MechWarrior 3
I've played the table top version of battletech, though not the new stuff just the original version of the game. I've also played several
computer games based on battletech, both simulation and tactical. I've spent loads of time both in single player and multiplayer with
various mech games.
MechWarrior 3 has a decent solo player campaign. If you don't play it on easy it can be fairly challenging. It's comprised of 20 or so
missions. It's not shorter than most games released today, and has a decent plot. The game is probably worth purchasing for the solo
game alone, it was pretty fun. The graphics are good, and I never had any preformance issues with my voodoo 2 card playing it.
MechWarrior 3's downfall is multiplayer. Unlike the board game, you can actually aim lasers at specific locations with little real
to hit penalty. They hit basically instantly, so it's aim where you want to hit and go at it. A 100 ton mech could be legged in about 20 seconds
by a small mech equipped with an array of lasers. This severely unbalanced the game as compared to the table top version. Also the auto
cannon and ppc shots move slowly meaning you have to lead for a moving target, making them much harder to use and less effective
than lasers. In the board game your basic to hit rolls are the same. Missle weapons were ok initially.
They've patched the game, and now lasers seem to have a chance of missing even if you hit, and don't do nearly as much damage. The auto
cannons and ppcs are still a little difficult to aim reliably. The missles now appear to be unbalanced though. They automatically hit, it's hard
to do damage reliably with the other weapons now. So in multiplayer you get slanted mechs with only the most effective weapons. In this case
clan LRM 10's, 1 critical 2.5 tons, you can load up 7 or 8 even on a smaller mech and devestate even a 100 ton mech in 2 salvoes.
These people at zipper are just having huge problems with game balance, which makes the multiplayer a complete waste of time. I suppose the
game might eventually be balanced accurately and made into an enjoyable multiplayer game. But from what I've seen, and the companies attitude
towards balance issues that isn't likely to happen. One of the programmers on the game posted a snide comment about how people would
complain about how they resolved the problem of legging. They make a bad unreasonable patch that fullfills thier own prophecy, considering this
I really don't expect the game to be fixed for multiplayer. The solo player game is decent though, I'll give this one a 7/10.
-- Zathoros
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