Before You Buy: Mechwarrior 5 Clans

Edit I have since beat the game in it's entirety. For a very brief critique of the game, see the last paragraph in this article.

The game just released and I am sure most BattleTech fans are curious as to what they can expect from this game. I am not too far into the game; I have finished the tutorial and the first three missions. This here is a quick rundown of what you need to know before purchasing and what you can expect from Mechwarrior 5: Clans.

Basic Settings Setup

Whenever you first start the game it will ask you which control scheme you would like to use: Modern or Classic. Modern streamlines 'Mech movement to have your 'Mech move as you would in a first-person shooter. If you move your camera in a direction, your legs do, too. Using "A" and "D" keys also act as strafing from side to side.

If you are like me and prefer the controls of Mercenaries or Mechwarrior Online, go ahead and choose Classic as your control scheme. Now, this option is not set in stone as you can easily switch between the two in the Gameplay Settings. Also, I have noticed that after closing my game and then relaunching, my hotkeys would reset. While not a huge deal, it can be quite irritating to need to rebind your keys every time after closing the game.

Once you get to the main menu you will notice your frames are probably not as good as they should be. A quick adjustment that took me from 30 FPS to 60+ FPS was to enable AMD FSR. I went straight for the Quality preset and everything became so much better. Granted, I do have a much newer GPU, so depending on your hardware you may want to try other presets to get yourself in that sweet spot.

Now, since I have an AMD card, I cannot speak for NVIDIA's DLSS. A quick look online seems to show mixed results using DLSS. Another reported help is to lower Shadows while enabling DLSS.

Gameplay

Mechwarrior 5: Clans is very similar to its predecessor Mechwarrior 5: Mercenaries. The 'Mechs move and function just as they do in the previous title, but there are still improvements warranted from a sequel such as smoother movement, 'Mech responsiveness from key input, visual fidelity, sound effects, and what have you. Now here is the quick bullet points of the game.

Game has some light RPG mechanics.

As you complete missions you gain experience for both the 'Mechs chassis type - Kit Fox, Mist Lynx, etc - and the pilots. The experience for the 'Mechs can be used to increase their maneuverability - such as acceleration/deceleration and torso twist range and speed - as well as purchasing new omni components for the chassis.

Character experience is used to level up their skill. Each pilot has three skills that are the same with the rest of the pilots and then they each have three unique skills to level up.

Two types of currency.

The two types are Merit and Kerenskies. Both are earned after completing missions, but both purchase different things.

Merit is used to unlock new 'Mechs for future purchasing when you reach the appropriate level and, upon doing so, you receive one of that 'Mech. Merit also allows you to purchase upgrades for your Mechanic, Science, Salvage teams.

Kerenskies, on the other hand, are the Clans C-Bill equivalent; used to actually purchase 'Mechs once they have been unlocked and other essential 'Mech components.

Salvage is not explained, so here.

You have three types of salvage: 'Mech Components, Weapon Components, and Equipment Components. So what is it used for? Research. Which is just a different name for Upgrades. Where 'Mech experience allows you purchase upgrades for that type of chassis, Salvage purchases are blanket upgrades such as: ER Laser Damage Increase, Machine Gun Range, MASC Cooldown Time, and LBX Autocannon Projectile Speed.

Your 'Mech.

As far as I can tell, and probably no ones surprise, there are only Clan 'Mechs available for use. Every level you gain allows you to be able to unlock a new 'Mech.

Now for what you probably really want to know about 'Mechs. 'Mech loadout is not like that of Mechwarrior Online. Just because you have an energy slot does not mean you can put any type of energy weapon there; you are limited by something called Critical Slots.

An ER Medium Laser and an ER Large Laser have a Critical Slot requirement of 1, so these two are interchangeable if you have the available weight to support it, that is. An ER PPC has a requirement of a Critical Slot 2. This is not to be mistaken for how many slots are available to be filled, there is more nuance to it.

For example, the Viper has two Critical Slots that are both singular slots. The Adder also has two Critical Slots, but they are combined to create a Critical Slot 2 hardpoint that can house either an ER PPC or one ER Medium/Large Lasers. Yes, even though there are technically two slots there you can still only fit one weapon even if it is smaller.

Another thing to note is that you cannot edit your 'Mechs armor or structure. Whatever the default may be, that is what you are stuck with.

During the Missions

As expected, the AI is still kind of dumb. I believe it to be improved over Mechwarrior Mercenaries, but it is not exactly in the place that it should be. During one of the missions I came across an enemy Raven perched on a cliff in the distance. While it was within range of me, I was not in range of it. I sat beside a wall shooting it with my ER Pulse Lasers while it moved back and forth on the cliff seemingly not knowing how to reach me. I do not know if that was just a pre-programmed waypoint that it was to follow without deviating or not. I would have to replay the mission to find out.

Something that also is not too surprising is the missions are linear. Not just linear, but quite linear. While I know the game was going to be a linear story-driven game, I did not expect the map to update as the mission progressed to block off a route I had just come through with an "out of bounds" area even though the mission quite literally has me do a u-turn. What does it matter if I go this way or that way around this rock to go right back where I came from?

New in this game is the ability to control your Star (Clanner equivalent to the Inner Sphere's Lance). If you are not paying attention opening the command screen can get you killed. That is because you will come to a halt. Now, I don't know if it is intended or an oversight, but to counter this hold your movement key (if you play with "Throttle Decay" on) or set your 'Mechs speed and then press B (or whatever you decide to set your hotkey to). Doing this will keep your 'Mech in motion while you tell your Star what to do, but be quick about it or you will run indefinitely into a wall until you close the screen.

Visuals

Visually, the game is quite good. It's not a huge improvement over Mercenaries, but it is enough for me to notice. But this is also a slight problem.

While visually delectable, I noticed that the effects are a bit too grandiose. Explosions, sparks, missile trails and the like can actually greatly hinder your view. If you are a Mechwarrior worth their weight, you focus fire on specific limbs. But with this hindrance it becomes quite difficult to focus fire. I have found myself aiming strictly for the torso because I cannot see, while in Mercenaries I have no problem focus firing an arm or a leg. Now, this is just my thoughts on it, or maybe I am a Mechwarrior not worth his weight. You might be right at home with it and have zero issues.

Cutscenes

Oh boy. The cinematic cutscenes are a vast improvement over Mercenaries.

One thing video games have problems with are the eyes and mouths of characters. While it is not perfect, the eyes are quite good. And the mouths? They are done oh so well. I know, this is an odd thing to praise, but this is how much I appreciate it.

One issue that I have, that is not all that major in the grand scheme of things, is that sometimes dialogue sounds ever so slightly robotic. For the most part, though, the voice actors do a swell job. Except for Jayden's voice actor. Something is off about it.

Contributing to greatness of the cutscenes is that Piranha Games used motion capture for the characters and it works so well. No, it is not the greatness that is Activision-Blizzard cinematics, but I think it is damn good for what it is.

Conclusion

As of now, I have nothing to complain about. The game runs well, it looks great, and it plays like I feel it should. What I cannot say is if you should purchase the game or not. I have not finished it yet. Just take this little bit of experience of mine in and use it to help determine if you want the game or not.

Just remember: this is a linear game with probably no replay value, there's no telling what the modding community will do or capable of for this title, and we don't know what future DLC will look like if that is what is to come.

Critique After Beating the Game

6.5/10

It's okay. Not bad at all. About 26 hours of enjoyment for a full completion, not counting all of the achievements.

I liked the story for the most part; the new interface is a step forward and then step back when compared to Mercenaries; the cinematics were nice to watch and see what a Mechwarrior/BattleTech film could look like; and the voice acting was pretty good for a majority of the characters.

What I didn't like was the zero incentive or encouragement to use any 'Mech that was not your newest unlock, meaning by the end of the game you are actually a disguised Steiner "Scout" Lance operating Clan 'Mechs; there's almost not point to the in-game money (I purchased 5 'Mechs total, but only 2 'Mech types); and the battlefield interface to issue commands was mostly pointless, very rarely did I use it.

This game, while I understand why Piranha Games made it separate, should have been a DLC for Mercenaries. The very end of the game foreshadows future DLC, but I would bet that it will be more linear stories if not a continuation of our current Mechwarrior's story. If this had been a DLC for Mercenaries we would have gotten a lot of the Clan 'Mechs available for use, the awesome Clanner tech, and some of the Clanner factions for the sandbox map as well as new toys for modders to go ham with - not that they need them to do all the great work they already do.

All images have been sourced from in-game screenshots I have taken.