The final version finally hit the general public and all Kickstarter backers just a day before my flight back home, so I had plenty of time to play with the game.
The single player campaign takes plenty of ideas from XCOM, or if you really want to keep it within the franchise, MW2/4 Mercs, and all the extended campaign rules available. This means that repairing or refitting 'Mechs take (a lot of time), so does MechWarriors recovering from injuries, and travelling between star systems. And every month you have to pay upkeep expenses. So far money hasn't really been a problem but other resources have been, and when travelling random events might pop up that might require extra expenses or lower the crew's morale.
The first thing to do in the 1P campaign is to create your own characters and decide his/her backstory, that will also dictate the starting stats and will also unlock different dialogue options during the story segments. It's very nicely done although the lack of voice acting in some segments does cheapen the presentation a bit.
Battles follow the same structure shown in the two beta versions. Until you meet enemies movement is free, then the game switch to the initiave phase where lighter 'Mechs will act first; 'Mechs can be reserved to act later in the turn, and forces with a lower number of enemies in a movement phase will act first. If you know how the tabletop game works you'll be almost immediately at home, it's easy to adapt to the changes. Gone is the "reverse" button from the beta, 'Mechs will automatically engage in such movement action if the spot they have to reach and facing they have to turn meets the requirements. I still find a bit difficult to understand if a 'Mech will be able to cross some terrain, but terrain effects (more than shown in the beta) are clearly represented on the battlefield, by coloured spots, and an info box.
The campaign starts off rather easy, with only vehicles and one or two 'Mechs per mission as opposition. Most mission allows you to complete the primary objective(s) and then flee if the odds are against you, and when lances of enemies 'Mech start to show up, it's often a good thing to do as you won't have a lot of 'Mechs or MechWarriors, and having one or more of them out of action for two or more weeks it's quite the blow.
The game runs well on my Surface Book at 1280x800 and medium details, although the interface is a bit small on a 13" screen. Loading times are a bit long, but battlefields are quite detailed and missions rather long.
The single player campaign takes plenty of ideas from XCOM, or if you really want to keep it within the franchise, MW2/4 Mercs, and all the extended campaign rules available. This means that repairing or refitting 'Mechs take (a lot of time), so does MechWarriors recovering from injuries, and travelling between star systems. And every month you have to pay upkeep expenses. So far money hasn't really been a problem but other resources have been, and when travelling random events might pop up that might require extra expenses or lower the crew's morale.
The first thing to do in the 1P campaign is to create your own characters and decide his/her backstory, that will also dictate the starting stats and will also unlock different dialogue options during the story segments. It's very nicely done although the lack of voice acting in some segments does cheapen the presentation a bit.
Battles follow the same structure shown in the two beta versions. Until you meet enemies movement is free, then the game switch to the initiave phase where lighter 'Mechs will act first; 'Mechs can be reserved to act later in the turn, and forces with a lower number of enemies in a movement phase will act first. If you know how the tabletop game works you'll be almost immediately at home, it's easy to adapt to the changes. Gone is the "reverse" button from the beta, 'Mechs will automatically engage in such movement action if the spot they have to reach and facing they have to turn meets the requirements. I still find a bit difficult to understand if a 'Mech will be able to cross some terrain, but terrain effects (more than shown in the beta) are clearly represented on the battlefield, by coloured spots, and an info box.
The campaign starts off rather easy, with only vehicles and one or two 'Mechs per mission as opposition. Most mission allows you to complete the primary objective(s) and then flee if the odds are against you, and when lances of enemies 'Mech start to show up, it's often a good thing to do as you won't have a lot of 'Mechs or MechWarriors, and having one or more of them out of action for two or more weeks it's quite the blow.
The game runs well on my Surface Book at 1280x800 and medium details, although the interface is a bit small on a 13" screen. Loading times are a bit long, but battlefields are quite detailed and missions rather long.
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