Fans of Mechs and stompy/stompy action are always looking for a new way to feed their obsession. There are quite a few games coming out on the PC for their pleasure, yes, games like Hawken & Mechwarrior Online are inching their way closer to release.
Presumably this new Mechwarrior was released to tap into the anticipation for both of those titles. Battletech, which spawned Mechwarrior, has gained lots of fans over the years since the time when it was merely a table-top mech game. Along the way there was also a series of real-time-strategy games under the Mechwarrior Tactics label, and a free-to-play game version of that is currently in beta.
Unfortunately, this game is a let down across the board. It has lame voiceovers, weak missions, and poor graphics. The banter between your pilots at the beginning of the missions ranges from the banal to the annoying. The "knob gag" between pilots is probably its nadir.
Ultimately, this game takes the excitement that is mech combat and makes mind-numbingly boring — you move from mission to mission expecting things to get exciting and it never does. The path-finding is appalling and you frequently find your mechs hung up on buildings and other bits of scenery. It is unstable as well and more often than not your advancement is not saved the next time you return to play.
This game could have been so good and a great way to pass the time when not around a PC to play your favorite mech game. Instead, it is so lacking that one feels it is an affront to the Mechwarrior name.
MechWarrior: Tactical Command is rated E10+ (Everyone 10 and older) by the ESRB.
Article comments
1 - Kidcommando
As right as this articles is about the flaws in the game, I could have dealt with them. But to launch a mechwarrior game without full joystick support is just plain stupid. If you've tried to set up even a common logitech joystick with this game you'll know what I mean. Sloppy work. Not Fun. Fix the Joystick recognition and I might be mildly interested. Until then, you'd be better served playing Mechwarrior Ghost Bear. And I really mean that.