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BattleTech
BattleTech is a turn-based tactical 'Mech combat set in the classic 3025 era of the BattleTech Universe. From the creators of the Shadowrun Series!
Details
- Released
- April 24, 2018
- Developer
- Harebrained Schemes
- Genres
- Action · Strategy · Turn-based strategy (TBS) · Adventure
- Publisher
- Paradox Interactive
- Platforms
- PC
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BattleTech Reviews
Professional reviews from gaming critics
Fans of the tabletop games will find much to love, as will turn-based strategy players. Previous players of the MechWarrior videos games will find everything gladly familiar in this edition, and anyone willing to give this title a try will find an immersive, rewarding strategy experience that offers a great insight into the setting. The gameplay is tactically challenging and the story campaign is well-produced and very in keeping with the franchise.
Steeped in the feudal political intrigue of the BattleTech universe, the game will feature an open-ended Mercenaries-style campaign that blends RPG, Mech and MechWarrior management with modern turn-based tactics.
Monitoring everything from your debits and credits to your hit points and heat levels, BattleTech is brutal, fragile, smart, and struggling a little under its own weight. It has more heart than you're expecting. Couldn't stop playing.
Slow and steady wins the race in Harebrained Schemes' detailed strategy epic.
An excellent turn-based strategy that mixes tense battlefield tactics with an engrossing meta game of money-grabbing mercs and expensive-to-maintain mechs.
The beloved MechWarrior/BattleTech IPs return to the classic strategy space loaded with giant mechanized armors and the pilots who command them. As a longtime fan of the franchise, I was pleased to see plenty of customization options for my mechs big and small, true to form with heat sinks, jump jets, and particle projection cannons (PPCs). However, frustrating gameplay elements, a plodding pace, and frequent “stress to progress” initiatives keep players in tough spots even as they attempt to acquire a bay full of combat-worthy scrap.
Note: BattleTech also supports PvP in the form of 1v1 Skirmishes. The developers have went on record stating that, at least at the moment, they see it more as a mode meant for fights between friends than for high level competitive play. This review does not cover the Skirmish mode.
Strategy-RPGs hold a special place in gaming. While other genres have seen great leaps in iteration and scope over the last 20 years or so, Strategy games have remained remarkably still, a testament to their mechanical purity and hardened roots in table-top gaming. It’s this focus on traditional game design that enables strategy games to thrive, to get deeper, more complex. They’ve definitely modernised with the times, but in more subtle ways like easier UI navigation and faster pacing, with the core feeling remaining the same. BattleTech is a game deeply devoted to being a pure strategy exper...
BattleTech provides exciting strategic decisions and a compelling story, plus the slow-paced and meticulous fun of building up and customizing a mercenary company but suffers from the frustrating unpredictability of its weapons and procedural missions, and losing a favorite mechwarrior to a random head hit feels like it somewhat undermines the choices I’ve made along the way. Those frustrating moments didn’t ruin my many hours with BattleTech by any means, but they did mean I wasn’t rushing back for more after I beat the campaign.
The only areas Battletech really seems to fall down are where it doesn’t fully explore the things it is trying to do. It is, in many ways, a difficult game, for people who enjoy difficult games. But when things go your way, it allows you to feel powerful, smart, and engaged. This is a very hard balance to find, but Harebrained Schemes has pulled it off.
When it comes to tabletop RPGs involving massive walking mechs, there aren’t many, if any, with bigger names than BATTLETECH. With over 60 games in its series including various tabletops, RPGs, and a ton of video games (most of which go under the title MechWarrior), BATTLETECH is no stranger to gaming.