Well, time to sum it up
Locust - She's good. Looks good, and hardpoints aren't too bad. There isn't much you can do with a 20-ton mech after all, and Locust's true value is in its lore importance. She's composed a bit too much like a Jenner, but that's not really a bad thing.
Verdict: 8/10; ER LL and a quartet of MGs gonna make a nice company for reliving all those Lori Kalmar moments, and that's the real deal
Shadow Hawk - Well, she's the legendary SH. As such, she kinda strays a bit too far away from her Dougram appearance, and the fact of non-movable shoulder-cannon is a bit sad, but maybe that will arrive some day too. Nevertheless, she has excellent hardpoints, taking the best from so many worlds, improving upon Hunchie-4G 3xAC2 plinker, Yen Lo 1xERLL + 2xAC2 poker and SRM-lover Treb builds, plus carrying 5 more tons and JJs, she's gonna be a very fun all-round medium, whether you wish to play her as a jump-striker or direct fire support. Very much looking forward to playing her.
Verdict: 9/10; If only she looked more like what she was supposed to look like....
Thunderbolt - Well, damn. Say what you will about the unfortunately placed LRM launcher that's considered a side-torso, but I'm willing to forgive it for the fact of it being the 'Bolt's iconic feature. It's been more than 17 years since this thing was handing our behinds to us as the last boss of Battletech game of Sega Genesis (aka MW3050 on SNES), despite the fact that we've been at a con of a Mad Cat then, and she's back with a Vengeance. She looks the meanest of the bunch, and she has hardpoints to die for. On top of that, she also looks like a 65-tonner that's not meant to hang back (unlike her Cat and Jager sisters), and that's exactly what she is.
Verdict: 10/10 with a smile; Didn't think I'd see a hero mech that would promise more fun than Ilya right off the bat, and regardless, she's awesome. <3
Battlemaster - Well, here comes the problem child. She looks good (despite lacking the round and long Xenomorph head cockpit), but what seriusly impairs her is the state of her hardpoints. This is brought about by the fact that to simply accommodate her default TT layout, this thing must carry 10 hardpoints, with no room for variation, and this results in even more unfortuante coincidences. A mech comaprable to the 'Master-1G would be Misery, which carries a similar pack of hardpoints while being of the same weight, and even though Misery has far less of them, she's not plagued by them as much as this mech. Both suffer from a nearly useless lone 6-tube missile launcher, but Misery carries it where every Stalker has them, while 1G has her prominently mounted on her shouler, likely making your side-torso a lot more vulnerable. Hopefully it will disappear if your leave the hardpoint empty. Next, Misery's sole ballistic slot is sitting in her side-torso, making it possible for her to carry even an AC20, while both of 1G's ballistics are in her hand, which also has palm actuators. This means no AC20 and no 2xUAC5, and what else do you put on an 85-ton assault, assuming you're willing to brawl? And then, of course, there are the 7 energy hardpoints, 6 of which are in the torsos. Now the $64000 question is, what do you stuff into 7 energy hardpoints of an 85-ton slow behemoth without risking shutdowns after every shot, especially considering that your torso twist speed and angles ain't those of a Hunchback?
Of course, high-alpha-lovers are gonna be more than happy to pack their Misery and Highlander Gauss/ERPPC builds into this machine, but I prefer to take my cheese with wine and outside of MWO, which is why this is sadly not gonna be my favorite 'Master variant.
Verdict: 7/10; Yes, this is the legendary 'Master, and yes, all of ths is not PGI's fault, but the BLR-1G now stands for "IMMA FIRING MAH LAZORZ - BLAAAARGH!1!!" Did I mention how much I hate energy-heavy assaults?
Epilogue: Of course I'm buying Overlord. This isn't just about this package, although it has more than enough value for its price for me, but more importantly, this is about trusing PGI, and despite all the flak they're taking for all sins of the world, being a part of MWO strongly feels like going hand-in-hand with a small developer to create something big, important and beautiful. As such, I'm not gonna regret the $80 I spend, because I don't think the same 80$ would amount to similar level of enjoyment if there was no MWO at all.
P.S. Yet MW5 trailer still makes me sad every time. Barring the better performance of U-engine and absence of interface bugs, GOD, DO I DREAM ABOUT THOSE PPC BEAMS. GOD, DO I DREAM...
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Xeno Phalcon, on 28 June 2013 - 01:00 PM, said:
