fans of the "Battletech" and "MechWarrior" franchise through a system of gradually escalating power creep based cash-only content releases, and secondly by appealing to the Canadian government for cash handouts on the basis of creating employment opportunities for Canadians, all the while maintaining a skeleton crew and generating little in the way of actual product. After growing tired of maintaining the charade of continuing to develop MechWarrior Online the developers took development resources and personnel from the title to put toward the creation of another title "Transverse" in an attempt to cash in on the blooming space sim customer base.

    While new players may be drawn in by the promise of flashy robots and deep immersive gameplay, the harsh new player experience in the form of counter-intuitive user interface, obfuscated and poorly implemented game mechanics, a sharp difficulty curve, and the need to pour many hours of gameplay before you have the resources necessary to truly be competitive and "successful" will quickly take the luster out of the game and prove frustrating and unpleasant to even the most sanguine player.

    If given the option to play MechWarrior Online or reinstall the last iteration in the series, MechWarrior 4 (2000), I would surely choose the latter and completely disregard the former.
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  33. May 20, 2014
    2
    Coming from someone who spent more than $200 on MWO over the past two years - do not make the mistake I did. Do not invest one penny into this game. Play it entirely for free if you'd like, I encourage that, but do not invest yourself in this game. I have been playing since closed beta and while the game itself can be fun and engaging in short spurts, it has little staying power.Coming from someone who spent more than $200 on MWO over the past two years - do not make the mistake I did. Do not invest one penny into this game. Play it entirely for free if you'd like, I encourage that, but do not invest yourself in this game. I have been playing since closed beta and while the game itself can be fun and engaging in short spurts, it has little staying power. Worse, the game has been declining heavily for the past year. As time has gone by, the devs have shown themselves to be far more dedicated to pushing new items for the cash grab than to developing actual content. Features that were promised to be implemented more than a year ago have yet to be implemented or if they have been, are often partially if not entirely locked behind a pay wall, features that come standard in almost every other F2P shooter.

    Here is a specific example of the types of shady actions PGI is prone to. Some time ago (end of last summer, perhaps) they decreased the rate at which you earn the in game currency (C-Bills) to the point that it takes a solid week of grinding matches several hours a night to afford one new mech, and another few days on top to customize it. Not only this, but to master a pilot tree for the mech (which is a crucial edge in game, providing huge benefits), you must own and play with at least three variants. This means it takes a good month of grinding to unlock ONE chassis so you can be on par with those who have been playing for longer. Add on to this that there is little to no training so I have routinely seen new players get absolutely stomped by veterans, making it that much more miserable to slog through. But wait! There IS hope! You can just pay them lots of money and unlock it now! The above is a great example or why it really seems to me that the current model is to frustrate new players into spending money before they realize that the game simply isn't worth it.

    I joined a Clan and became part of an active community centered on MWO last May. Since then, I have seen the player base steadily decline as PGI constantly pushes more items for purchase while doing very little to improve the state of the game. In addition, they are absolutely horrible at listening to player feedback - they are the absolute worst for censoring or flat out deleting posts that openly criticize aspects of the game on the official forums. There are some communities hanging on and you will find players who scoff at the discontent, but frequently, they aren't the ones who paid hundreds in to this game to watch it flop.

    Long story short, I paid more than $200 into this game, supporting it over the past two years and for my time and money, I have a bushel full of broken promises and gameplay that becomes more infuriating with every new patch, as the devs seemingly mess with things at random, flat out deny existing problems, pay wall basic features, or heaven only knows what. I gave up trying to see their reasoning several months ago. If you're still really wanting to play, do your research first, please. Look up the other gripes (and oh are there many) and go in with your eyes open.
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  34. Sep 28, 2013
    1
    The best thing I can say about MWO is it didn't cause my computer to catch fire, so that is something.

    Mechs are woefully unbalances as are teams and entire matches. The overwhelming majority of matches I have played in end in a one sided slaughter. The learning curve is brutal as is the grind to obtain anything worth stomping around in. Only two modes, well one really, since
    The best thing I can say about MWO is it didn't cause my computer to catch fire, so that is something.

    Mechs are woefully unbalances as are teams and entire matches. The overwhelming majority of matches I have played in end in a one sided slaughter. The learning curve is brutal as is the grind to obtain anything worth stomping around in.
    Only two modes, well one really, since "conquest" just ends up being a slaughter fest most of the time anyway.
    The number of boards is pathetic.
    River City. River City Night.
    Frozen City. Frozen City Night.
    Come one, changing the lighting or adding snow is your idea of a new map?

    The last, best hope is for this to die quickly and the IP picked up by someone competent.
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  35. Sep 30, 2013
    1
    Thank you PGI for lying to all the old fans and making this horribly unbalanced game.
    Thank you PGI for making this game look worse than a game that came out in 2006
    Thank you PGI for making a game so bad it dooms the possibility of more mechwarrior games. Thank you PGI for making MWO 11/10 "SRS" 5 stars "JIDF" it's a hit. "IGN" inb4 I get banned from MWO when the devs read
    Thank you PGI for lying to all the old fans and making this horribly unbalanced game.
    Thank you PGI for making this game look worse than a game that came out in 2006
    Thank you PGI for making a game so bad it dooms the possibility of more mechwarrior games.
    Thank you PGI for making MWO

    11/10 "SRS"
    5 stars "JIDF"
    it's a hit. "IGN"

    inb4 I get banned from MWO when the devs read these reviews.
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  36. Nov 18, 2013
    0
    The title has a lot of potential but the developer fail and continue to fail to keep to their promises.. you just cant wait forever. this game has taken too long to develop and continue to cash grab
  37. Dec 13, 2014
    0
    The constant source of disappointment for an old BTW and MW series fan. PGI is the worst game developer, IMO. Poor coding, constant money grabs (but to be fair, you don't have to give them money if you don't want it) total lack of respect to the lore and absolutely incompetent game designer (Paul Inouye).
  38. Dec 19, 2013
    4
    MechWarrior Online was pitched as being a thinking man's shooter with depth and complexity, an overarching 'Community Warfare' territory control meta game with specialization options depending on the mech you pilot (called role warfare).
    The current state of the game is as follows:
    -Hit detection is buggy, and not just for high ping players. You will see a gauss slug hit the chest of a
    MechWarrior Online was pitched as being a thinking man's shooter with depth and complexity, an overarching 'Community Warfare' territory control meta game with specialization options depending on the mech you pilot (called role warfare).
    The current state of the game is as follows:
    -Hit detection is buggy, and not just for high ping players. You will see a gauss slug hit the chest of a stationary assault mech but sometimes no damage registers.
    -Alternately hits will sometimes slam into invisible terrain hit boxes that extend beyond the visible edge of terrain, making shooting over anything a guessing game.
    -There are only two game modes assault (capture the 1 base) and conquest (capture the 5 bases)
    -Role warfare does not exist. There are no scouting or fire support skill trees. Every single mech from a 25 ton commando to a 100 ton atlas gets *exactly the same skill unlocks*
    -Community warfare was supposed to be in January 2013. It is now 11 months later and the centrepiece feature/the overarching metagame does not exist yet.
    -They took money from founders (I paid 120 dollars) after advertising the game as first person view only, then they put in a 3pv camera against the will of the core players that is only good for peeking over terrain. I stopped playing as soon as this was implemented and will not play again.
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  39. Dec 16, 2013
    1
    Beloved 80s IP being actively destroyed by a cash hungry, incompetent developer... What's sad is spending thousands of dollars on this title nets you far less content than what was available in MW4...

    The game, as with most other industry destroying "Free to play" titles is nothing more than a gimmick designed to suck loot from the pockets of dedicated MW fans... This game could have
    Beloved 80s IP being actively destroyed by a cash hungry, incompetent developer... What's sad is spending thousands of dollars on this title nets you far less content than what was available in MW4...

    The game, as with most other industry destroying "Free to play" titles is nothing more than a gimmick designed to suck loot from the pockets of dedicated MW fans... This game could have been something great... But as like most other things... When money is the primary motivating factor, quality takes a total ****

    Don't support IGP or PGI if you are or ever were a true fan of the Battletech IP. The sooner this sorry excuse for a company sells the IP, the sooner a "chance" of a good developer picking up the IP.
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  40. Jan 1, 2014
    3
    While the core gameplay is solid, everything else about this title is bad. The developers have again and again failed to deliver on their promises and seems completely at a loss as to how to take the project further than a 'mom's-basement-operation'. Still, for longtime fans there might be some fun to be had getting acquainted with Inner Sphere mechs they might not have used in earlierWhile the core gameplay is solid, everything else about this title is bad. The developers have again and again failed to deliver on their promises and seems completely at a loss as to how to take the project further than a 'mom's-basement-operation'. Still, for longtime fans there might be some fun to be had getting acquainted with Inner Sphere mechs they might not have used in earlier titles (as they are typically rendered obsolete as soon as clan-tech is available). Expand
  41. Jun 18, 2014
    1
    This game is the ripoff of the decade in gaming industry. Pay to play early beta access just release the game in beta condition with no value add content at all. Just more milking content to sucker people into paying large sums of money.
    Please try it out yourself but resist the sheep inside you for couple of days and maybe you will realize why this game is so bad.
    If you swear for apple
    This game is the ripoff of the decade in gaming industry. Pay to play early beta access just release the game in beta condition with no value add content at all. Just more milking content to sucker people into paying large sums of money.
    Please try it out yourself but resist the sheep inside you for couple of days and maybe you will realize why this game is so bad.
    If you swear for apple products then by all means this game is meant for you to enjoy spending money on and I highly recommend the limited time offer of clan gold mechs for measly 500$USD.
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  42. Nov 23, 2015
    0
    MechWarrior Online, at the core, was a very solid game with and cool gameplay, and reasonable graphics. Playing since closed beta has seen nothing short of a string of disappointing choices. This has lead to the game being in a worse state now than it was back then. Lets go over what has been removed:
    - Choice of match mode
    - Mech collisions - A logical heat system - Game balance
    MechWarrior Online, at the core, was a very solid game with and cool gameplay, and reasonable graphics. Playing since closed beta has seen nothing short of a string of disappointing choices. This has lead to the game being in a worse state now than it was back then. Lets go over what has been removed:
    - Choice of match mode
    - Mech collisions
    - A logical heat system
    - Game balance (ignoring clans IS perks are a joke)
    - A decent target locking system
    - Most disappointingly fun
    It seems like every decision is purposely made to make the system less intuitive and less fun.
    Thankfully the IP (Battletech) is also being developed by HBS who have a great track record for developing games. I would suggest checking that game out instead.
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  43. Aug 25, 2014
    1
    Mechwarrior Online is not fun.

    Mechwarrior Online is plagued with bugs and broken features that have persisted since open beta back in 2012, the gameplay is grossly unbalanced and favors very few weapons and playstyles, and to top it all off, this terrible experience won't run at a solid 60fps on a good, up-to-date $1200 gaming rig.

    MWO is a pathetic joke.
  44. Oct 18, 2013
    0
    Came into this game excited to play a Mechwarrior title without an ending. It's a lot of things to take in as a new player. The learning curve is steep, but rewarding once you get the hang of it. There's a training mode to test out how your mech moves. Other then that your throw into wolves as it were. Every match your thrown into has multiple people usually groups of four or more whoCame into this game excited to play a Mechwarrior title without an ending. It's a lot of things to take in as a new player. The learning curve is steep, but rewarding once you get the hang of it. There's a training mode to test out how your mech moves. Other then that your throw into wolves as it were. Every match your thrown into has multiple people usually groups of four or more who are using outside game voice chat programs. As a new player you will die often, pretty much all the time as your team gets rolled by people using voice chat. There is no separate queues for solo playing. And they have no plan to add an in-game voice chat. So if your new, and want to play the game solo queuing for these matches you will grow frustrated and quit. Expand
  45. Nov 6, 2013
    2
    One of the things I look into before getting into an mmo is not only how good the game looks, but also how it plays as well as how the community is. I got to say after scrutinizing the forums and learning the history of the game, which strongly reminds me of my days back in SWG, I decided to put this game down, if it is of any indication, there isnt much future left in it. Gameplay wise,One of the things I look into before getting into an mmo is not only how good the game looks, but also how it plays as well as how the community is. I got to say after scrutinizing the forums and learning the history of the game, which strongly reminds me of my days back in SWG, I decided to put this game down, if it is of any indication, there isnt much future left in it. Gameplay wise, it extremely generic with certain options completely dominating the game, the 3rd person view feels akward and completly ruins whatever immersion there is to be had when facing an enemy team of exactly the same suits. Definetly not newbie friendly. If there was any potential to this tittle, its been completly thorn from it. Expand
  46. Jan 4, 2014
    0
    I put lots of money into this game and leveled up almost all the Mechs. I asked if I could sell my account on the forums and they banned me permanently. But it is their loss and my gain, I had already put hundreds of dollars into this game, and I was considering spending more on the Clan Mechs. The fact is there is no real content or purpose of this game, you just grind out skill on mechs.I put lots of money into this game and leveled up almost all the Mechs. I asked if I could sell my account on the forums and they banned me permanently. But it is their loss and my gain, I had already put hundreds of dollars into this game, and I was considering spending more on the Clan Mechs. The fact is there is no real content or purpose of this game, you just grind out skill on mechs. They promise things like community warfare then sell you $500 mechs. Being banned will save me possibly a thousand dollars in the long run! Expand
  47. Aug 3, 2014
    0
    this game is just garbage, laggy, glitchy, 3 modes of deathmatch, pay 2 win model waste of time. Go back and play MW4 you'll thank me later. I've played since closed beta and this game just gets worse and worse...
  48. Sep 25, 2013
    5
    A game of great potential, but persistently hampered by increasingly slow development times. There is a strong admitance that the game is not complete, but as it has been in beta for over two years, nobody should be holding their breath for the features that initially suckered us in to the game 2 years ago. I can certainly say that if Mechwarrior Online can sustain itself long enough toA game of great potential, but persistently hampered by increasingly slow development times. There is a strong admitance that the game is not complete, but as it has been in beta for over two years, nobody should be holding their breath for the features that initially suckered us in to the game 2 years ago. I can certainly say that if Mechwarrior Online can sustain itself long enough to truly full-fill its original design document, then it will be a great game to play, one worthy of proper competitive gaming. But I anticipate that this time is going to be at least another year or two, and it might not have hat long left to live. Expand
  49. Sep 18, 2013
    6
    Good: The game looks great, sounds great and is fun to play. Mech customization (and current balance) offers enough variety to have multiple builds on a chassis work well. The skins and colors for visual aesthetics look great and add a nice personalized touch to each mech. The maps look amazing, though some blander than others, but give a nice feel for fighting in variousGood: The game looks great, sounds great and is fun to play. Mech customization (and current balance) offers enough variety to have multiple builds on a chassis work well. The skins and colors for visual aesthetics look great and add a nice personalized touch to each mech. The maps look amazing, though some blander than others, but give a nice feel for fighting in various climate/locations. The game does a good job giving money to new players so that after about 20-25 games (about 2-3 hours of playing) you have enough to buy any mech (or a few cheaper ones) and work on customizing them.

    Bad: The game only offers a handful of maps and some are low on the rotations, so you tend to get 1-2 of the same maps over and over while others you don't get hardly at all. The game also does a very poor job in letting players know any information about playing the game. They give a mediocre tutorial on movement/shooting and they don't really give you the hot key information for all the things you can do in game (open missile bay doors, change 1st/3rd person view, grouping weapons, chain/link firing weapons, show map...etc). You have to go to the options to figure most of that out and turn off ones they preset for you. The match maker can be very poor at doing it's job; making 1 sided match ups or having a tonnage disparity of upwards to 200+ tons. You currently only have 3 options to play the game, solo, with a group of 4 or with a group of 12. If you have 5-11 people, you're not playing together. As well, currently there are only 2 match styles, conquest and assault (capture points or kill mechs and capture base or kill mechs, respectively).

    Ugly: The game has been plagued with developer problems and constant lack of information. The 2 big things mentioned, U.I. 2.0 and community warfare have been worked on and promised for a long time with very little information about either coming out. Constant date changes and push back of content have left most people disheartened and spiteful. The implementation of their new heat scale (dubbed "ghost heat" by the community) is a mechanic created to curb certain builds and limit customization on top of their hardpoint system for weapons. Outside of the addtional limitation, they don't mention it anywhere in the game itself and so anyone starting to play won't realize why they overheat so fast firing 3 large lasers or why 1 ac/20 goes up little heat but 2 fills up half the bar.

    Redemption: PGI has been consistently putting out patches ever 2 weeks with content.; At least 1 new mech chassis (with variants) a month for a while. They have had the occasional weekend tournaments to get people playing to win C-bills (in game cash), MC to game money) and items as rewards. There are plenty of things to buy with MC and there are sales going on from time to time on hero mechs, skins and colors. Constant sales make sure you don't have to wait long to get something cheap for your money. Finally, after an incident with doing consumable modules, the game seems to be keeping on track of having a no pay to win attitude, which is nice for this game. Instead it's more of a pay for convenience or pay to not grind for those feeling it's a grind to play the game.

    All in all, the game is fun to play. Ignoring the dev problems or past issues and just downloading it and playing for a while, it's a decent game. If community warfare and UI 2.0 manage to come out and works well enough, it could be a good game.
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  50. Oct 12, 2013
    0
    This game is not fun. It's bad. The graphics are bad. The sound is bad. The netcode is terrible. The developers are terrible. The community is terrible. Try it at your own risk.

    At this point the game exists as nothing more than a way to take advantage of fanboys and white knights who will spend money on anything with Battletech or Mechwarrior on it.
  51. Nov 30, 2014
    0
    Essentially what this game is, is a mass of broken promises and lies to market cod style watered-down sad excuse for a mechwarrior game. Avoid at all cost until these developers learn how to actually do their job.
  52. Nov 13, 2013
    2
    Game registry is purposely nerfed if you have a high elo.
    Moderators delete any talk on the forum about anything faulting the developers.
    Matchmaker is broken.
    Maps and mech selection are boring and repetitive due to design flaws.
    Game itself is repetitive.

    I was so excited for this... but now it's just
  53. Jan 31, 2014
    0
    I was playing MWO from CBT up to release in September, then I have taken a pause and came back in January. What I can say: level of progress is poor, devs still unable to solve problems with hit detection ( especially when ping difference is higher then 100), still only ONE server, and same **** as always: realising new skins and mechs and selling future mech packs: "last chance to buyI was playing MWO from CBT up to release in September, then I have taken a pause and came back in January. What I can say: level of progress is poor, devs still unable to solve problems with hit detection ( especially when ping difference is higher then 100), still only ONE server, and same **** as always: realising new skins and mechs and selling future mech packs: "last chance to buy clan pack or etc." - help us to improve game and someday, maybe, in "grim, dark future" you will get excellent mechwarrior game. If you wish, you can spend your money now, but I suggest you not to do it, at least till they will implement faction warfare and fix all bugs.Rated 1. Expand
  54. Mar 15, 2016
    4
    This game has been in a beta state for over 4 years.

    + Great Community. Lots of mature players with good backgrounds. Had a great time. + Base game is good. Have a try. (Although only 1/4 pillar has been done and that's Mech Warfare.) Cons - 4/4 pillars never been accomplished. Role Warfare is not present. Community Warfare is basic and shallow. Information Warfare is (literally)
    This game has been in a beta state for over 4 years.

    + Great Community. Lots of mature players with good backgrounds. Had a great time.
    + Base game is good. Have a try. (Although only 1/4 pillar has been done and that's Mech Warfare.)

    Cons
    - 4/4 pillars never been accomplished. Role Warfare is not present. Community Warfare is basic and shallow. Information Warfare is (literally) not present.
    - A certain guy is still employeed after #auniversetoexplore - Part Deux screw up.
    - Dynamic geometry have destroyed the unique look of all mechs.
    - E-sports will destroy this game. CEO does not care, all he see is dollar signs. If your strategy is not right E-sport will cause like poison.
    - Founders and players supporting PGI's bad habits. They should know better by know.
    - Founders who haven't experienced better development cycles are still spending cash on this game.
    - Learning curve is like a pig with two eyes in the back. Steep learning curve. NPE is still terrible.
    - Increased trash talking and more about tiers. Called and expected it. Was a matter of time.
    - Gamedesigner on board who come up with idea's like 'Ghost heat', 'Laser lock range nerf' and all kind of silly easy canned idea's to ruin mechanics. There's no creativity, original idea's to be found. Simple, easy canned minimum effort is the way to go. PGI will always go for the easiest solution. Hence all the ongoing extreme balance attempts.
    - Maps are wasted resources. Terrible quality and MWO is short on 'good' maps. Game still run on a handfull of maps.
    - Mechwarrior Online became from a beautiful simple yet effective slow paced mech simulator in a generic speedy twitch shooter.
    - Mixed tech is seen in all matches. From IS to Clan. It does not matter if you are from the IS, the Clanners or IIC; there is no depth to be seen. No star lances and so on. Just like the gamemodes: from Assault to Conquest and Skirmish
    - Module and consumables- money sink. Same for the overpriced paints in Mechlab.
    - Most members of the Community gravitates towards one mouse button. Perhaps two with a maximum of three different fire groups. By nature people always go for the easiest option. Boating is still largely present.
    - /Mwo and Outreach. Negative squad brigade versus positive squad brigade. Feels Outreach is full of delusional -happy joy joy- people. Sorry - stating a few observations. Splitted niche Community.
    - No solid competitive scene. I mean a original, real and complete featured competitive enviroment.
    - In-experienced game studio with a terrible management.
    - Official forums is a echo-chamber.
    - One guy actively communicating trough one (capped) channel of 140 characters. The rest of the devs does not communicate at all.
    - Poor quality control. Founders are the testers.
    - PSR is like a sack of potatoes. The 'higher' tiers are flawed. Alot of people do not belong in tier one. Yet it's still a XP bar then a actual challenging tier system (I was a high comp. player around 1999-2005.)
    - (Mech)scaling still inconsistent.
    - Selling mech packs at high prices while you can get any other if not a better game with actual features for the same price. Or even two games. ($80 mechpack for 4-5 mechs with the same look, just different paints.)
    - Stubborn people who are still wasting money on this broken game. False hope is a serial killer.
    - Shallow skills and master trees.
    - Speed of development is astronomically low. Go count each month what this gamestudio has done and convert content, each 'fix' etc. to manhours and days and then you will realise it doesnt match up. For a full month of develop time it's.. well i dont bother. You figure it out. As soon i found out i didnt pay for this no longer.
    - The game does not promote teamwork at all. It's a teambased game. Yet most people are found in the solo que. No basic text shouting or a commo-rose to improve teamwork. No decent comm tools.
    - There. Is. No. Single. Depth. Basically a arena filled with stiff ragdolled mechs.
    - This game is not competitive. It's broken and does not represent comp. play.
    - Twitter followers keep supporting bad habits.
    - Terrible grinding. Has been adjusted alot of times. Stealth nerfs being applied later.
    - Townhalls: Garbage in, garbage out. (Love that line!)
    - You play for a couple of minutes - team scatters around the whole map and you die. Disconnect and try again. Make sure you don't watch the match. Rinse and repeat. Stale and repetitive gameplay.
    - You preorder plain text and a pencilled image up to 6 months ahead.

    MWO screams wasted potential all over the place and will continue to throw potential away in the near future.

    I have retired from the game not too long ago. I have end my support as a long time Founder. Since the NDA was lifted, back in 2012, i have lost over 40 friends i introduced over in this game. Which is the only game i have that lost this many. And when i scroll my friendlist most of them have been offline for years.
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  55. Feb 18, 2016
    1
    Bad developers, unbalanced meta, boring grind and insane pricing.
    The games development hasn't made any real progress in years and every tiny feature is sold as major milestone. F.e. UI update that destroyed any usability it had before, and so on.
    Hands off, even if the start might be fun, it will be wasted money and time.
  56. Apr 3, 2016
    8
    Since beta this game has been a roller coaster ride. The competitive community, overall history of Mechwarrior, and what this game has the potential to be are what I base this score on. For those who are looking for the traditional BattleTech experience, as with previous Mechwarrior titles I'm not sure you will find it in this game. What the game does have is growing stability for aSince beta this game has been a roller coaster ride. The competitive community, overall history of Mechwarrior, and what this game has the potential to be are what I base this score on. For those who are looking for the traditional BattleTech experience, as with previous Mechwarrior titles I'm not sure you will find it in this game. What the game does have is growing stability for a competitive community, the weapon systems are more balanced than they have ever been, and with the somewhat recent steam release (as of when this is posted) new units are making their appearance and are ready to make their mark on the Inner Sphere. Expand
  57. Sep 17, 2013
    6
    While it is the most modern mechwarrior title, it still has a long way to go to be the best. The most disappointing point is that the developers have moved almost entirely away from the core battletech rules and have gone off implementing random "nerfs" and fixes for problems.

    This leads to a very inconsistent gameplay, and factoring in that movement and hit detection are "still a work
    While it is the most modern mechwarrior title, it still has a long way to go to be the best. The most disappointing point is that the developers have moved almost entirely away from the core battletech rules and have gone off implementing random "nerfs" and fixes for problems.

    This leads to a very inconsistent gameplay, and factoring in that movement and hit detection are "still a work in progress" there are some very aggravating situations that just should not exist in a game that has had over 18 months in beta with hundreds of thousands of players.
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  58. Oct 1, 2013
    5
    Boring.

    Where some games like Arma aren't action packed ADD experiences, they're still enjoyable. Mechwarrior is painfully uninspired and the customization system is too all over the place.
  59. Sep 23, 2013
    1
    it's not your fathers mechwarrior yeahits even cheaper and more incomplete!
    10 points for being there but -9 for lack of content, f2pay, the redesing of redesing of redesing of classic drawings it just don't feal good.
  60. Sep 26, 2013
    2
    I used to be involved in the competitive scene in this game. I played in RHOD and watched the metagame stall and finally lost total interest after a competitive scene dominated by one type of mech was allowed to exist for 6+ months. PGI has continuously failed to deliver and created overwrought and expensive ideas where simple number balancing would have worked. I also participated in theI used to be involved in the competitive scene in this game. I played in RHOD and watched the metagame stall and finally lost total interest after a competitive scene dominated by one type of mech was allowed to exist for 6+ months. PGI has continuously failed to deliver and created overwrought and expensive ideas where simple number balancing would have worked. I also participated in the first and only ever community involvement event, the Design a Trial Heavy contest. I chose literally the worst chassis of the worst mech and fit it out with a configuration I had never driven before and won.

    This game is garbage and most of the development and publishing companies are blind to the issues with the game. Rust in Pieces 'Mechwarrior Online.

    SQUAWK!
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  61. Dec 18, 2013
    1
    This games rapes your childhood memories of battletech and mechwarrior. It blatantly ignores canon in the battletech universe and have completely ignored the worst issues in the previous multiplayer mechwarrior games. Its a never ending round of 'balancing' changes that prove the devs are brain dead incompetent and ignore their fan base.
  62. Dec 15, 2013
    1
    Whole game development process and especial last Clan grab deal can be described like this :

    A drowning PGI will clutch at a straw. PGI and MWO are sinking, it's only time before they say that game development has stopped and servers will be closed in 1 month, probably soon after clans release (if they manage to stay afloat that long). People responsible for development of this game
    Whole game development process and especial last Clan grab deal can be described like this :

    A drowning PGI will clutch at a straw. PGI and MWO are sinking, it's only time before they say that game development has stopped and servers will be closed in 1 month, probably soon after clans release (if they manage to stay afloat that long).

    People responsible for development of this game would fail at designing Minesweeper clone.
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  63. Nov 23, 2013
    1
    Shameful display.. A game that makes me look back at MW4 and Microsoft running the franchise back then, with keener eye.
    MWO tries to go back to MW3 with it's more oldschool control system, which actually works quite well. It is smooth and natural, gives you the feel of a powerful warmachine that weights tons. This small dose of MW3 nostalgia though is completely ruined by staggering
    Shameful display.. A game that makes me look back at MW4 and Microsoft running the franchise back then, with keener eye.
    MWO tries to go back to MW3 with it's more oldschool control system, which actually works quite well. It is smooth and natural, gives you the feel of a powerful warmachine that weights tons. This small dose of MW3 nostalgia though is completely ruined by staggering everlasting work in progress status of the game that doesn't seem to change since CLOSED BETA! You got to keep an eye on momentum of your 100 ton machine to steer it effectively? Well, a pity, because there is still no collision detection, although the engine is fully capable of it. Running though trees and shoulder rubbing buildings 100 mph, circrling around heavies with lighter mechs, bouncing off walls imposes no penalties, no damage... and they can't fix it for almost a year now! Horrible lag problems and abysmal optimization. The game works awfully on decent duo-cores. Even though you may be way above minimal requirements, got stuff from recommended shelf, but unfortunately your CPU is not a quad, you may experience graphic and system lag on lowest settings and ridiculous resolution! Devs promised to address this issue as soon as possible... for almost a year! again! Each month, each patch a loyal fanbase is promised a fix for their issues, but instead we get another premium mech. Map choice is rather pathetic, maps being tiny enough not to get lost but unfortunately offering very little but few same old paths, forcing use of same tactics.
    It's almost like Piranha Games is not interested in fixing issues their customers are expecting on purpose, waiting till they upgrade their rigs or just leave the game instead of making the game playable for quite large userbase, which they sadly loose.

    Another awful thing is the economy system copy-pasted from World of Tanks, which honestly is the worst choice possible... but copying cheep ideas seems be the theme around PG, so, that's not entirely unexpected. In the end we are left with system that rewards for group victory over personal contribution. Meaning, even though you did a lot to help your team, you killed majority of the enemy forces, but still your team lost, you are awarded less then you'd earn in a game you did little-to-nothing but with your team actually winning the match in the end. This is a big turn down to any player that values what little time they can spare and would rather be rewarded accordingly to their skill and input rather than "randomity" of matchfinder. Like in world of Tanks when you loose your mech you are locked for the rest of the match, allowing you only to spectate, what leads to situations where most games and matches are won after couple minutes. If you loose three mechs on the very start, either due to bad luck or whatever the factor, your team can pretty much quit or sit and get killed. Of course that is a broad generalization, but i'm writing it in regard to new ideas presented in Warthunder game, where you can take couple of machines you got in your garage. You loose one, you can take 3 more, but of different class and role. This is not present in MWO, meaning, if you lost a scout, you lost your eyes and ecm protection for good. Lose of Long range support may mean the same thing. Long story short it's easy for team tactics to crumble and no way to reward players contribution accordingly.
    MWO also features one of worst experience and pilot development system. In order to improve some sills of your pilot on a specific mech, you need to grind xp, obviously, but in order to progress to higher tier feats, you need to grind skills and feats on 3 other variants of same mech model! Meaning if you got your cataphract and you got it geared and ready for combat, you will literarly need to buy 3 other variants, grind them, sell them so you can progress in the one original you have! And that is no cheep deal, believe me! Buying those useless mechs is a wallet smashing deed, and Piranha Games couldn't be more obvious with "you MUST give us money" attitude than that, also pushing out new premium mechs every month instead of FIXING THEIR DAMN GAME, is just a sign of an awful dev. It is a shame that there are games out there, vehicle based MMO battlesims, that are aware of how to treat their clients.
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  64. Sep 4, 2014
    2
    Summary: Play the game for free. Don't expect anything from the developer, and do not give them one dime. If you like the mechwarrior universe bump the game score up to a 5, because you ain't getting any attention from anyone else anytime soon.

    Mechwarrior Online is a example of how to milk a cow desperate for attention until the udders have completely run dry. Once the cow is dry, the
    Summary: Play the game for free. Don't expect anything from the developer, and do not give them one dime. If you like the mechwarrior universe bump the game score up to a 5, because you ain't getting any attention from anyone else anytime soon.

    Mechwarrior Online is a example of how to milk a cow desperate for attention until the udders have completely run dry. Once the cow is dry, the developer goes looking for another cow with promises of attention at a high cost. The problem is that after doing this over and over again the rest of the cows get the hint. And this is coming from a fan of Battletech/Mechwarrior series and someone that enjoys the core of the game.

    In this horrid metaphor sums up the history of this game. The cows of course being the fans of Battletech desperate for a modern take on Mechwarrior. When I say desperate, I mean desperate. After releasing the founders packs ($120/60/30), the phoenix packs ($80/60/40/20), and the clan packs ($240/$210/$180/$150/$120/$90/$60/$30) it is possible for a desperate cow to have dropped ~ $440 dollars just on these, without purchasing any of the monthly mech releases/other stuff. Meanwhile what have the developers given the players in the form of content since release:

    2 maps

    I do not consider new mechs/skins/etc. to be content. This does nothing to change the core of the game, nor do they do anything but give you new skins/builds/flavor of the month mechs to play.

    The clan packs were released in May 2014. Since then there have been a few dominant mechs at the top of the "meta", and they are all clan. This has made a pay to win situation that will not be relieved until the mechs are released to the general public for cbills. If you do not believe me, look at how cERLL's were nerfed at the same time that clan lights/mediums were released for cbills. They will do the same thing to the Heavies/Assaults when they are released.

    The core gameplay is pretty good. The 12v12 format is working, albeit I was a bigger fan of the 8v8. The mechs handle well, and aiming is easy for any FPS player. Tactics play a role in the game, and a good pilot usually does well. The matchmaker is horrible however, as it tries to make a "Winner" and a Loser" team for every match. They methods that it uses to accomplish this can be harsh, and will result in a random deathmatch generated for the players where you do not know if you are teamed with ringers or dead weight.

    The real test for the developer will be in the next few months, as the developers have been making content promises without proposing any new mech pack cash grabs. If they can deliver on new content, make it successful, and not rely on another quick fix cash injection during the next year the gameplay may improve and the game may have a future. Unfortunately this is like betting on an addict giving up his junk, as I believe the publisher and developer have become so dependent on the packs that they will not be able to help themselves to announce another one by January 2015.

    Pro: Good core gameplay to build off of. Tactical gameplay and customization of mechs.
    Con: Developer/Publisher releases very little content, mech balance is always out of whack, a lot of money for basically "My little mech" online.
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  65. Oct 8, 2014
    0
    The development of this game ended somewhere in closed beta. Hence as expected it's a completely broken mess, including the utter lack of optimisation causing stutters, crashes to desktop and nauseating gfx effects, design decisions alienating BOTH the mainstream user, who never heard of the mechwarrior franchise and treats this as a different type of World of Tanks game, and the die hardThe development of this game ended somewhere in closed beta. Hence as expected it's a completely broken mess, including the utter lack of optimisation causing stutters, crashes to desktop and nauseating gfx effects, design decisions alienating BOTH the mainstream user, who never heard of the mechwarrior franchise and treats this as a different type of World of Tanks game, and the die hard fan.

    I could leave it at that, but...the blatant scam taking place since the so cold launch up until now deserves some additional comments.

    The only development taking place post launch is the tweaking of stats, churning out expensive pay to play mech variants at jaw-droppingly steep prices and the rearranging of forums with the obvious aim of hiding any criticism. There are no regional servers, meaning playing from anywhere outside of the US is an exercise in "Guess where the mech will be in 10 seconds!".

    IGP and Piranha Games are at this time trying to milk as much as possible from a complete TURD and blatantly so.

    Don't fall for this, I treat my founder's account as money spent to remember not to buy things blindly and on impulse. You Dear Reader can just download it and try for free, It will be a waste of Your valuable time however.

    I'm still quite sad having spent cash and am of the opinion that people still running this should be flogged.
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  66. Sep 18, 2013
    6
    If you are Battletech enthusiast and have been wanting to find a place where you can fight pitched battles with your mech. This is it.
    It is very much in the spirit of older titles and foremost table top, with some deviations.
    Mech models, while not 100% faithful are well made and look and feel like huge machines of war, graphically mechs are the best looking part of game. (FASA did
    If you are Battletech enthusiast and have been wanting to find a place where you can fight pitched battles with your mech. This is it.
    It is very much in the spirit of older titles and foremost table top, with some deviations.

    Mech models, while not 100% faithful are well made and look and feel like huge machines of war, graphically mechs are the best looking part of game.
    (FASA did “borrow” some models to original game they had no rights to, unfortunately. So a classic like Marauder will never be in exactly as it was in the original. But that is not a problem with MWO exactly) While graphics as a whole are not the best what Cryengine3 could do in single player, it gets the job done. To my eyes colors could use some vibrance, this is a little too bleak future view. Maybe upcoming directx11 update will improve graphic fidelity some. Maybe they are holding off on re-working maps until then? Who knows, unfortunately players are not much informed on whats and whys of the game.
    Weapon balance, which is still in flux, is reasonably good and weapons have their own flavor (albeit sometimes obvious OP weapons can get fixed too slow or too much, the process does go forward) and weapons sound good.

    Some maps are very pretty, some have good feel of scale, some not so pretty and some you don’t get feel for the scale. Ok enough I guess.

    There are unfortunately only two capture base gamemodes, but they’ll keep you entertained some time while you try getting new mechs. At least you will learn the maps by heart.
    Getting mechs does involve quite a bit of grind, especially the way skill trees are set up on mechs (They have been intending to re-work them for quite some time, but nothing yet) which means you need to get 3 variants of one mech to train the whole tree on one mech chassis to couple important improvements. And there are over 20 different chassis types, as a free to play you’d expect quite a bit of improvement when paying monthly fee… but it could really be better. It doesn’t feel like something you need to have when starting. As to buying mechs, they are real money expensive 5-20$ same with hero mechs (which are more distinct variants of a chassis, not pay to win)

    All in all, it is ok.
    You will get bored at some stage, there is no campaign. Gamemodes are effectively deathmatches to grind enough skill points/cbills to get new mechs.
    It does take ages, so if you want them all… prepare for a very long grind or very expensive shopping. (And more models are steadily coming)

    Then again, if you enjoy the game it is not really grind, at least once you master one mech model. You don’t HAVE to buy anything, but devs certainly make it as tempting as they can. (If only prices were a little more reasonable, I’d be buying stuff more. Guess this is free to play.)

    I have my gripes, I’d want the devs up their pace.. major features seem to be coming too slowly. Whatever you do in game, it doesn’t have any impact, you are just getting more cbills to get new mech models.

    I am bored with the endless deathmatch, but the game has me hooked (I hate it, but it is what it is). When I’m frustrated enough, I’ll take a break again and come back later.
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  67. Nov 10, 2013
    3
    A mediocre installment in the Mechwarrior franchise the game has a somewhat solid mechanical base but is plague by a parade of technical and balancing issues that have lead to a largely divided and caustic player base. Failed promises, truly ponderous update progress and poor developer communication has only driven a larger wedge between the already bitter community and the developers. TheA mediocre installment in the Mechwarrior franchise the game has a somewhat solid mechanical base but is plague by a parade of technical and balancing issues that have lead to a largely divided and caustic player base. Failed promises, truly ponderous update progress and poor developer communication has only driven a larger wedge between the already bitter community and the developers. The new player experience is incredibly unforgiving with little in the way of game play explanations and hidden unexplained mechanics like ghost heat cripple new players without telling them why. The combat at it's core is interesting and the customization creates a lot of interesting options, but the weapon balance and hit registration problems force a small variety of cookie cutter builds on the player base in order to remain effective. Try the game if you're a die hard mech fan but don't bother sinking any money into it since you're only going to regret it once the realization of the state of the game and community sink in. Expand
  68. Nov 9, 2013
    3
    This game does not deliver on its promise. High points are good graphics and great sound engineering. The rest is decidedly underwhelming.

    The game modes are boring and uninspired. The BattleTech rules are badly represented; typical problems that have plagued MechWarrior games in the past and which the developers swore to avoid have reappeared: weapon boating, power creep, heavier is
    This game does not deliver on its promise. High points are good graphics and great sound engineering. The rest is decidedly underwhelming.

    The game modes are boring and uninspired. The BattleTech rules are badly represented; typical problems that have plagued MechWarrior games in the past and which the developers swore to avoid have reappeared: weapon boating, power creep, heavier is better.

    Technical issues keep throwing things back. Standard features such as lag compensation (in a real-time multiplayer shooter, of all things) took months to even appear on the roadmap. In fact, it was once an official position that lag compensation in particular was not strictly neccessary for a game of this type.

    Generally, the developers do not seem to know what they are doing.
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  69. Sep 10, 2014
    2
    The game itself is buggy sometimes warping and it desyncs alot. The ping-lag doesn't help. don't bother with this game it's unplayable. it's way expensive too i see some people up to their necks in pay mechs posting good reviews to protect their baby's You only have to read everywhere else to find out about the companies bad practices and I can't blame the critics I've experienced theThe game itself is buggy sometimes warping and it desyncs alot. The ping-lag doesn't help. don't bother with this game it's unplayable. it's way expensive too i see some people up to their necks in pay mechs posting good reviews to protect their baby's You only have to read everywhere else to find out about the companies bad practices and I can't blame the critics I've experienced the troubles myself with such bad balancing of weapons and bandaid after bandaid fixes it went from poor to outright ludicrous. 2 year they've been at this!? it's like a buggy demo, an arena with thing in the menu that always a WIP. oh and that menu UI thingy is a horrid clickfest.

    worse still is the pricing you'll be paying full retail price games for the least amount of content and by virtue of the games multiple perk additions to your character you have to buy stuff to upgrade or you'll be using trials for so long and sand in your face for so long you'll hate the game. there's little tutorials to some controls but tactics, swim with the sharks and pay 2 winners in mechs vastly superior to what you can have for the first 50 matches. not a good F2P system at all.

    overall it's really bad experience i'm going back to MW4 much more sorted out game with more lore in it to!
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  70. Sep 21, 2014
    0
    The game is decent, for a non-lane based MOBA. Unfortunately, this is not what the producers of the game were pitching at the onset. This game is rife with problems and is a testament as to how not to treat your customers. The way the game cycles is that most of the mechs can be purchased without spending any real money. However, when powerful mechs are introduced, they are first soldThe game is decent, for a non-lane based MOBA. Unfortunately, this is not what the producers of the game were pitching at the onset. This game is rife with problems and is a testament as to how not to treat your customers. The way the game cycles is that most of the mechs can be purchased without spending any real money. However, when powerful mechs are introduced, they are first sold for real money and then for in-game currency several weeks later. The problem with this is, once these mechs are sold for in-game currency, the developers do a major balance pass which makes them almost non-competitive.

    The most powerful mechs in the game, which are all named "hero" mechs, are only for sale for real money. Several gameplay mechanics have been introduced which the developers promised the original supporters of the game that they would never include.

    This game would have been decent, if not for the missteps of the developer and their inability to keep the promises made to those who helped fund their game.
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  71. Jun 30, 2014
    1
    Greetings!

    If you're reading this then you must be wondering what type of game this is. To be honest, this game is amazing. For the first 2 weeks I utterly enjoyed every moment. The reason I scored this game at a 0, however, is because server-side lag/connectivity issues have made the game totally unplayable. To make things worse Mechwarrior Online has the absolute WORST technical
    Greetings!

    If you're reading this then you must be wondering what type of game this is. To be honest, this game is amazing. For the first 2 weeks I utterly enjoyed every moment. The reason I scored this game at a 0, however, is because server-side lag/connectivity issues have made the game totally unplayable. To make things worse Mechwarrior Online has the absolute WORST technical support team I have ever encountered in my entire 23 year history of online gaming. A support ticket submitted nearly a week ago has gone completely unanswered, as well as posts regarding the exact same issues that date back as far as december of 2012.

    The game itself is a money-sink that requires players to purchase P2W mechs that offer unfair advantages to anyone willing to pay for them, and furthermore those that dont are left as little more than target practice unless you are able to gang up on the extremely overpowered purchasable "Clan" mechs.

    With all due respect to a series that has been dear to my heart since a very young age Im ashamed to say that this should be skipped by anyone with a heartbeat and an IQ above their shoe size because it works for maybe a week, and then the connection issues start, thus making any purchases a total waste of money given that the game itself cant even be played unless you enjoy the following:

    I will join a game and enter the lobby, but I am stuck looking at the roster while (in some cases) my mech boots up, or sometimes there are pauses and then the cockpit loads in the background all while the roster stays in view. I can hear fragments of sounds and my allies seem to teleport along their path instead of walking, and sometimes they do nothing but walk in place. In these instances I either cannot move at all, or I rubberband all over the place feebly attempting to steer my mech to a safe location in hopes that it clears up, or (in the case of place-walking allies) Im free to move and shoot, but all other players in game place-walk.

    Something strange about this brand of lag is that it seems to stop for 3-5 seconds every time I alt-tab, but it almost immediately returns after tabbing back.

    Ive checked MSE/Window's Firewall, and no settings have been altered whatsoever so I am at a loss to explain why I am all of a sudden having this problem after never having a single issues with my connection with ANY other game I play.

    In short:

    Dont waste your time downloading this game, and if you do download it, then you should definitely reconsider ANY AND ALL purchases as most decent mechs can cost you 60$ a piece in some cases.

    A computer graphic Ill never see, or a new game.... Hrm.....
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  72. Dec 30, 2014
    4
    Its nice and pretty, amazing detail to the whole world of MechWarrior/Battletech universe. But at the base of it all its just another Free to play arcade game which may hail back to the old days of the IP. Its lacking in what some gamers that liked MechWarrior in the middle of the series of games, was a story and some single player offline action.
  73. May 30, 2015
    0
    Even midway through 2015 it's STILL little more than a shell of a game with a very rich collection of robots for you to BUY!!!! Very limited scope, kife game modes, few maps that are small, dead, stale, empty, with nothing to do. Looks like they've FINALLY got CW on the go. Should have that sorted kinda sorta not so bad in 5 years time or so. :s Sure it's hard to move forward when youEven midway through 2015 it's STILL little more than a shell of a game with a very rich collection of robots for you to BUY!!!! Very limited scope, kife game modes, few maps that are small, dead, stale, empty, with nothing to do. Looks like they've FINALLY got CW on the go. Should have that sorted kinda sorta not so bad in 5 years time or so. :s Sure it's hard to move forward when you CONTINUALLY have to go back & buff & nerf & buff & nerf weapons & mechs all the time after people have ALREADY BOUGHT THEM!!!! Guess that's what happens when you release unfinished crap by just "wingin' it".

    The very worst part of this is that MWLL shut down because of these PGI douches & for those of you that don't know MWLL, it was a free MW game made by modders using Crysis Wars. It had tanks, elementals, aircraft & all the goodies in huge interactive maps with REAL **** to do. So much broader in scope, so much better than MWO will ever be & all made totally free with no intent to profit for it at all. PGI went to them & said "why are we working against each other?" which is nothing more than tactful introductory speak for "shut down now or we'll legally douche all over you for making a better product than we ever could & doing it with no monetary motivations behind it".

    I wanted to love MWO & yeah I had some fun with it, but it gets a 0 for failing to come through in almost every way & then pullin' a dick move like they did, I'm sorry to see MWO's servers still running. :/
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  74. Sep 18, 2013
    6
    Mechwarrior Online, fresh from an extended open beta, is a solid game, despite the growing pains. The graphics are good to exceptional, and the Crysis engine provides a solid backbone for the game to run on. There are some issues with using 20 meter tall robots with the engine rather than 2 meter tall human models, but the game play is good, and matches are normally relatively quick, soMechwarrior Online, fresh from an extended open beta, is a solid game, despite the growing pains. The graphics are good to exceptional, and the Crysis engine provides a solid backbone for the game to run on. There are some issues with using 20 meter tall robots with the engine rather than 2 meter tall human models, but the game play is good, and matches are normally relatively quick, so you can get your fix in a hurry if you only have a few minutes to play.

    A lot of reviewers had very high expectations for this game at launch, based on information that the developer (PGI) released. Many of the promised features have been continually delayed, and the company is particularly poor at communicating with its customer base.

    That said, I gave the game a 6 out of 10 because it does offer good, solid entertainment value, and it is continuing to expand the features offered. It runs cleanly, with few glitches, and allows the players to get into the heat of battle rapidly. The maps are well done, and beautiful, and in most cases, offer a variety of tactical options for defeating your opponent besides the standard "Everyone run to the middle and shoot each other in the face."

    My rating would have been higher if the game had possessed more of the polished features that were supposed to be included at launch (UI 2.0, Community Warfare, etc). It is my sincerest hope that PGI can build on what they've started here and become the Battletech game we truly want, not just the only one we have.
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  75. Sep 18, 2013
    6
    Graphics: 9/10 (It is very pretty)
    Gameplay depth: 6/10 (In actual organized matches; it's good. In Random matches.. no organization: Also, no real incentive for anything but direct engagement, favoring heavier fighting machines.)
    Balance: 9/10 (No current egregious balance issues.) Developer relationship with community: 2/10 (A consistent disconnect with their own forums and having
    Graphics: 9/10 (It is very pretty)
    Gameplay depth: 6/10 (In actual organized matches; it's good. In Random matches.. no organization: Also, no real incentive for anything but direct engagement, favoring heavier fighting machines.)
    Balance: 9/10 (No current egregious balance issues.)
    Developer relationship with community: 2/10 (A consistent disconnect with their own forums and having to check Twitter, Reddit, and Facebook for the up-to-date information.)
    New user experience: 5/10 (Dismal New user experience right now, the complex moving and fighting system is a learning cliff, however there is a tutorial out now, and more to come, to help out the new players.)
    Metagame: 2/10 (It really deserves a zero right now due to being non-existent at the moment, however it *is* coming, so since I know it's coming, but I don't know when, or in what form- it gets a two.)

    Game has a heck of a lot of potential in the form of meta-game to come, but core gameplay is now stable overall and within the confines of what you're playing, it's engaging. The developer needs to connect more with the community and actually engage in dialogue rather than "this is why you're wrong" scenarios.

    5.5/10 (and since that is even between 5 and 6.. I'll go with 6/10 to show a little hope...)
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  76. Sep 18, 2013
    6
    The game is fun to play, once you get the hang of it. Something to watch out for :
    * You cannot edit the loadout of a starter Mech, you have to buy one to do that
    * The purchase and configuration processes are convoluted, but are supposed to be fixed in UI2.0 * you make a lot of money up front as a new player for the first 25 matches, after that you grind for every CBILL. Buy a Mech you
    The game is fun to play, once you get the hang of it. Something to watch out for :
    * You cannot edit the loadout of a starter Mech, you have to buy one to do that
    * The purchase and configuration processes are convoluted, but are supposed to be fixed in UI2.0
    * you make a lot of money up front as a new player for the first 25 matches, after that you grind for every CBILL. Buy a Mech you like, because you will be playing it alot to buy equipment and/or the next one.

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

    If they game had the major gameplay features that really make the game, then I would have given a higher score. Today, they are not there, despite being overdue by a year, and so I leave you with this: The game is fun to play, but it has its problems, replayability being a major one. It just gets stale after a while. Despite that, I can't put it down.
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  77. Oct 24, 2013
    5
    I was very excited to try the game out, waited a night for it to download, and was sorely disappointed after playing a few matches. The game kept tossing me up against grizzled veterans, and squaddies who hated anybody who wasn't very good. I have to say, the community for this game is horrible when it comes to new players. I'm not saying it's a bad game, if you had friends or knew whatI was very excited to try the game out, waited a night for it to download, and was sorely disappointed after playing a few matches. The game kept tossing me up against grizzled veterans, and squaddies who hated anybody who wasn't very good. I have to say, the community for this game is horrible when it comes to new players. I'm not saying it's a bad game, if you had friends or knew what you were doing it'd probably be fun, the sounds are nice, the graphics are okay, but really none of that makes a difference when you're being murdered horribly. Expand
  78. Jan 20, 2015
    1
    This has been a seriously disappointing gaming experience.

    1: the game has some serious design flaws, it seemed okay at the start. I felt I could survive in this shooter, but you're not told what half the weapons do and how they work. It’s all trial and error and later you find out that you have to find out how it works because C-BILLS cash is so low after the cadet bonus. You really
    This has been a seriously disappointing gaming experience.

    1: the game has some serious design flaws, it seemed okay at the start. I felt I could survive in this shooter, but you're not told what half the weapons do and how they work. It’s all trial and error and later you find out that you have to find out how it works because C-BILLS cash is so low after the cadet bonus. You really need to know what you're using as well as what you're doing, so many newbie traps. It’s mandatory to search on forums about what to do. The stuff in game explains so little, for example only by research did i find i could free my chars arms up to shoot better and a FPV is better to aim too.

    2: not just the lack of tutes to understand different heat {which there is the main heat rules for weapons and some sort of extra "ghost heat" for particular weapon combos, no values just random stuff???} the UI is so poorly laid out, menus and menus with the same icons on everything pushing my mech off the side so half of it is cut off. It’s so ugly and tedious to use. The tiny important writing and tiles of pointless picks takes forever to understand. I don't know maybe there’s something there that tells you what a beagle is or why I can never access and ECM.

    3: the gameplay once in a match is laggy and stuff which is kind of typical of games online but why does my shots miss half the time? I see sparks but the damage doesn't seem to register, the jumping falling mechs are terrible to shoot at, I end up just shooting big slow ones but they are always WAY more powerful and defeat you easy.

    4: the main damning thing which makes this a truly awful game is nerds and cash rule with mechs that cool faster run faster and shoot more than your mechs {trials are basics and most are deathtraps} they have boosters with char mastery and extra modules, some have quirks which undoes the ghost heat stuff, that's how screwed up the design is and the MM distinguishes none of this, the UI gives you little to no hints. i found my trial up against these power creep P2W stables and high competitive players a lot. so awful.

    5: the gameplay is cursed by bugs of mechs getting stuck everywhere, graphic glitches, no terrain destruction in a shooter and 12-0 stomps are common cause 4 players can 1 shoot at a mech and it spirals out of control. for something that's supposed to be strategically, players just jam up behind a wall and poke shoot or run around in circles, it's horribly underwhelming and variety is punished by a stale meta of sniping and many missles raining on you. there's no sense of accomplishment, you don't have to do much and you don't feel like you fight anyone, it's pot shots or face hug, the more ganged up on less players wins. ugh.

    6: so to try and become better you try and get what the vets have. Forget it, unless you pay for it. the game money earnings are sub 100K half the time, you’re lucky if you get 200K. weapons are anywhere from 60K to 600K and guess which everyone is boating? a newbie needs stuff to fight with and the cadet bonus will get you a stock mech equipped with the wrong weapons/equipment and all basic levels. You need several million to even START upgrading. You need 50 mill to get a master cause you need 3 mechs for the char levelling to work and to buy modules. Hundreds of hours with a basic mech, it’s an appauling experience. Salt goes in the wound when they offer freebe challenges, like this weeks 30 wins with a kill and assists gets you a free mech. How am I supposed to find the time and be able to achieve that in a stock mech? People played 12+ hours and still couldn’t do it with half levelled mech let alone people in my position. It’s so insulting. Then after every match the devs taunt you with “if you had premium time you could have more” it’s appalling that they call this free to play. The UI has stores and transaction always buy buy buy. Free to play? Free to be everyone’ piñata for months more likely.

    TL;DR game sets your basic mech against totally elite mechs imagine lvl8's vs lvl 70s that were brought with real money, your team might have those too but it's still grossly pay to win. you win a small weapon's worth of cash each match, a mech can take 20 hours to have, it can take 80's to get close to having the master mech cause you need 3 of a type to do it. i have no idea how people have 100 mastered mechs that they bragged about, must've payed a fourtune in this "free to play" game. the playerbase vary's from helpfull to outright rude and mental and saddly these decided your match outcomes, earnings and fun. cause the game offers no more than shootemup+collect mechs gameplay.

    it boring, it's grinding, it’s scaming such high amounts of cash for a shootem up demo.

    it stinks.
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  79. Feb 6, 2015
    2
    What's cool about it? Mechwarrior!! Mechs!! Friends!! and that's about it. I enjoy playing it with my friends because I'm playing a game with my friends. We play it because it's Mechwarrior and we loved Mechwarrior not because it's Mechwarrior Online by PGI. I've been in since "Closed Beta" and at this point 3 years after I joined the game has not been delivered as promised. It's a Free toWhat's cool about it? Mechwarrior!! Mechs!! Friends!! and that's about it. I enjoy playing it with my friends because I'm playing a game with my friends. We play it because it's Mechwarrior and we loved Mechwarrior not because it's Mechwarrior Online by PGI. I've been in since "Closed Beta" and at this point 3 years after I joined the game has not been delivered as promised. It's a Free to Grind your butt off game hell bent on frustrating you with it's grind so that you spend real money to try and get some traction. Graphics have actually gone backwards, game play is stale even after the Beta of Community Warfare has been released. The Dev team started out grateful to it's community, then grew to loath and insult the community, and now seems to be trying to make amends for treating the community so poorly in an effort to keep the product viable. It's a watered down version of what was sold to Founders, full of broken promises and lack of optimization. Bad leadership at the top, lack of progress, and stale game play with a terrible grind. It's a disgrace to the Mechwarrior genre. I'd rather buy a game outright then to have the grind required with this game and the miserable performance it has 3 years after I joined it. Maybe the real Mechwarrior fans will get lucky and PGI will fail so someone else can make a new Mechwarrior. Expand
  80. Jan 14, 2017
    4
    It's pay to win.

    Don't let them fool you. All the latest and newest mechs are always more OP than the previous mechs. The people who get access to the new mechs are the people who pay real money for it. If you pre-order a mech with real money you get access to it months before regular players do. With new mechs being released all the time the latest mechs you buy will always be more
    It's pay to win.

    Don't let them fool you. All the latest and newest mechs are always more OP than the previous mechs. The people who get access to the new mechs are the people who pay real money for it. If you pre-order a mech with real money you get access to it months before regular players do. With new mechs being released all the time the latest mechs you buy will always be more OP.

    If you do play DONT WASTE REAL MONEY ON IT
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  81. Sep 18, 2013
    6
    The game is far from finished, the development is glacial at best. I am a founder and played from closed beta to now (on and off). The features creep in too slowly to keep it truly interesting for long. 2 Game modes which most of the time end up in team deathmatch, only 6 maps if you don't count the night versions of them. The developers also lied at least 2 times to the community, whichThe game is far from finished, the development is glacial at best. I am a founder and played from closed beta to now (on and off). The features creep in too slowly to keep it truly interesting for long. 2 Game modes which most of the time end up in team deathmatch, only 6 maps if you don't count the night versions of them. The developers also lied at least 2 times to the community, which is a shame. The game is not so beautiful even with a powerful computer.
    The gameplay is fun for a while, but quite basic. Some weapons are useless and there are a lot of undocumented mechanics, which will prevent newbies to be effective.
    It's lackluster, but fun for a while. I much preferred Tribes Ascend.
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  82. Sep 18, 2013
    6
    The Good: Great experience "piloting" the mechs (giant robots). A visually compelling game! A clear skill set needed to pilot the mechs, hit your target, and position your mechs for maximum effect.

    The Bad: No overarching sense of progression, Meta-game is somewhere between non-existent and muddled beyond recognition. Stagnate, repetitive game play (Disclaimer: It kept me interested
    The Good: Great experience "piloting" the mechs (giant robots). A visually compelling game! A clear skill set needed to pilot the mechs, hit your target, and position your mechs for maximum effect.

    The Bad: No overarching sense of progression, Meta-game is somewhere between non-existent and muddled beyond recognition. Stagnate, repetitive game play (Disclaimer: It kept me interested for about two months, but that is short for an MMO, IMO). Very little social features (No outfits, no LFG, Friend list is simplistic)

    Summary: Be prepared to spend some time learning to pilot. Enjoy the stunning visual combats. Don't look for too much meaning as to why you are stomping around in the robot in the first place. You will need to make friends using guild websites and public TS servers, etc.
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  83. Sep 18, 2013
    6
    Positives:
    Visually the graphics are good, and the game does a decent job of bringing some of my favorite mechs to life.
    The game offers a FPS experience that is fast paced, and takes an enjoyable level of skill to do well. Compared to other FPS titles I have tried, I found this one extremely easy to get into. Meh: Technology I would like to see the game fully support multiple
    Positives:
    Visually the graphics are good, and the game does a decent job of bringing some of my favorite mechs to life.

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

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

    Gameplay
    There is currently no metagame, in-game story, or honestly reason to be fighting to speak of, and a limited number of static battle grounds to play on. In short, the game play starts feeling redundant quickly. The game does have potential and hopefully it will start to be realized in the short term.
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  84. Oct 5, 2013
    6
    This game has its good points and bad points but it's also still under continuing development. It might be a while before we start seeing things such as the strategic element but they do have a roadmap and have given it much thought.
    I'd say this game is alright and has potential. Certainly worth checking in to see how it progresses but not something I would hold my breath over since the
    This game has its good points and bad points but it's also still under continuing development. It might be a while before we start seeing things such as the strategic element but they do have a roadmap and have given it much thought.
    I'd say this game is alright and has potential. Certainly worth checking in to see how it progresses but not something I would hold my breath over since the progress is a touch on the slow side. Still, I enjoy it from time to time.
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  85. Sep 13, 2014
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The game is well crafted. The models look beautiful. The weapons beautiful. combat system feels like every mech warrior game i have played except for mech warrior 4. The horrible downside is this game is pay to win. For all your mech warrior fans out there willing to spend easily 500+ dollars to get the mechs and weapons you desire this is the game for you. sadly i do love this game but I despise all pay to win aspects any game incorporates. aside from the fact they want to hook you up to an iv and suck the life force from you to get a good foot hold into the game. I do like almost everything else about the game. I have a few complaints about the time it takes to earn things. Even with premium time i have already dropped roughly 60$ in to this game and still have close to nothing. while i am fighting people with clan weaponry( that is pay for with real cash) i only have basic weaponry and i am being destroyed this game is slowly losing my interest because i don't have 1000 dollars to drop into a game just to be remotely competitive. This game feels like sad attempt just to make money instead of bringing mech warrior the way it should to the consumer. sad very sad but true. Expand
  86. Sep 18, 2013
    6
    My recommendation for this game is definitely "try it before you buy it." It's free to play, so give it time before you open up your wallet.

    The game has amazing potential, but the gamble is that it may never be realized. Currently it is a shooter with no meta-game other than upgraded and customizing your mecs. Matches are largely repetitive as there are only 2 game modes where the
    My recommendation for this game is definitely "try it before you buy it." It's free to play, so give it time before you open up your wallet.

    The game has amazing potential, but the gamble is that it may never be realized. Currently it is a shooter with no meta-game other than upgraded and customizing your mecs. Matches are largely repetitive as there are only 2 game modes where the true objective is simply killing the other team. There are plans to add more game modes in the future, but if variety is what you want you should spend your money on something that actually exists.

    Actual gameplay is solid, the mechs move and feel like giant robots, and the graphics are great. There are myriad smaller issues such as the UI, game balance, matchmaking, and other features, but these are overshadowed by the fact that its core the game is very shallow. If you are looking for quick mindless fun then the game may be up your alley; the irony is that MWO was advertised as something entirely different.
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  87. Sep 18, 2013
    6
    This game is a rough, but possibly promising game in an underrepresented genre.

    The game is a game featuring high customization, single spawn, game with heavy use of terrain needed for survival. Different roles: Brawlers, Snipers, Missile Support, Calvary/ Hit and Run Harrying, Mid-Range Sustained Damage, Damage Soaking Assault Center-points. If you have have a dedicated group to play
    This game is a rough, but possibly promising game in an underrepresented genre.

    The game is a game featuring high customization, single spawn, game with heavy use of terrain needed for survival. Different roles: Brawlers, Snipers, Missile Support, Calvary/ Hit and Run Harrying, Mid-Range Sustained Damage, Damage Soaking Assault Center-points. If you have have a dedicated group to play with the intricacies will reveal themselves. The staleness sets in at the same time with the lack of variety in gameplay modes and a feeling of progression that matters beyond more chassis to choose from. Promised relief for these issues has been promised but has not been delivered. This leads to my next point.

    This game has had a troubled development with, what is widely considered a awkward player/ developer dynamic. The game itself in its current state I would give a stretching it seven. It would of been bumped up a further point due to the fact it just has no competition and is operating in a vacuum. If you want an experience like this, this is your only fix. I have to knock a point for the developers constant lack of reaching stated goals in a timely manner. This is a game that is selling itself on further development down the road and those behind the rudder aren't the best helmsmen.

    In summation, It's worth a check to see if it's a niche that feels an itch for you. Be prepared to take breaks from the game if you feel the game wearing thin on you. I would also like add the game is NOT pay to win. The grind is noticeable, but most of the money only mechs lend themselves to esoteric, very extreme, or sometimes under performing builds, but very few rival or can't be replaced by freely available mechs.
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  88. Sep 24, 2013
    0
    Anyone rating this above a 5-7 range is either paid employ of PGI/IGP or a paid employee of a marketing firm. MWO is half a game. It deserves no better than half a full score.
  89. Sep 23, 2013
    0
    This game has a lot of potential and is entirely ruined by Pay to Win. I recommend new players not to play this game at all. It takes time to figure out how you want to play and a lot of time is spent grinding up barely enough ingame currency to customise your mech. Without a customised mech, you will lose flat out and have zero fun. The grind takes at least 250 mins of game time to earnThis game has a lot of potential and is entirely ruined by Pay to Win. I recommend new players not to play this game at all. It takes time to figure out how you want to play and a lot of time is spent grinding up barely enough ingame currency to customise your mech. Without a customised mech, you will lose flat out and have zero fun. The grind takes at least 250 mins of game time to earn ingame currency to buy a single pathetic light mech. We have not even factored in the cost of changing out weaponry, upgrading etc. If you want to play a heavier mech or medium mech, we're talking upwards of 1000 mins of game time just to get one Heavy/Assault mech built up. Buying with real money is INSANELY expensive. Just avoid this game, the older Mechwarrior games are more fun and cheaper. Expand
  90. Sep 17, 2013
    6
    6/10, Functional but with better thing yet to come.

    Business Model: Free to Play, this game is one of the many adopting this method of monetization. The real money currency (MC) is used to purchase camo pattern, paint colors, premium mechs (cred boost, unique variant), Premium Account time (XP/cred boost), Mech Bays, and premium consumables. Pay to Win? No, the premium (Hero)
    6/10, Functional but with better thing yet to come.

    Business Model: Free to Play, this game is one of the many adopting this method of monetization. The real money currency (MC) is used to purchase camo pattern, paint colors, premium mechs (cred boost, unique variant), Premium Account time (XP/cred boost), Mech Bays, and premium consumables.

    Pay to Win? No, the premium (Hero) mechs give one a credit boost while using them and are different, not better, then their normal counter parts. Premium consumables have normal equivalents one can attain through in game means. Premium Accounts only give enhanced credits and XP. Como, paint, items are only ascetic. The only pay wall element is mech bays, which allow you to own and customize additional mechs. While this will not affect new players or their competitiveness, once they get their own mech kitted out properly, it does become an issue later on. This likely will change with the new game modes require multiple mechs that the developers have in mind.

    Front end: At time of release Mechwarrior Online is still using its place holder UI while a newer more functional one is in the final stages of development. This is one of the main reasons for the low score. It is very basic. Community building elements are missing or difficult to use. Tutorials on how to use this UI are missing, likely because it will be changing soon.

    Graphics: Unfortunately another negative point. Cryengine 3 has the potential for more detail, lighting and environmental effects, but this eye candy has taken a back seat to game play. Scaling is a letdown because what you mostly see are indestructible buildings and other 10 meter tall mechs. Trees stand obstinately despite lasers and missiles passing threw them. The ground isn’t cratered after 12 mechs get don’t pounding on another 12. Building care not for your puny hyper velocity rail guns hitting them.
    Game play: Utterly solid, once one figures out how to customize their mech it becomes a simple drag and drop affair. This though is the one of the meatier parts of the game, balancing or unbalancing damage with heat generation, mobility and armor. Mechs once “on the ground” handle well and uniquely based on their chassis strengths and weaknesses, combining with weapons unique properties makes for a very complex and in depth experience. The primitive UI again mars the experience though, the in game chat is up at the top left and you definitely will not be reading it in the thick of combat. There is no single player campaign in Mechwarrior Online, this has been stated at a design decision by the developers. More games modes are planned but at time or release, its eather a capture the flag mode or point control mode. There is also a limited selection of maps, with a few being just night variants or minor tweaks like snow.

    Sound: There is no background music in Mechwarrior Online, again a mixed blessing. There is no in game voice communications, again a mixed blessing. Bain for new players, boon for one who have more organization. The boom of large caliber weapons, impacts of said weapons, hum of reactors, alarms, thumping footsteps tend get stepped over and frantic in high intensity fights. A good thing?

    Meta Game: As of release, there is none. Players cannot even form their own units due to the primitive UI, leaving those with a mind to group up and cooperate to outside of game means. The planned meta game seeks to outright replace the current game play

    Community and Communication: As stated above the lack of a suitable UI is the major hindrance. The community itself that patched itself together despite it run the gambit of extremely dedicated livestreamers, Mechwarrior lore fanatics, casual gamers, redditers, and forum goers, a great many care very deeply for the game. The developers, fair or foul, are actually quite engaged with their customer’s compared to other online games.
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  91. Sep 21, 2013
    6
    I love this game and play it near daily. I have for most of a year, since open beta began. I've learned to dislike the devs as promises made are not promises kept. 3pv specifically. Anemic content, horrid tutorials, broken hit boxes, bad netcode, cbill nerf, but...it's getting better. Someday we'll have a complete MechWarrior game. Someday just not now, not yet.
  92. Sep 17, 2013
    6
    Fairly good, but still needs a lot of work to be what it *should* be. Tempted to rate lower due to broken promises and missed goals, but I do legitimately have fun with it most of the time..
  93. Sep 17, 2013
    6
    If I were to give this game a score on a personal level, it'd probably be an 8. I've always been a "gameplay is king" kind of guy and in my opinion MWO delivers. It's buggy and rough around the edges while doing so but it delivers on that front. However, since I'm scoring it for most people, it's basically around a 5 or 6. I'm erring a bit on the positive side because I do think mostIf I were to give this game a score on a personal level, it'd probably be an 8. I've always been a "gameplay is king" kind of guy and in my opinion MWO delivers. It's buggy and rough around the edges while doing so but it delivers on that front. However, since I'm scoring it for most people, it's basically around a 5 or 6. I'm erring a bit on the positive side because I do think most people can find something to like if they can get past the steep learning curve.

    Lack of modes, a bad UI, no tutorial of substance and lack of any kind of endgame besides grinding for more mechs make this a spotty proposition for anyone looking for a complete gaming package at this time.

    However, if you're like me and care more about the core of the game rather than the things built around it, you can find a lot to like.

    A lot of the above issues are also being worked on. My advice for most people is to wait until most of those features are online before diving in. If you want to take a chance, there's no harm considering it's a F2P, but keep in mind unless you're like me and are content with just the core gameplay you probably will not walk away with a particularly positive impression.
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  94. Sep 17, 2013
    5
    first of all I would ignore most of the crappy reviews less than 4) as well as all of the 9s and 10s. the bad scores are ppl who are pretty pissed right now and the high scores are mostly fake. the problem is there's a lot to like and hate about the game.

    The good? It's a good mech simulator, I feel like im in a big stompy mech. there was a time that colliding with another mech
    first of all I would ignore most of the crappy reviews less than 4) as well as all of the 9s and 10s. the bad scores are ppl who are pretty pissed right now and the high scores are mostly fake. the problem is there's a lot to like and hate about the game.

    The good? It's a good mech simulator, I feel like im in a big stompy mech. there was a time that colliding with another mech could cause you to fall down and many are mad that that was removed (I don't have experience with it, b4 my time)
    there's many different kinds of mechs each with different versions to choose from and u can customize weapon loadout, armor, ammo and add equipment like jump jets and ecm (depending on the mech version) I personally have spent tons of time in the "mech lab" just trying out different builds for my mechs. depending on the mech u could get some crazy builds (might not be good but It can be fun)
    gameplay is pretty good too, you are able to blow off limbs and other sections of a mech instead of having just an HP bar.

    The bad? balance for weapons can vary wildly with each patch. while many patches have gradual minor tweaks to improve balance, every once in a while they have one that wreaks a certain weapon and by extension certain mechs. Its commonly called the "nerf hammer" and its something to watch out for. check the patch log on the forums so you're not caught unawares.
    the game economy can be rough for new players too. Newbies get a "cadet bonus" for the first 20 games or so that can add up to about 10 million c-bills to purchase new mechs. the problem is that even a "medium class" mech can cost anywhere from 4 to 7 million c-bills, not counting new weapons or upgrades and after the cadet bonus its a herd slog to earn more money for new mechs and hardware. MWO even released stats saying the average player only makes about 70k c-bills a game. a newbie would probably earn less initially so it could literally take you hundreds of matches to earn enough for a new mech, and that's tough for a casual player.

    So theres things Iike and things that can be improved. However theres big plans on the horizon with Community Warfare, U.I. 2.0, and the Clans. While I would hold off shelling out a lot of money at the moment in the future I could easily be changing my score to a 10 and cant-throw-my-money-at-this-fast-enough.
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  95. Aug 7, 2015
    3
    Ive reviewed this game once before, but i feel i need to explain my thoughts on the game further,
    Let me start by saying this, ive supported the game since before closed alpha, and i've played previous Mechwarrior games since i was 3 (being 18 now) i remember back when it was still in the works, there were the so called "founders packages" which you would give either 30, 60 or 120
    Ive reviewed this game once before, but i feel i need to explain my thoughts on the game further,
    Let me start by saying this, ive supported the game since before closed alpha, and i've played previous Mechwarrior games since i was 3 (being 18 now) i remember back when it was still in the works, there were the so called "founders packages" which you would give either 30, 60 or 120 dollars to the company to help support the games production. I, (being an eager 15 year old at the time) purchased the "Elite" founders package, i payed $60 and got early access and some in game loot. Now, back then, i believed the game was very good (and to a point, i still enjoy it today) lacking in any form of single player, but it still had the mechwarrior feel.

    Now, fast forward 3ish years to today, and the core gameplay is just about the same (add some new content and fancier physics) and my opinion of the game has very much soured, Not because of the gameplay, i love how the game feels (excluding some easily spamable weapons) but in the fact that the game is becoming more and more of a cash grab. true, the game itself is free, but the content inside the game is not. When you start, you have zero in game currency, and in order to gain currency, you have to use "trial mechs" (mechs with non-customizable loadouts which change every few months) which fortunately, they give you a fair variety, but its still a fraction of the full games content, So you either spend dozens of hours using the trial mechs to purchase your own arsenal OR you can click that shiny "buy MC (mech credits)" button, which for real world money you can buy in game mechs, which, if the prices were more understandable wouldn't be so bad, EXCEPT for the fact that in most cases they aren't. just for one of the bigger, nicer units in the game you can spend 7000 MC, which is approximately 35 USD, thirty five dollars for a single unit in the game, that's enough to buy a another game! at this point ive already spent $60 on this game, but apparently that isn't enough for this game.

    But that's only where it begins, every five or six months they'll come out with another "collection" of new mechs, but they don't come cheap, they normally start at 20-35 dollars, but the bigger collections tend to go upwards to up to one hundred and twenty dollars. I'd think if your paying that much for a game, you should be entitled to everything the game has to offer, but no, just wait, in about half a year, there will be another hundred dollar collection up for sale. and the thing is, people are buying them, and lets not get started on the "Limited edition gold collection" they had about a year back, which you could pay FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS for the previously mentioned $120's of content, and a mech with a gold color skin (easily recreated with paint might i add) and it still saddened me that i would actually see people with these Golden cash grabs, as a eternal reminder to everyone that they spend five hundred dollars for a video game.

    And that's really my big angst with this game, the painful amounts of cash grab and pay to win, the fact that no matter how much money you give them, no matter how much you succumb to their demands, it will never be enough they will always ask for more, and to me that really hurts what would've been an amazing game without it, id be happy to give it an 8 or 9, but just the astronomical costs in this game is just so bad, it angers and disgusts me, yet still i play the game, passing by people who more than willingly payed upwards of $100 for what probably is worth a few bucks of gameplay, but it saddens me to say that im not much better.
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  96. Apr 18, 2015
    0
    MWO was supposed to be Mechwarrior 5 - when that failed for whatever reason they took the bones of a decent mechwarrior game and decided to prostitute them for whatever wampum they could get.

    What this leaves behind is a game with two play modes: Get randomly messed up by others for 15 minutes or 30 minutes. While this wide variety of game types would have satisfied no one, the
    MWO was supposed to be Mechwarrior 5 - when that failed for whatever reason they took the bones of a decent mechwarrior game and decided to prostitute them for whatever wampum they could get.

    What this leaves behind is a game with two play modes:

    Get randomly messed up by others for 15 minutes or 30 minutes.

    While this wide variety of game types would have satisfied no one, the pay to win system is especially unwelcome, as the games economy allows you to grind forever for no real result - while paying actual dollars is the only way to get the things you need.

    All that would've been forgivable - if I could have played a single player campaign like MW4 Mercs.

    But as you've read what I have written so far, there's obviously nothing to forgive the crap job they've done of providing a fun Mechwarrior Game.

    If you want to enjoy a game in the Battletech Universe I suggest torrenting one that was released before 2001.
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  97. Jan 23, 2015
    6
    Back in the mid-late 1990s, getting into the Mechwarrior franchise was a matter of going to the store, paying the average price of oh, say, $55, and taking home a rather large box that contained a disc and a beautifully printed manual. Within the disc was the core game--a game that contained up to 60 'mechs to drive, unlimited customization, a single player campaign with an engagingBack in the mid-late 1990s, getting into the Mechwarrior franchise was a matter of going to the store, paying the average price of oh, say, $55, and taking home a rather large box that contained a disc and a beautifully printed manual. Within the disc was the core game--a game that contained up to 60 'mechs to drive, unlimited customization, a single player campaign with an engaging storyline, a richly composed musical score, and a function to connect to a multiplayer community where people really got to know each other.

    Today, paying $55 dollars to get into Mechwarrior Online can afford you maybe one 'mech and a couple variants to that 'mech, and pretty much lacking most of the mentioned features above. To be fair though, you really don't have to pay a dime to get into Mechwarrior Online, but this is how the developers of the game earn their their money. Generally, getting what you want in the game either involves earning in-game currency by playing with mostly random people on the same three game modes over and over again, or by paying up.

    The game itself is okay though, and hence why I would be hesitant to give it a lower score. To some extent, the sounds and the graphics are top-notch, so it really does feel like you are driving a large 'mech while playing. Most of the maps are beautifully crafted as well.

    What really hinders MWO from the get-go, however, is that it is probably the most hollow game of the series. The lack of features is appalling; the business model is appalling; and the need to grind gets old over time. There are also times when you really don't feel like you accomplished much after a game outside of grabbing a bit of in-game currency and xp to unlock stuff (kind of like your typical F2P game). Factions and the implementation of community warfare seems to improve on the game, but it just doesn't feel like much. Is it a likeable game? Sure. I do like the game myself. I just can't love it.
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  98. Jan 9, 2014
    2
    Well, since Metacritic decided to redact my 5000 word review of the game, let me put it real simple: turd reheated in a microwave.

    Do not buy this game. It is like someone beating a puppy to death in front of you.
  99. May 3, 2014
    1
    i backed this project from the first hour.in the end i deinstalled it after some months of hoping and praying.
    its unbelieveable how boring this game is.if youre interested in doing the same 2 modes again and again go with MWO. if you have a minimum of aspiration in a pc game, save yourself the traffic of several GB for that game.
  100. Nov 20, 2014
    4
    This game has been in "beta" for much longer than needed. They promised a lot of content over two years ago but have since largely failed to deliver much of the deeper aspects of the Battletech/MechWarrior Universe. Instead its been two years of constant release of fluff content at high prices. This game is also one of those false "F2P" models because they've setup a crushing in-gameThis game has been in "beta" for much longer than needed. They promised a lot of content over two years ago but have since largely failed to deliver much of the deeper aspects of the Battletech/MechWarrior Universe. Instead its been two years of constant release of fluff content at high prices. This game is also one of those false "F2P" models because they've setup a crushing in-game economy in which you need a premium to cover your expenses and even make money to get where you want to go.

    This game IS pretty and has some of the spirit of the genre that has spanned over 25 years of writing and game development, but its very shallow. There is no in-game voice chat support or command structure keys so you're left to play single player death match and type unless you use a third party chat. The developers constantly suck in new players and wave the bait of new content coming but then release a re-skin every once and while to keep the old and new fans hooked on spending more money. This game is quite buggy for being over two to three years out of Beta and officially "released". Expect an outlay of $20-$80.00 just to get new mechs that will eventually be released later anyhow.

    As a fan of the genre I'll admit I'm burnt out at this games lack of progress and used car salesman approach to offering products. I come back now and then and find that nothing has changed since I first joined up with this game over TWO years ago. One or two new maps, new skins, a few new mechs, no promised deeper content, depth or immersion. Just grinding on the same few maps.
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Metascore
68

Mixed or average reviews - based on 10 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 10
  2. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.