![]() ![]() To that end a mechwarrior's ability to focus fire once enough morale has been accumulated can be devastating, but it's the need to manage heat and stability levels that defines BattleTech's venerable combat system. Damage is randomly distributed across various leg and torso sections, but the aim is to bring down the enemy either by taking out their legs, or the central torso (cockpit) area. Pretty standard stuff, I think you'll agree.īattleTech gets interesting when the lasers start lighting up the map. You simply select where to move your units, choosing a direction to face and then select your weapons and a target depending on what the likeliness of a scoring a hit is. None of them are particularly manoeuvrable machines, so there's no ducking behind the cover of a space Waitrose or anything like that. Let's talk about BattleTech's gameplay and systems, which as you might have expected takes a great deal of inspiration from contemporary XCOM, with just enough in the way of "beer and pretzels" wargame hexery - as typified by Panzer General and its ilk - to feel suitably distinct rather than revolutionary.Īs BattleTech vets will know, in any encounter players command a lance of four mechs, with twinkle-toed light mechs doing their scouting first and the lumbering assault mechs ending each turn. Being able to salvage weapons and mech parts after each encounter is fundamental to maintaining your offensive capabilities, and it's given extra depth through sliders that balance payout against having first dibs on more salvage. I realise I might be damning the game with faint praise, it being of a genre that should be judged first and foremost on the strength of its gameplay and turn-based systems, but the accessibility of the background material, the character design, the dialogue in service to a plot to enact vengeance for a deposed queen, are perhaps my favourite BattleTech elements - although how much of that is down to low expectations brought about by Warhammer 40K fatigue is unknown. And while the dialogue isn't fully voiced - and in fact is noticeably lacking in one or two dramatic non-deliveries - the characterisation and writing is taut and strong, with barely a word wasted throughout. The presentation isn't flashy, but it sets the tone perfectly. However, the essence of BattleTech's techno-feudal aesthetic, together with allowing players to dive into its expansive lore to a depth that suits them, is largely what makes this interactive edition a success. Admittedly it's been decades since I laid eyes on one of FASA's old Technical Readouts, thus I'd be hard pressed to judge the game's adherence to scripture. Not that this slavishly follows the rules first laid down in 1984 more that it remains true to the spirit of the source material. An injured mechwarrior or a mech that's lost a limb can be out of circulation for a couple of in-game weeks, which is hard to take in the context of a campaign that requires you to be frugal and to protect your resources for the core battles. This BattleTech is as authentic a recreation of the tabletop classic as you could hope for. ![]() For a game that has had to make up for lost time and maintain a level of faithfulness, all while attempting to impose some authority on modern genre champions like the XCOM series, developer Harebrained Schemes has more than enough reason to be proud. Still, although it was deemed necessary that some patient fans put their hands in their pockets first, the fact that we now have BattleTech on PC adds weight to the old adage that good things come to those who wait. For strategy fans to have been denied an authentic BattleTech experience for so long is almost as tragic as Robot Jox's continued obscurity relative to the success of Pacific Rim. ![]() Okay, sure, Westwood's early brace of proto-Dune strategy RPGs came pretty close to transposing the heraldry of wargaming's premier trouser-tank battle system, but it's unfortunate that in the years since, BattleTech has become synonymous with - and subordinate to - the MechWarrior first-person action simulations of the 90s. A compelling fusion of tabletop manoeuvring and characterful campaign progressionįor a tabletop strategy as revered as BattleTech, it's remarkable that it's taken this long - close to 35 years, by crikey - for a dedicated turn-based video game to emerge. ![]()
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