BattleTech Review

I had a gleeful sense of wonder and empowerment battling my way through enemy forces in one of BattleTech’s large-scale skirmishes. It was exhilarating commanding a squadron, or “lance,” of four mechwarriors piloting their finely-tuned battlemechs in a strategic tussle.

BattleTech delivers some of the most satisfying turn-based strategical gameplay I have experienced this generation. However, those moments of brilliance on the battlefield are often hidden behind some obtuse design choices and a story that feels tacked on. As a result, Battletech is a fun, but taxing video game adaptation of the classic board game.

Gameplay

Developer Harebrained Schemes’ primary achievement in BattleTech is incorporating deep strategic mechanics to create organic and evolving encounters. Take a look at the game’s HUD. There is a lot of information to consider in the decisions you make for each battlemech’s turn.

But the number of variants you have to juggle form a seamless process once you wrap your head around them. Like any good turn-based strategy game, positioning, preparation, and thinking one step ahead of your opponents are vital elements. BattleTech builds upon these basic principles. A slew of weapons, skills, and environmental factors play into the overall effectiveness of your unit.

For instance, every movement has to end with you choosing the direction your battlemech will be facing. Such an action requires careful thought as the angle of your perspective factors in what enemies you can target as well as what sections of your mech’s armour will be more exposed to hostile assaults. Therefore, precise positioning on the battlefield is key as you may use environmental advantages, such as a protective forest, to tip the scales in your favor.

I relished the planning that had to go into each move as it gave even the most mundane of decisions such weight. I had to balance the risk of engaging all of my weapons on a significant target with the possibility of overheating my battlemech and leaving it desperately more vulnerable as a result. And like any thoughtful strategy RPG, each moment truly felt like the roll of a dice even if I had done everything in my power to remove luck out of the equation as much as possible.